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. A private (kashikiri) 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.
The baths
Indoor bath
Free communal bath in the quieter Ura-Kusatsu district, three minutes from the Yubatake. Fed by the Jizo source, whose water runs slightly cloudy and is softer on the skin than the Yubatake water.
Private (kashikiri) bath
'Dento-yu Jizo', a private-hire bath attached to Jizo-no-yu. 3,500 yen per group per hour for up to ten people, booked in advance on 0279-88-1320; sessions start at 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30, closed Wednesdays. The tub is large enough that a group is not cramped, and you can try yumomi (paddling the water to cool it) yourself. This is the one realistic private-bath option in central Kusatsu for a day visitor.
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
- Yes — you can bathe without staying overnight.8:00-22:00
- Day visit price
- FreeThe communal bath itself is free; no attendant, no ticket, no soap, no lockable lockers. The private-hire bath next door (Dento-yu Jizo) is a separate paid booking at 3,500 yen per group per hour. Outside the bathhouse there is a free foot bath, hand bath and a 'face bath' that steams your face, all open 24 hours at no charge.
- Staying overnight
- No
- Getting there
- Three minutes' walk from the Yubatake in the Ura-Kusatsu Jizo district, alongside a manga library and a cafe. Reach Kusatsu by JR bus (about 25 minutes) from Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station on the JR Agatsuma Line.
- Official website
- www.kusatsu-onsen.ne.jp/kankou/1099.php
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.
Why Agoda for Japan: it lists a lot of ryokan and small inns that the Western booking sites never picked up, and it usually prices Japanese properties in yen, so you are not paying a conversion spread on top of the room rate. Worth comparing before you book — the difference on a ryokan is often larger than you would expect.
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 Kusatsu
Checked the same way: tattoo policy, private baths and day visits.