Kawayu Onsen Sennin-buro
川湯温泉 仙人風呂 · Kawayu Onsen (Wakayama)
Can you bathe here with a tattoo?
This is the question we built the site around, so we answer it per situation.
Visiting for the day
The tattoo policy is not stated publicly. Please contact the facility.
How it scores
Every onsen on this site is scored on the same five things.
The baths
Open-air bath
In winter the town dams the Otogawa river to make one enormous open-air bath in the riverbed - the size changes from year to year, and it is big enough that the name means 'the bath of a thousand hermits'. The source rises through the river gravel at over 70C and is tempered by the river itself. SWIMWEAR IS COMPULSORY: the tourist association warns that bathing naked here may fall foul of Article 174 of the Penal Code, since this is an open public riverbed. No soap or shampoo, no food or alcohol, and do not bathe if unwell or after drinking. Outside the winter season the riverbed is still hot: people dig their own small tub in the gravel.
Practical details
- Day visits
- Yes — you can bathe without staying overnight.SEASONAL - open only from December to the end of February. 6:30-22:00 (last entry 21:30). Closed when the river runs high after rain.
- Day visit price
- FreeFree.
- Staying overnight
- No
- Getting there
- In Kawayu Onsen, about 20 minutes by bus from Kumano Hongu Taisha; free parking for about 36 cars roughly 200 m downstream of the bath.
- Official website
- www.hongu.jp/onsen/kawayu/senninburo
Staying nearby
The links below are affiliate links — we may earn a commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what we list or how we score it.
About the day-pass link: Asoview is the main place day-use onsen in Japan sell entry tickets and discount coupons in advance. It is a Japanese-only site, so use your browser’s translation — you show the ticket on your phone at the door.
What we have not confirmed
We would rather show a gap than guess.
- The tattoo policy for day visits is not stated on the official website.
More onsen in and around Kawayu Onsen (Wakayama)
Checked the same way: tattoo policy, private baths and day visits.