OnsenQuest

Prefectures / Nara

Kamiyu Onsen Shinyuso

上湯温泉 神湯荘 · Kamiyu Onsen

Policy not published (overnight)

Can you bathe here with a tattoo?

This is the question we built the site around, so we answer it per situation.

Staying overnight

They have not said

The tattoo policy is not stated publicly. A private or in-room bath is available, which is often an option for tattooed guests.

How it scores

Every onsen on this site is scored on the same five things.

ViewWaterComfortSettingAccess

Verified by the editor

View4
Water4.5
Comfort4
Setting5
Access1
—Somewhere to sit — not checked
×Anything else nearby — Nothing else around

A member of the Hito-yu 'secret hot springs' association, alone at the head of the valley, with eight baths of which four are private open-air ones. For a tattooed traveller that is an unusually good setup - though the inn publishes no tattoo rule either way, so it is not confirmed.

Every onsen on this site is scored against the same written rubric, and every score has been reviewed by the editor. The ones marked Visited were also bathed in personally.

The baths

Private (kashikiri) bath

Four private open-air baths, each different: Iyashi-no-yu nearest the main building and easiest on the legs, Bijin-no-yu for families and couples, Mizu-no-kami built around a huge boulder beside a mountain stream, and Amanogawa, a reclining star-gazing bath. The inn gives bathing hours of 15:00 until 9:00 the next morning.

Overnight guests only

Indoor bath

Separate men's and women's indoor baths on the ground floor with large windows; these are the only baths in the inn with showers.

Overnight guests only

Open-air bath

The riverside source baths on the Kamiyu river, men's and women's, are shared with the paying day-use bath - staying guests use them free.

Overnight guests only

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 confirmed
No day-use bathing. The inn states plainly that its baths are for staying guests only and sends day visitors to the separate riverside Kawara-no-yu instead - and asks not to be contacted about that bath.
Staying overnight
Yes
from about ¥12,500 per person
Getting there
The only inn in Kamiyu, at the far upstream end of Totsukawa about 15 minutes by car from the Totsukawa Onsen bus centre. There is no bus; arrange a car or ask the inn about a pick-up. Route 168 through the valley has been closed by landslides more than once, so check road notices before setting out.
Official website
kamiyusou.jp

Visit the official website ↗

Book it

Check rates and availabilityBooking.com ↗

What we have not confirmed

We would rather show a gap than guess.