Onsen tattoo card in Japanese
A bathhouse rule is not something you can argue with at the door, but asking well changes the answer surprisingly often. This card puts the question in polite Japanese — may I bathe, may I cover it, is there a private bath — so staff can give you a real answer instead of a reflex no.
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Why tattoos are refused, and where that is changing
The ban is a legacy of tattoos being read as a mark of organised crime, and it is enforced by individual operators rather than by any law. Since the 2010s a growing number of onsen towns, hotel baths and private-bath ryokan have relaxed it, especially where foreign guests are common. Kinosaki, Beppu and a number of Hakone ryokan are known for it. What has not changed is that the decision belongs to the desk, and that a polite question gets further than a hopeful walk-in.
The four questions the card can ask
タトゥーがありますが、入浴できますか (may I bathe with a tattoo), タトゥーはカバーシールで隠します。それでも入浴できますか (I will cover it with a patch — is that acceptable), 貸切風呂または家族風呂はありますか (do you have a private or family bath) and 他のお客様が少ない時間帯であれば入れますか (could I bathe at a quieter time). You can also say the tattoo is smaller than a palm, or honestly that it is too large to cover.
Cover patches, and what size actually passes
Skin-coloured cover patches are sold in Japanese drugstores and on the counter of some bathhouses, and a tattoo that fits under one — roughly palm size or smaller — is the case that most often gets a yes. A sleeve or a back piece cannot be covered, and the honest sentence about that is on the card too. Pretending otherwise and being asked to leave mid-bath is a worse afternoon than being told no at the door.
The sentence that matters most
The card closes with 規則であれば従います。教えていただきありがとうございます — if it is against the rules I will of course respect that, thank you for telling me. Leading with that changes the conversation from a negotiation into a question, and staff who are not being pushed have far more room to mention the private bath, the family bath or the quiet hour that is not on the English sign.
Printing and privacy
Ten cards at 91 by 55 millimetres fit on one A4 sheet with cut lines, printed at 100 percent scaling. A6 gives four larger cards. There is also a 1080 pixel PNG for your phone, which is the practical format at a bathhouse counter. Nothing is uploaded: the card is assembled by JavaScript inside your own browser tab, with no server and no account involved.
Frequently asked questions
Can I go to an onsen with a tattoo in Japan?
Sometimes, and increasingly often. There is no law about it — each bathhouse sets its own rule. Private-bath ryokan, family baths, many hotel baths and a growing list of tattoo-friendly onsen say yes; large traditional sento and older resort baths frequently still say no. Asking at the desk with a written question is the fastest way to find out which one you are standing in.
Do cover patches work?
For a small tattoo, usually. Skin-coloured patches are sold in drugstores and sometimes at the bath itself, and a bathhouse that refuses uncovered tattoos will often accept a covered one. Anything larger than a palm cannot be covered convincingly, and the card has an honest sentence for that case rather than a hopeful one.
What is a kashikiri-buro?
A private bath you book by the hour, often 40 to 60 minutes for roughly 2,000 to 4,000 yen, and the standard answer a ryokan gives a tattooed guest. A 家族風呂 (family bath) is the same idea. Asking for one directly is on the card, because it is frequently offered the moment you ask rather than advertised in English.
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