Tattoo-Friendly Onsen

Hot springs are one of my favorite aspects of Japan, and soaking is one of my favorite activities living here.

As a tattooed person, people are often surprised to hear that I love going to onsen and that I soak all the time. Although attitudes in Japan towards tattoos can still be really conservative, finding places to soak isn't impossible, but it does take work.

This is the database that I wish existed when I moved here. All of the listings are tattoo-friendly and verified by me, personally. Verification is either explicit (the facility has signs stating that tattoos are welcome, or I asked the staff and they confirmed verbally) or implicit (there is no tattoo signage, but I went there, displayed my tattoos, soaked, felt comfortable, and nobody said anything). I have visited and used every facility in this dataset.

A warning: just because a facility is tattoo-friendly doesn't mean the patrons won't harass you. It's unfortunate, but it has happened to me and to tattooed people who I know. Not often, but it does occur.

Hot springs (onsen) and baths (sento) are almost always gender-segregated. So, all of my observations about a facility are from a man's perspective, unless otherwise noted. Many locations are symmetrical, offering the same features on both the men's and women's sides, and for those places, my comments probably apply equally well to the women's side. However, I can't be sure, so please keep this in mind if you'll be using the women's side of a facility.

Onsen or Sento - What's the Difference?

This database contains both onsen and sento locations. You can filter for one or the other using the Facility Tags.

Generally, sento allow tattoos. Super sento almost never allow tattoos. Policies at hotels, day-use onsen, and ryokan are hit-and-miss, but lean towards tattoo intolerance. Mountain huts tend to not care about tattoos. Given this variation, it's important to try to check for tattoo-friendliness before you go. (I've been unpleasently surprised by this a few times. It's no fun.)

Check out the glossary to learn more about Japanese bathing terms and the Facility Tags used in this database. Then, you can filter the dataset to find the kind of locations you're looking for, or browse using the map.

Enjoy, and happy soaking!