Onsen · Sento · Sauna · Gym · Pool
Tattoo-friendly Japan.
Baths, saunas, gyms and pools in Japan that let you in with tattoos. Every rule is quoted from an official source (the venue, its operator or the local government), with the date we last read it.
- places listed
- 627
- cities and towns
- 9
- last re-checked at the source
- Oct 2026
Where to go
Beppu has the most, because the city publishes its own list of baths that welcome tattoos.
Photo: Tokyo Sento Association (東京都浴場組合) 東京Tokyo
43 places →+340 gyms & pools
Photo: Kyoto Sento Association (京都府浴場組合) 京都Kyoto
6 places →+31 gyms & pools
Photo: Osaka Sento Association (大阪府浴場組合) 大阪Osaka
12 places →+81 gyms & pools
Photo: Daderot, CC0 箱根Hakone
12 places →
Photo: Beppu City (別府市) 別府Beppu
89 places →+2 gyms & pools
Photo: Visit Kinosaki (Kinosaki Onsen Tourism Association) 城崎Kinosaki
7 places →
From the source
“…have explicitly stated they welcome tattooed guests into their communal bathing areas.”What the badges mean
Ink OKPhoto: Tokyo Sento Association (東京都浴場組合) No cover needed
Tattoos welcome as they are. No cover, no conditions.
114 places →
Cover OKPhoto: Tokyo Sento Association (東京都浴場組合) Bring a cover patch
Welcome once covered. Check the size limit.
10 places →
PrivatePhoto: Beppu City (別府市) Book a private bath
Book a private bath and the shared-bath rules never apply.
37 places →
NoTattoos not allowed. Listed so you know before you go.
Sento, saunas, gyms and pools
Photo: Tokyo Sento Association (東京都浴場組合) 銭湯Sento42 →
Neighbourhood bathhouses, often the easiest yes in town.
Photo: Tokyo Sento Association (東京都浴場組合) サウナSaunas9 →
Standalone saunas and sauna floors in bathhouses.
Photo: GymGold, CC BY-SA 4.0 ジムGyms427 →
Day passes and memberships where ink is fine on the floor.
Photo: Syced, CC0 プールPools31 →
Municipal, hotel and summer outdoor pools.
No cover needed: one in each city
Ink OKAtami-yu熱海湯Sento · TokyoChecked 12 October 2026Photo: Tokyo Sento Association (東京都浴場組合)
Ink OKKyoto Tamanoyu京都 玉の湯Sento · KyotoChecked 12 October 2026Photo: Kyoto Sento Association (京都府浴場組合)
Ink OKOfuroya Wako (Wako Yokujo)おふろや和光（和光浴場）Sento · OsakaChecked 12 October 2026Photo: Osaka Sento Association (大阪府浴場組合)
Ink OKHakone Yuryo箱根湯寮Onsen · HakoneChecked 12 October 2026Photo: Hakone Town Tourism Association (箱根町観光協会)
Ink OKAsami Onsen朝見温泉Onsen · BeppuChecked 12 October 2026Photo: Beppu City (別府市)
Ink OKKinosaki Jizo-yu城崎温泉 地蔵湯Onsen · KinosakiChecked 12 October 2026Photo: Visit Kinosaki (Kinosaki Onsen Tourism Association)
Start here
Can you go to an onsen in Japan with tattoos?
Often, yes. Why many Japanese baths still refuse tattoos, how common that is, the four ways tattooed travellers get in, and what to do if you're turned away.
Read the guide →Tattoo cover patches for onsen, sento and pools
When a cover patch gets you in, the kinds that work, where to buy them in Japan, and how to put them on so they survive hot water.
Read the guide →How to use an onsen or sento, in 10 steps
A calm first visit to a Japanese hot spring or public bathhouse, from the shoe lockers to the coffee milk, with the parts that matter if you have tattoos.
Read the guide →Gyms and pools in Japan with tattoos
What the big gym chains and public pools actually say about tattoos, and how to train or swim in Japan without being turned away.
Read the guide →Tokyo public pools and tattoos, pool by pool
The official tattoo rule at 21 public pools in Tokyo. All let you swim with tattoos if you cover them, usually with a rash guard.
Read the guide →
How we check
We only list a rule we can point to: the venue's own website, its operator's, or the local government's. Review sites and other directories don't count. Each page links that source and shows the date we last read it, and when someone tells us a rule has changed, we check again.
More on how we check →Latest changes
- · Re-checkedRe-read the official source for every onsen, sento, sauna, pool, hotel and ryokan we list (200 places, including the whole Beppu City map). No rule had changed except the two Hakone hotels below, and each page now shows today as the date we checked.
- · Re-checkedHotel Shikinoyakata Hakone Ashinoko and Hotel Morinokaze Hakone Sengokuhara no longer show their covered-tattoo rule anywhere on their websites. Their pages now say so; ask the hotel before you go. We're asking them.
- · PhotosPhotos for 3 Tokyo pools from Wikimedia Commons, each credited: Heiwadai Gymnasium, Higashi-Ayase Park and the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
Turned away, or welcomed?
Rules change. If a place on Sumiyu let you in, turned you away, or has new rules, tell us and we'll check it again.