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
Tattoos are accepted in the main baths.
Source: official website · checked 2026-08-29
How it scores
Every onsen on this site is scored on the same five things.
The baths
Open-air bath
One enormous open-air bath, split into a men's and a women's side, 500 square metres in total and among the largest in Japan; it holds around a hundred bathers. Water is from the Bandai source. There is NO washing area and no shampoo here: the changing rooms are all the facilities there are, so wash elsewhere first if you want to. Every Friday 17:30-20:00 the men's side becomes mixed bathing (swimwear or a towel wrap is worn), except on set dates.
Practical details
- Day visits
- Yes — you can bathe without staying overnight.1 Apr-30 Nov 7:00-20:00, 1 Dec-31 Mar 9:00-20:00 (last entry 19:30 year-round)
- Day visit price
- ¥800Adults 800 yen, children 400 yen; holders of a disability certificate pay half. On the second Wednesday of most months the bath closes early at 17:00 (last entry 16:30) for tub cleaning.
- Staying overnight
- No
- Getting there
- About a 12-minute walk from the Yubatake through Sainokawara Park, a stone-paved promenade past small shrines and steaming ground; the surrounding area is a special zone of Joshinetsu-kogen National Park. Free parking at Tengu-yama No.1 car park (300 spaces). Reach Kusatsu by JR bus (about 25 minutes) from Naganohara-Kusatsuguchi Station.
- Official website
- onsen-kusatsu.com/sainokawara
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.
More onsen in and around Kusatsu
Checked the same way: tattoo policy, private baths and day visits.