OnsenQuest

Prefectures / Nara

Shionoha Onsen Yamabatoyu

入之波温泉 山鳩湯 · Shionoha Onsen

Tattoos not allowed (day visit)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.

Visiting for the day

No — tattooed guests are turned away

Tattoos are not permitted.

Source: official website · checked 2026-09-05

Staying overnight

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

View4.5
Water5
Comfort3.5
Setting5
Access2
△Somewhere to sit — A small rest area
×Anything else nearby — Nothing else around

One of the most distinctive waters in Japan: a self-flowing carbonated bicarbonate spring at 500 litres a minute, colourless when it leaves the ground and turning a cloudy gold within hours, with deposits that have encased the cedar tub in mineral crust. Undiluted and uncirculated. Tattooed visitors are refused, and there is no private bath to fall back on.

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

A large bath built entirely of cedar logs, fed at 39C. So much mineral deposit has hardened over the timber that the tub now looks like glazed pottery rather than wood. Body soap and shampoo provided.

Open to day visitors

Open-air bath

A log tub cut from a single huge zelkova, slightly cooler than the indoor bath, looking out over the gorge above the Ohsako dam. Spring water overflows into it from the indoor bath.

Open to day visitors

Practical details

Day visits
Yes — you can bathe without staying overnight.
Last admission 16:00, closes 17:00. Closed Wednesdays from April to October, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays from November to March (open on public holidays, long weekends, Obon and New Year).
Day visit price
¥900
Adults 900 yen, elementary school age and under 500 yen. Cash only - the inn takes no cards or electronic payment, and there is no convenience store nearby.
Staying overnight
Yes
Getting there
Near the source of the Yoshino river above the Ohsako dam, on a slope so steep the building is stacked downhill in the local 'Yoshino-date' style - you park on the top floor and walk down stairs to reception. The inn gives 60 minutes by bus from Kintetsu Yamato-Kamiichi Station, but services are sparse; a taxi from the Sugi-no-Yu Kawakami roadside station takes about 30 minutes. Parking is 12 spaces plus an overflow lot.
Official website
yamabatoyu.co.jp

Visit the official website ↗

Book it

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Check rates and availabilityBooking.com ↗Day-pass tickets and coupons for NaraAsoview (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.