Private onsen for tattoos — baths you can book for yourself

Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka no Yu — Photo: Drivephotographer / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons

Some baths that turn tattoos away in the shared bath will still let you book a private one. Only baths where the bath, the city or the tourism association says so officially.

• Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka no YuAllowed

  Photo: Drivephotographer / CC0 / Wikimedia Commons

• Dogo Onsen HonkanAllowed

  Photo: z tanuki / CC BY 3.0 / Wikimedia Commons

• Hyotan Onsen (Beppu)Allowed

  Photo: Jordi Sanchez Teruel from Seúl, South Korea / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Last updated: 22 October 2026

There are three ways into a Japanese hot spring with tattoos: choose a bath that allows them, cover them, or book a private bath (more in Tattoos and onsen).

The third is the most relaxed. Nobody else is in the water with you, so there is nothing to cover and no one to worry about. If your tattoos are too large for cover stickers, it is usually the option that is left.

This page lists the baths where the bath itself, its city or its official tourism association says officially that a private bath is fine.

What a private bath is

• You rent one room by time — usually 45 to 60 minutes.
• Prices differ by bath. Some charge per room, some per person.
• It is called 貸切風呂 (kashikiri-buro), 家族風呂 / 家族湯 (kazoku-buro, “family bath”) or 貸切湯. You don’t need to be a family to use one.
• Some need a reservation.
• Where hotel guests have priority, day visitors may not get in at busy times.

How to read the list

• Private baths only: the shared bath turns tattoos away, but the private bath is fine.
• Shared bath OK, private bath too: you can use the shared bath, and you can book a private one if you’d rather not be seen.

For now, almost all of these are in Oita Prefecture — Beppu and around it — because Beppu City and the Oita tourism association officially list private baths as places where tattoos are not an issue. Other areas will be added as they are confirmed.

If you are staying the night

Deciding when you book the room saves trouble later.

1. Choose a room with its own open-air bath. Your room’s bath has no rules to worry about.
2. Choose a ryokan or hotel with a private bath. When you book, ask: “I have tattoos — can I use the private bath?”
3. Rules for the shared bath differ by place. Even if a hotel says private baths are fine, confirm when you book.

Before you go

• Hours, prices and reservation rules change. Check the official information linked from each bath’s page before you go.
• Small baths are sometimes unstaffed. Bring coins.