Tarutama Onsen Takibiyori

垂玉温泉瀧日和 · Aso Onsen

OK in a private bath (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

Yes, if you take a private bath

Tattoos are not allowed in the shared baths, but you can bathe in a private (kashikiri) bath.

Source: official website · checked 2026-09-07

How it scores

Every onsen on this site is scored on the same five things.

Verified by the editor

Water3.5

Comfort4.5

Setting5

Access1

○Somewhere to sit — You can spend the day here

×Anything else nearby — Nothing else around

One of the few places in Kumamoto that puts its tattoo rule in writing and then leaves a door open: no shared bath, but the three private baths are explicitly yours. The 130-year-old Yamaguchi Ryokan that stood here was wrecked by the 2016 earthquake and reopened in 2021 as a day-use bath only — the new building has won architecture prizes, and it shows in the fittings. The water is a plain neutral simple spring, but it is undiluted and unheated, welling up at the foot of the Kinryu waterfall.

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

Tomoshibi-no-yu: indoor bath, sauna and a spring-water cold bath. The water rises at the plunge pool of the Kinryu waterfall — a neutral simple spring, free-flowing with no water added and no reheating, blended from several sources to hold about 41C.

Open to day visitors

Open-air bath

Two different open-air baths that do not rotate. Men's side (Ten-no-yu): a lying-down bath looking up at moving cloud and trees, plus a rock bath in the sound of the waterfall and the stream. Women's side (Kajika-no-yu): a standing bath 125 cm deep — the operator warns off small children and anyone unsteady — and a single-person ceramic tub.

Open to day visitors

Private (kashikiri) bath

Three private baths, 2,500 yen per room for 2 adults, 10:00-18:00, first come first served. Extra adults 1,000 yen each. These are the baths the operator directs tattooed visitors to.

Open to day visitors

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.
10:00-19:00 (last reception 18:00)
Day visit price: ¥1,000
1,000 yen adults, 500 yen primary school age, 300 yen ages 3 to pre-school — rising to 1,200 / 600 / 400 yen on designated peak days. Private baths are a separate 2,500 yen per room (2 adults, 60 min), 3,000 yen on peak days, open 10:00-18:00 on a first-come basis. Closed Wednesdays and the 2nd and 4th Thursdays.
Staying overnight: No
Getting there: At 2331 Kayo, Minami-Aso Village, up a mountain road on the flank of Mt Aso and next door to Jigoku Onsen. About 45 minutes from the Kumamoto interchange. The operator's own directions: from Kumamoto city cross the new Aso Ohashi bridge onto Route 325, turn at the Seven-Eleven Minami-Aso Kayo crossroads and climb for 10 minutes. There is no public transport — a car is required.
Official website: tarutama.jp

Visit the official website ↗

Staying nearby

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Where to stay in Aso OnsenBooking.com ↗Day-pass tickets and coupons for KumamotoAsoview (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.