Onsen Etiquette for First-Timers: Steps, Tattoos, Mixed Baths

Last checked November 2026By Yuki13 min read

Written by Yuki, editor of Japan Travel Notes, an independent Japan travel guide based in Osaka.
Japan Travel Notes is an independent guide, not a travel agency. Prices, hours and train times change, so check the official site before you book.

Five steps, two towels and one locker for your phone cover almost everything a first onsen visit asks of you. The hot water is rarely the hard part. The order is: shoes, clothes, rinse, wash, soak, and where that little towel goes.

Here is the short answer. Undress completely, rinse and wash before you get in, keep the small towel out of the water, wear no swimsuit, and leave your phone in the locker.

Tattoos depend on the facility, not on a national rule. This guide is for anyone heading to a public bath, a ryokan bath or a day-use spa for the first time.

Each mistake below is numbered, with the official page behind the fix. Mixed baths, the age limit for children and private baths get their own sections, because most etiquette lists skip them.

New to Japan? Start here

Swimsuit

Not in most baths

Towels

2: a small one and a large one

Soak length

Short, up to about 5 min

Tattoos

Facility by facility

Children

About 7+ use their own sex’s bath

Rules checked

November 2026

Rules and policies checked in November 2026 on official pages; confirm with the facility before you go.

Does This Sound Like You? 6 Onsen Worries, Checked

Most first-time nerves about onsen come down to a short list. Tick the ones that apply, then jump to the matching section below.

Every one of these has a plain answer from an official source. JNTO, the Japan National Tourism Organization, publishes a bathing manners guide, and individual onsen towns post their own rules in English.

Ticked three or more? Then a private bath may suit your first visit better than a shared one.

That is not a cop-out. Booking a private bath is one of the options Japan’s own tourism authorities suggest to facilities, and section 8 below shows how to find one. Ticked only one or two? Read those sections, then go and enjoy the shared bath.

Read next: Japan Etiquette for Tourists: Which Rules Carry a Fine

Before You Undress: Shoes, Lockers and the 2 Towels

Etiquette starts at the entrance, well before the water. Three slip-ups happen here, and all three are easy to avoid once you know the layout.

1. Walking past the step in your shoes

Japan’s tourism agency lists taking off your shoes as the first bathing manner in its multilingual guide. At a city bathhouse, the Tokyo Sento Association’s how-to page starts the same way: shoes go into the shoe lockers at the entrance, then you pay.

Look for a raised step or a change in flooring. Shoes come off before that line, and you walk to the changing room in socks or bare feet.

2. Carrying your phone into the bathing area

JNTO’s guide is blunt about cameras and phones in the bath: out of consideration for privacy, particularly of minors, it is “absolutely forbidden”. The tourism agency’s manners list says the same about photos inside the bathing area.

Some places go further. Dogo Onsen’s manners page asks you not to use phones in the changing rooms either, not just in the bath.

Lock the phone away with your clothes.

3. Arriving at a day-use bath without towels

You need two towels. The small one is for washing and for covering yourself on the walk to the tub; the large one stays in the changing room for drying off. Ryokan and hotels often supply both, but day-use spas may charge.

Hakone Yuryo, a day-use spa near Hakone-Yumoto Station, lists a bath towel and a face towel for sale in its FAQ, at a few hundred yen each as of 2026. Check the facility’s own page before you go.

• A small towel for washing and modesty
• A larger towel for drying off
• A hair tie if your hair is long
• A drink for afterwards
• A spare set of underwear

The Bath in 5 Steps, from Kakeyu to Drying Off

This is the core of onsen etiquette for first-timers, put together from JNTO, the tourism agency’s multilingual guide and the Tokyo Sento Association. Follow it and nobody will look twice at you.

JNTO says wash, then soak. The Tokyo Sento Association suggests kakeyu, a soak to warm up, then washing. Both agree on the part that matters: rinse your body before you enter the tub.

4. Skipping kakeyu

Kakeyu means pouring hot water over yourself before you get in. JNTO describes it as a way to adjust to the temperature, and the Tokyo Sento Association puts it first, right after you walk into the bathing room.

Use the small bucket at the washing station or by the tub. Start with your feet and work upwards.

5. Washing standing up

Dogo Onsen’s manners page asks guests not to use the shower while standing. The reason is simple: standing sprays water and suds over the person on the next stool.

Sit on the low stool, keep the shower head low and point it at yourself. Rinse the stool when you leave.

6. Getting into the tub with soap still on you

Washing thoroughly before entering the bath is the rule on JNTO’s page, and Dogo says the same. That includes rinsing: a film of soap or conditioner ends up floating in water everyone shares.

Take an extra ten seconds under the shower.

In the Water: Towel, Hair and the 5-Minute Rule

You are clean and in the tub. Four more mistakes are common here, and all four are about the shared water or your own safety.

7. Letting the small towel touch the water

JNTO explains that the small towel is for washing yourself or covering yourself before entering the bath, and that it is not for use in the bath. Fold it and put it on your head or on the side of the bath.

The tourism agency’s list adds a detail people miss: do not wring the towel out into the tub either.

8. Leaving long hair loose

“Tie up long hair or wrap it in a towel,” says JNTO. Dogo asks for a hair tie. Loose hair in the water is one of the few things locals will actually mention to you.

Pack a hair tie in your bath bag.

9. Staying in too long

The water can be hotter than a home bath. The tourism agency’s text on Kinosaki Onsen gives the water there as around 42°C and suggests just a short period, up to five minutes, at each public bath.

JNTO’s advice works anywhere: avoid staying in too long, and pop out for a drink of cool water if you feel too hot. Dizzy? Get out slowly and sit down.

10. Drinking before you bathe

JNTO tells visitors to avoid alcohol before a bath because it can affect your judgment. Dogo says not to bathe under the influence, and the agency’s list says no alcohol into the bath.

Have the beer after the bath, not before.

Tattoos: a Decision Table Built from 6 Published Policies

Tattoos are not banned by law, and policies vary facility by facility. JNTO puts it plainly: some traditional onsen may not accept people with a tattoo, but this is beginning to change. Our full guide to tattoo-friendly onsen and ryokan covers the how-to; this is the quick version.

Plan your trip: the tools we use

Our pick: Dogo or Kinosaki for a first onsen with tattoos, because the town’s public baths are listed as tattoo-friendly by JNTO or their own site.

11. Assuming every onsen says no

In a notice dated 16 March 2016, the Japan Tourism Agency told facilities that refusing a guest only because of a tattoo is not appropriate. It noted tattoos cause no hygiene problem and listed options: a sticker cover, no special step for a small, palm-size tattoo, quieter hours with fewer families, or a private bath.

That is guidance, not a guarantee. Each facility still sets its own rule, so read its page.

JNTO notes that skin-coloured adhesive strips can conceal a small to medium tattoo. Cover stickers are sold on Amazon; pack them even for a tattoo-friendly town, in case your ryokan differs.

12. Trusting a single page

Hoshino Resorts shows why one page is not enough. Its FAQ says it does not restrict facilities for hotel guests based on tattoos. Its hotel regulations page says persons with tattoos may bathe only if covered by a sticker in the way the hotel specifies.

When two official pages disagree, email the property before you book.

Mixed Baths: 3 Rules of Dress You Will Actually Meet

JNTO says changing rooms are always separated by sex, as are the vast majority of onsen baths. Mixed baths, called konyoku, do exist, though you may have to hunt them down. The dress code is where people get confused, because it changes from bath to bath.

Gunma’s official tourism site, the tourism agency’s multilingual guide and Sainokawara’s own site describe four examples that cover the three rules you will meet:

• Takaragawa Onsen Osenkaku: bath wear provided by the hotel only
• Sainokawara, Kusatsu: Friday evening mixed session, swimwear or towel wrap
• Sukayu Onsen, Aomori: yuamigi optional, sold at reception
• Hoshi Onsen Chojukan, Gunma: no clothes and no towels in the mixed bath

Yuamigi is the Japanese word for a modesty garment worn in mixed baths. At Sukayu, women may wear one, and the bath sets aside times in the morning and evening for women only, with a screened entry for women.

Not sure which rule applies? Ask at reception before you undress.

13. Wrapping a towel where it is banned

Hoshi Onsen Chojukan’s mixed baths allow no clothes, towels included, according to Gunma’s tourism page. The same hot spring also has separate men’s and women’s baths. If going without cover is not for you, use those instead.

The opposite is true at Sainokawara’s Friday session, where the bath’s own site says you can wear swimwear or wrap yourself in a towel. Times can change, so check the bath’s site for the current schedule.

14. Bringing your own swimsuit to Takaragawa

Takaragawa’s big riverside baths are mixed, and the hotel provides special bathing suits for the konyoku areas. Gunma’s page is clear that guests may not bring or use their own swimwear there.

Leave your swimsuit at home for this one.

Bathing with Kids: the Age-7 Line and Day-Use Rules

Families hit two rules that most etiquette guides never mention. One is an age line for children in the other sex’s bath. The other is a minimum age at some day-use spas.

15. Taking a child aged 7 or over into the other sex’s bath

Japan’s health ministry revised its guideline in December 2020, lowering the age from about 10 and over to about 7 and over. Prefectures set the rule in their own ordinances, so start dates differ: Mie’s applies from 1 July 2022.

Tokyo’s rule, as published by Shinjuku City, says not to let boys and girls aged 7 and over bathe together. Yamanashi adds that sex is judged by the body. These pages cover public baths; many ryokan follow the same line, so ask.

Reader

Can my 8-year-old son come into the women’s bath with me?

Yuki

Under prefecture rules for public baths, no: about 7 and over is the line. A private bath lets the family soak together.

16. Turning up at a day-use spa with a toddler

Hakone Yuryo’s FAQ says children aged 5 and under cannot use the public baths. Its private open-air baths are the option for families with small children.

Check the age rule on the spa’s page before you plan the day around it.

Mie Prefecture asks bathers and facilities to understand and allow medical bathing garments for people with scars from surgery such as breast cancer operations or skin grafts. If you need one, ask the facility in advance.

Private Baths, Ryokan Rooms and Day Trips: Which to Book

Sometimes the best fix is to skip the shared bath. Tattoos, young kids or plain shyness are all good reasons, and there are three ways to do it.

• Kashikiri: a bath you reserve for your group for a set time
• A room with its own open-air bath at a ryokan or hotel
• A day-use spa with private rooms you book by the slot

For a room with its own bath, filter for a private open-air bath on Booking.com, Agoda or Rakuten Travel, then read the property’s bath rules. Our guide Is a Ryokan Worth It? helps you decide whether the price makes sense.

For a day trip, Hakone Yuryo is one example. Odakyu’s Hakone guide lists 19 private open-air baths for 120 minutes, at ¥10,400–15,400 as of 2026. The public bath is roughly ¥1,700–2,200 for adults by day.

• Private rooms open for booking 1 month ahead, until 3:00 pm the day before
• A free shuttle runs from Hakone-Yumoto Station, about 3 minutes
• Prices change by day and season, so check the official site

Book the private room first, then plan the rest of the day.

Guided day trips to Hakone or Kusatsu are listed on Klook, GetYourGuide and KKday. If you go to Kusatsu on your own, Sainokawara’s open-air bath lists ¥800 for adults (children 3–12 ¥400) on its own site as of November 2026; check before you go.

The One Habit: Read the Facility’s Own Rules Before You Go

If you remember one thing, make it this: the facility’s own page beats any general list, this one included. Two examples from our research show why.

Hoshino Resorts has two English pages that word the tattoo rule differently. Sainokawara’s own site shows a higher adult fee than the older Gunma prefecture page. Both are official, and only one is current.

So here is our rule of thumb, in three points:

• Open the bath’s own English page and look for “manners”, “FAQ” or “rules”
• Check the date or the newest year mentioned on the page
• If anything is unclear, email before you book, not at the door

It takes five minutes.

The general manners in this guide hold almost everywhere. Tattoos, mixed-bath dress, age limits and prices are the parts that differ. For the wider picture of Japan’s rules, see which etiquette rules carry a fine, and if you are going in the cold months, Japan in winter.

FAQ

QCan I wear a swimsuit in an onsen?

Usually not. JNTO says onsen bathing is typically in the nude, and both Hakone Yuryo and Dogo say no swimsuits. The exceptions are some mixed baths, such as Sainokawara’s Friday session, and Takaragawa, which provides its own bath wear.

QCan I use an onsen during my period?

We found no official rule on this. Many people book a private bath or a room with its own bath instead.

QHow long should I stay in the water?

Short soaks. The tourism agency’s Kinosaki text suggests up to five minutes at each public bath in water around 42°C. Get out and drink cool water if you feel too hot.

QCan I take my phone into the changing room?

Into the bathing area, never. Some places, Dogo Onsen among them, also ask you not to use phones in the changing room, so keep it locked away.

Cover Photo: Bounta Nanthavong, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons