OnsenQuest

Prefectures / Shimane

Yakushiyu (Yunotsu Onsen)

薬師湯 · Yunotsu Onsen

Policy not published (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

They have not said

The tattoo policy is not stated publicly. A private (kashikiri) bath is available, which is often an option for tattooed guests.

Staying overnight

They have not said

The tattoo policy is not stated publicly. A private or in-room 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.

ViewWaterComfortSettingAccess

Verified by the editor

View2
Water5
Comfort4
Setting3
Access4
△Somewhere to sit — A small rest area
○Anything else nearby — In the middle of things

The easier of Yunotsu's two bathhouses to enjoy without preparation: same class of free-flowing water, but with a Taisho-era wooden facade, a lounge, tatami rest rooms, a rooftop terrace with free coffee looking over the red-tiled roofs, and a cafe in the old bathhouse next door. The spring is hot and mineral-caked rather than pretty, and there is no view from the water itself. Staff handle English, and the private bath means a group or anyone uneasy about a shared bath can still get in. Note the new Tuesday closing day.

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

An oval stone tub in the middle of the room, fed by a spring that rises on its own from 2-3 m below the building right behind the bathhouse at about 46C and goes into the bath untouched. Decades of mineral deposits have built up over the rim like lava. Water is hottest near the spout (about 45-46C) and around 42C by the handrail at the entrance. The bath is drained and cleaned every night after closing.

Open to day visitors

Private (kashikiri) bath

A private (family) bath in the same water, booked in 40-minute slots - the operator recommends reserving. A second private bath is available in the annex at a higher rate. Both are extra on top of the bathing fee, and are the way into this water for anyone who would rather not use the shared bath.

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.
9:00-21:00. Closed on Tuesdays from 8 September 2026 (it opened every day until then).
Day visit price
¥600
600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children in the men's and women's baths. The private bath is 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children per 40-minute slot; the annex private bath is 1,600 yen and 800 yen. Coffee on the roof terrace is included. The new Tuesday closing day does not apply to the two traditional baths - the iris bath on 5 May and the yuzu bath on 22 December 2026.
Staying overnight
Yes
Getting there
A 10-15 minute walk from JR Yunotsu Station on the San'in Main Line, in the middle of the preserved Yunotsu townscape; about 25 minutes by car from the Gotsu interchange on the San'in Expressway. Roughly 30 parking spaces, split across several lots. The operator also runs Yunotsu-an, a one-group-per-day guesthouse five minutes' walk away at 8,500 yen per adult per night without meals (breakfast items are left in the fridge); its guests bathe free in the main bath and pay 800 yen per adult for the private bath.
Official website
www.yunotsu.com

Visit the official website ↗

Book it

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