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Onsens that accept foreigners

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Ukonkivi

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I don't have tattoos, but I have my own worries. I'm a foreigner.
And as a foreigner, I'm told many Onsens and other places don't accept foreigner as customers. And that xenophobia is more rampant in small towns in Japan.

But I'm interested in going to smaller towns, or more traditional ones, like Nara, Kyoto, and Hanamaki, and I'm wondering if anyone who has been to any smaller towns, if they could tell me which Onsens accept foreigners as customers and which ones are Japanese Only.

Even better if I know they don't mind foreigners at all(if that's possible), that I don't have to be a burden on anyone.

Thanks in advance.
 
That is complete garbage Ukonkivi as I have never had any problem visiting an onsen, even in a small town in all my years of living in Japan. Even today there is no problem for me as I can speak the language and have never been turned down even when I made a reservation on the internet.

I visit a different onsen every year and make the reservation in my own foreign name and have never been turned down. Therefore you needn't worry if you can make a reservation in even basic Japanese.

Also, it is my personal experience that I am more accepted in a small town as a foreigner and more people are willing to accept you and talk to you if you can speak Japanese and abide by the customs as it is not everyday that they get to meet and converse with a foreigner.

Good luck and don't worry!
 
That's strange...I had read on arudodebito.org that Onsens refusing foreigners service was quite common.

Having only been to Japan for a short while and never having visited an Onsen, I took their word for it. And figured that should prepare myself for which places in Japan will refuse me service, and which will not.
But if you say so, those are quite reassuring words.
 
Take debito's blog with a grain of salt as, even though is trying to do good things for foreigners in JApan, he tends to take it overboard and exagerates quite a bit and makes things seem worse than they actually are. I call him the Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton of Japan.

I have more than 35 years experience with Japan including many years living there and have never come across even 20% of what he is writing about including run ins with the law of which I have had my share.

Sure, I have been turned down for an apartment here and there (but found one within a day or two) and even been refused admittance to certain bars and such, but it is rare and understandable to me although there are some who would gladly disagree with me. However, I have never been turned down for an Onsen or a hotel or a ryokan.

As with anyplace, including living in the US, you will find discrimination everywhere no matter what your race as I have experienced living in the Southern US. Although it is very rare, I have experienced it.

Just use the JREF search engine and you will find many posts about debito and racism/discrimination in Japan both positive and negative. I may be a rare case, but I have hardly experienced what many others claim they have experienced. However, it is there and always will be and one must understand that. However, it's what you make of it and how much you understand the Japanese mentality and their culture. For me, overall, it has been a positive experience while to others it has been a negative experience.

My suggestion is to go there and make up your own mind with first hand experience and do not believe everything you read on websites as there are many who have an agenda behind a thin veil of doing good, or what is right, for all foreigners residing in Japan
 
I have never had any problems with onsens in Japan, either.

My guess is that the reason that Debito's website talks a lot about onsen that won't allow foreigners is the fact that he lives in Hokkaido, which is close to Russia. At least that is the only thing that I can think of.

I have been to a number of onsen in central / western / eastern Japan, and I have NEVER been denied service. Not once.
 
Just to add my 2 cents, but I've never had any problems going to the onsen either. I've been to many large and small onsens in many parts of the country and I have not been turned away once. As others said the onsen Debito Arudo was so fired up about was in a small town in Hokkaido that had trouble with drunken Russian sailors causing trouble for other patrons, and while their ban is certainly regrettable, it is not representative of the majority of the onsens in Japan.
 
The only thing you might see is that people will look at you a bit more. But should that stop you from enjoying an onsen?
 
I never had any discrimination issues going to onsens, the staff was always helpful and friendly. Of course, you will have to follow the rules (take your shoes off in a tatami room, not put soap in the common bath...)

You may want to check this story about onsens. All the places I went to were "gaijin-friendly".

Going to the countryside, I never had any special issue as a tourist. Some people would be surprised to see a foreigner in very remote places, and tell me that I was very tall (I am actually one inch taller that most japanese doors).
 
Like everyone else, I have never had any issue when soaking in Japanese onsen. Among the hundreds of onsen I have visited while in Japan, I never had a single bad experience. Obviously, it is better to follow the usual rules...

I would like to add that I even found that most remote places are usually more welcoming toward foreigners. Remote onsen are often difficult to reach, and people soaking there are supposing that to come to such a place, you really need to be an onsen amateur. The fact that you are not Japanese is simply not relevant for them.

sanji
 
Always was more than welcome at every onsen I went to. Never heard from anybody about racism or being turned away or refusal of gaijin. I think a lot of it depends on your attitude, as in many things in Japan with gaijin.

Just go and enjoy the experience. It is one of the many things I love about Japan.
 
I'm a mulatto and 186.5 cm tall. I've been wanting to go to Japan for a long time, and I think I will go for a 2-3 week vacation to Tokyo in the summer.

Any onsens in the tokyo area? I'm guessing only sento's are avaible in the city though. Need to do some research on what is the cheapest way to get around tokyo, since I want to explore as much as I can. But I'm looking forward most to Akihabara.

I'm thinking of staying in a Ryokan, since hotels are ridiculously expensive.
 

Can't help you re: Tokyo onsens, but the best way to get around Tokyo are the subways and trains. Get a good map of the city. You can get good subway maps at any subway station. The subways and city trains are relatively cheap.
 
My recommendation is Kusatsu Onsen! Absolutely fantastic place. And definetly go for the natural onsen, i.e. it's a "wild" one in a river.

I think I can find out about some onsens near Tokyo as well, but i need to ask my fiancee, who happens to be in Tokyo at the moment.. have to wait until i get in touch with him I know there's one near Fuji...
 
Okay. So now how about a gent such as myself who does have tattoos? How many onsens are closed off to people with tattoos? I mean in general. Such as, will I have to hunt to find one or is it just a rare occasion that I might happen upon an onsen that doesn't permit people with tattoos?
 
In theory almost all onsens forbid entry to people with tattoos, but in practice it really depends on the type and placement of the tattoos that you have.

If you have many large or scary looking tattoos, you probably won't be able to get in anywhere, especially if they are visible when you are clothed.

If your tattoos are smaller and non-threatening and/or easily covered with the small onsen towel provided, most places will be willing to turn a blind eye in my experience.

I think many Japanese people these days are aware that the connotations and cultural meanings that tattoos have are different in the West and are willing to make exceptions for well-mannered and well-spoken foreigners.

I've rarely had problems with going to onsens and I have 8 tattoos. However I'm female and all of my tattoos are of the cute variety, not the snake and skull variety so YMMV.
 

I don't think there will be many problems for you. Going to an onsen as a gaijin is not a problem and many, most onsens don't mind tattoos much. I say it from personal experiences because when I went to an onsen on a small rustic town in the mountains of Gifu, a whole bunch of tattoed young men came in and they were greeted very kindly by the staff.

From this perspective I would assume that people in bigger cities would be more open-minded and wouldn't mind tattoed people, let alone foreigners.

Mauricio
 
That is good news. I appreciate it.

It shouldn't be a problem for me then. I just have 2 small tattoos and they do fall into a non-threatening nature as suggested. I suppose what I'll do then is just ask the staff if they're okay with me being in their onsen if politeness does give an edge to the foreign customer.
 
I know this sounds sneaky, but I recommend not asking. If you ask the staff they'll likely feel that they have to follow the manual and say no, but if you just go ahead in you should be alright unless someone complains, which if you are non-disruptive and bathe properly won't happen.
 
becki_kanou said:
...
I think many Japanese people these days are aware that the connotations and cultural meanings that tattoos have are different in the West and are willing to make exceptions for well-mannered and well-spoken foreigners.
...
Click to expand...

It is not about the public awareness towards the West, but I think it may be more about Yakuza's logic...

When a well-mannered and well-spoken foreigner with huge tattoo comes to Onsen, another yakuza cames and say in a well-mannered/spoken way, "WHY YOU ALLOW THE GUY, NOT US! DISCRIMINATION!! YAKUZA RIGHT VIOLATION!!!".

>snip<
This is not about Onsen, but...


This rule applies to all mouse-loving tattooed persons, even if your favorite character is not the mouse, but the duck.
 
becki:

Ah, that's going to take getting used to for me. I have a mannerism about me where I feel like I'm imposing on people when I knowingly try to bend the rules like that. This plays a part in why I do a bit of overkill on researching areas I visit.

Such as, while in Africa, I offered a gatorade (sport drink) to a Somali muslim during Ramadan. For those whom don't know, Ramadan is a ritual that takes place during the 9th month of the Islamic calendar. During which the muslims observing Ramadan fast during the middle of the day. I know this now. Would have helped before I inadvertently did what could be construed as a very rude gesture even though I was just trying to be generous.

So yeah, I would be worried that the onsen staff aren't saying anything to me because they don't want to be confrontational.

pipokun:

That's interesting. I believe there are similar rules in place for Disney themed parks in the United States as well. On an interesting note, there is an infamous person in the USA who has covered his body in Disney-themed tattoos. He claims in an interview that he will sell his body to an unnamed Japanese company for display after his passing. This statement is contradicting to him mentioning later in the interview that his wife or daughter will spread his ashes in a Disney zone. Here is the interview and pictures of the man's tattoos for those curious...

B3TA : INTERVIEWS : THE DISNEY TATTOO GUY
 
We went to onsen about a year ago, me, my Japanese fiancee and our friends, a couple who are also Japanese. The guy had a tattoo.
Obviously I was bathing with the guy's wife, so I didn't see it myself, but my fiancee told me the guy had to cover his tattoo with some kind of bandage or something...
 
Chipi:

That makes me wonder if the guy had to, or if he just chose to.
 
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