Can you bathe here with a tattoo?
This is the question we built the site around, so we answer it per situation.
Staying overnight
Tattoos are not allowed in the shared baths, but you can bathe in a private or in-room bath.
Source: official website · checked 2026-08-29
How it scores
Every onsen on this site is scored on the same five things.
The baths
Indoor bath
Thirteen bathing places in total across large baths, open-air baths, private baths and a foot bath, all on Kogane-no-yu, Ikaho's original iron-bearing brown water. The inn states the water is free-flowing with no recirculation and no dilution; because the source emerges cool it is warmed in winter. The main bath 'Matazaemon-no-yu' reopened after rebuilding on 1 April 2026.
Open-air bath
A detached open-air bath ('hanare rotenburo') among the thirteen.
Private (kashikiri) bath
Three private baths - Akagi, Ikaho and Fuchina. They cannot be booked ahead: staying guests reserve a slot at a dedicated 1F desk after check-in. The one exception is wheelchair users and guests who need privacy for surgical scars, who may book in advance when reserving the room. These private baths are the route the inn offers to tattooed guests, and they are barrier-free, unlike the large baths.
A private bath means nobody else is in the water with you — often the practical answer if the shared baths are closed to tattooed guests.
Practical details
- Day visits
- No — overnight guests only.
- Day visit price
- Not confirmedBoth the large baths and the paid private baths are for staying guests only; there is no day-use bathing at all.
- Staying overnight
- Yes
- Getting there
- Next to the Ishidan-gai stone stairway in the centre of Ikaho. Take a Kan-Etsu Kotsu bus from JR Shibukawa Station or a Gunma Bus from Takasaki Station; highway buses also run from Ueno, Shinjuku and Tokyo Station.
- Official website
- www.kishigon.co.jp