Onsen accepting tattoo

Hello,

I live in Singapore, I'm caucasian (swiss) and have 3 tattoo on my body (dragons on shoulder, and back). I'm travelling again in Japan this November 2011 and I want to book an Ryokan Onsen around Tokyo. I don't want to stay in my room with a small private bath but enjoying the public ones (bigger and more different baths). The problem is many Onsen refuse tattoos and I don't want to pay for it and can not enjoy the baths. Someone has an address of Ryokan Onsen, public baths hotels i can book without any problem with my tattoos? Thank you very much
Philippe

I have been to hundreds of onsen baths over the years across all of Japan, and only on a single occasion I encountered a bath that had an explicit "tatoo ok" policy. I can't remember where it was, though. All other baths had a "no tatoo" policy or - the majority - no published policy, at all.

I also checked the Japanese internet for similar questions as yours, but I found nothing.

If you really want to be sure that your tatoo won't cause a problem, I recommend to actually inquire with the ryokan on whether a tatoo will cause a problem or not.

I go into the onsen all the time, I feel sorry enough for the japanese having to be in the same water as a hairy white guy like me. With the greatest of respect, i reckon you that you should be thinking of the enjoyment of the locals that you might spoil (from the tattoo yakuza connotations). After all, the japanese are wanting to relax as well, i'd be pretty uncomfortable if someone I thought might be a gangster got into a bath with me. I tend to go to the onsens at times that the japanese arent there so much, early morning (6AM ish) is good, mid afternoon is also good because the japanese tend to go before and after dinner, not because I'm shy but more because the japanese have so little body hair they'd be thinking it'd be like bathing with a dog. you might want to try the same.

I have a large tribal tattoo on my upperarm and across to my back and I was also worried about onsen's on our holiday to Japan. I enquired at several different onsen's and ryokans and met with pretty much 50/50. Some said that it was no problem because they understood foriegners have different views on tattoos. Some said that we would have to book private time, or -could- book private time if we didn't want to disturb other guests, and a few big places (like water parks and the onsen in Odaiba) said that it was not acceptable to allow tattood people in.
Just hop onto Hostel World and other hotel sites and start emailing different places to see what reaction you get. You will more than likely find plenty of places to stay and enjoy public baths and onsens.
(P.s. I went to Kinosaki and had no problem at my ryokan or the 7 onsens that are in town =) No one even looked at me funny, and I found the older ladies loved trying to talk to me. But I may have had exceptionally good luck.)

I have 4 tattoos on my upper body. Went to an onsen in Kozushima island that did not have a sign or any text forbidding tattoos, and they did not give me any trouble, nor did they bother the tattooed Japanese guy I saw there.

If you see a sign, you may have to accept the onsen's policy and pick another one. If you find an onsen with no policy, though, give it a shot.
No experience with onsen ryokans yet, though.