OnsenQuest

Prefectures / Tochigi

Nikkosan Onsenji Temple

日光山温泉寺 · Nikko Yumoto Onsen

Policy not published (day visit)

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

They have not said

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.

ViewWaterComfortSettingAccess

Verified by the editor

View2
Water5
Comfort3
Setting5
Access3
—Somewhere to sit — not checked
○Anything else nearby — In the middle of things

A temple you can bathe in - almost unheard of in Japan - and a branch of the World Heritage Rinnoji complex. The water is a sulphur-calcium-sodium sulphate and bicarbonate spring at 71.4 degrees, unheated and unfiltered, going milky white as it is cooled. Two small wooden tubs, no view to speak of, and the whole thing is closed from late November until the snow clears in spring. Worth timing a visit around: the setting on the shore of Lake Yunoko inside Nikko National Park is the best in the prefecture, and the Yudaki falls and the bubbling source field are a short walk away.

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

Indoor bath

Yakushi-yu, separate men's and women's wooden tubs inside the temple's kuri. The source is 71.4 degrees and is never reheated or filtered; cold water is added because it is otherwise too hot to enter, which turns the pale emerald-green source milky white.

Open to day visitors

Practical details

Day visits
Yes — you can bathe without staying overnight.
Seasonal. In 2026 the bath opened on 11 April and runs to late November; reception 8:00-16:00, bathing until 17:00. Closed all winter.
Day visit price
¥500
An offering of 500 yen for adults (junior-high age and up) and 300 yen for children aged 4 to primary school. Visiting the temple itself is free. Overnight stays at the temple are suspended for the time being.
Staying overnight
No
Getting there
At 2559 Yumoto, Nikko, on the far side of Lake Yunoko at the top of the Oku-Nikko valley. About 90 minutes by Tobu bus from Tobu Nikko or JR Nikko Station to the Yumoto Onsen stop, then two minutes on foot; about 40 minutes by car from the Kiyotaki IC, with snow tyres or chains needed outside summer.
Official website
www.rinnoji.or.jp/history/temple/onsenji.html

Visit the official website ↗

Staying nearby

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Where to stay in Nikko Yumoto OnsenBooking.com ↗Day-pass tickets and coupons for TochigiAsoview (Japanese-language site) ↗

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.