Dogo Onsen Bathing Etiquette and Procedure Guide for International Travelers

Overall Flow of Using the Public Baths in Dogo Onsen

In the Dogo Onsen area, there are three public baths: Dogo Onsen Honkan, Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka-no-Yu, and Tsubaki-no-Yu. All of these are facilities of Matsuyama City, and are operated by the designated manager, the "Dogo Onsen Consortium." For travelers from overseas visiting Japanese hot springs or public baths for the first time, there are unique manners for the bathing procedures and how to spend time inside the facilities. The basic flow from arriving at the building to completing the bath and leaving proceeds in the following order: taking off shoes at the entrance, purchasing a bathing ticket, presenting it at the reception, changing clothes in the changing room, washing the body and bathing in the bathroom, and wiping water off the body before returning to the changing room. By observing the manners to keep in mind at each stage, you can share a comfortable time with other users around you.

Taking Off Shoes at the Shoe Locker and Purchasing Bathing Tickets at the Vending Machine

Upon entering the entrance of the public bath building, there is an area where you first take off your shoes. Since Japanese culture thoroughly enforces a system of not stepping directly onto the floor with outdoor footwear, be sure to store your removed shoes in the provided shoe lockers (getabako). If the shoe locker has a key, lock it and keep the key with you until you leave. Next, purchase a ticket for your desired bathing course at the automatic ticket vending machine installed inside the building. At Dogo Onsen Honkan, the official website states that credit cards, debit cards, electronic money, transportation IC cards, and QR code payments can be used (LINE Pay cannot be used at the Yushinden viewing ticket sales counter). Please check the support status of other buildings at the counter of each facility. Present the purchased ticket to the staff at the reception (fudaba) to enter the building.

How to Use Changing Room Lockers and Changing Procedure

After completing the reception, proceed to the gender-segregated changing rooms. Before entering the changing room, make sure your socks are completely removed and enter with bare feet or indoor footwear. Inside the changing room, there are locked lockers or changing baskets for storing clothes and luggage. Remove all personal belongings such as clothes, underwear, socks, watches, and accessories, place them in a locker, and lock it. In traditional Japanese hot spring bathing, you cannot wear swimsuits or underwear inside the bathroom. It is a common rule in public baths to head to the bathroom completely naked.

Moving to the Bathroom, Kakeyu, and Basic Body Washing Etiquette

Once you open the door to move from the changing room to the bathroom, avoid entering the bathtub directly first. To keep the hot spring water in the bathtub hygienic, make sure to perform "kakeyu" or wash your body at the washing station before bathing. Kakeyu is the act of scooping hot water from around the bathtub with a bucket and pouring it over yourself, starting from the extremities of your body like your toes and fingertips up to your shoulders. This removes dirt from the body and at the same time adapts your body to the temperature of the water. At the washing station, showers, faucets, and mirrors are lined up, and you wash your hair and body with soap while sitting on the provided chair. Fully rinse off all lather and soap with the shower after washing your body so that they do not enter the bathtub, and then soak in the bathtub.

Handling of Towels and Soap, and Procedure for Wiping Off Water

Only small face towels can be brought into the bathroom. Bringing a large bath towel into the bathroom will make it wet and heavy, causing water droplets to splash on people around you. Even with the face towel you brought in, dipping the towel into the bathtub is strictly prohibited for hygienic reasons. Place the towel on your head, or leave it on a shelf inside the bathroom or at the edge of the washing station. If you have long hair, tie it up at the top of your head with a hairband or similar so that your hair does not touch the surface of the water in the bathtub. Rental towels are not included in courses such as the Kami-no-Yu (lower floor/second-floor seats) of the Honkan, or the 1st-floor bathroom/2nd-floor grand hall courses of Asuka-no-Yu, so you must bring your own or use the local sales/rentals. At the Honkan, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are provided in the bathroom. Hair dryers, lotion, and hair essence are prepared at the sink and the 2nd-floor female changing room. Local preparations are also available. At the shop of Dogo Onsen Honkan, rental towels for 110 yen, rental bath towels for 320 yen, and small mikan soaps for 70 yen are sold, and at Tsubaki-no-Yu, rental towels for 50 yen, small mikan soaps for 50 yen, and shampoo for 50 yen are available. When returning from the bathroom to the changing room, wring out the small towel you brought tightly, wipe the water droplets off your body thoroughly, and then step onto the floor of the changing room. Since a wet floor poses a risk of slipping for those who use it later, this water-wiping procedure is extremely important.

What to Confirm in Case of Having Tattoos (Irezumi)

Whether people with tattoos can use Japanese public baths is one of the questions most frequently asked by travelers from overseas. First, as a fact to keep in mind, no guidance regarding the permission or prohibition of tattoos is posted on the official website for Dogo Onsen Honkan, Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka-no-Yu, or Tsubaki-no-Yu. Since there is no primary information clearly stating the permission or prohibition, this article cannot determine whether you can "enter" or "cannot enter."

On the other hand, there are confirmable facts. "Bathing wear" (nyuyokugi) is sold for 500 yen at the shop of Dogo Onsen Honkan. Bathing wear is clothing used when you want to bathe with your skin covered, such as after surgery or due to tattoos. The fact that such an option is prepared locally serves as a piece of information for judgment. However, the official bathing etiquette also states, "Please refrain from bathing in swimsuits or while wearing towels." Although bathing wear is a different garment from swimsuits and towels, how it is actually handled depends on the facility's decision.

The most reliable way is to contact each facility directly before visiting. In addition, the large communal baths (uchiyu) of ryokans and hotels are private facilities, and they may set their own terms of use separate from public baths. If you plan to use the bath at your accommodation, confirming with the accommodation at the booking stage can prevent misunderstandings on the day of your visit.

Time Limit for Courses with Rest Rooms and Precautions When Leaving

At Dogo Onsen Honkan and Asuka-no-Yu, there are courses that allow you to use a rest room in addition to bathing. The usage time is set to within 60 minutes for the Kami-no-Yu lower floor and second-floor seats, and the Tama-no-Yu second-floor seats of the Honkan, and within 90 minutes for the Tama-no-Yu third-floor private rooms and private rooms (Hisho-no-Ma and Shirasagi-no-Ma). Each course at Asuka-no-Yu is set for use within 1 hour and 30 minutes. This usage time does not only refer to the "time soaked in the bathtub," but means the total length of stay from entering the building to finishing changing and resting and leaving. Since operating hours and reception closing times (fudadome) also differ depending on each course, for example, the Honkan Kami-no-Yu lower floor is from 6:00 to 23:00 (reception closes at 22:30), and the second-floor seats are from 6:00 to 22:00 (reception closes at 21:00). Please adjust your action schedule in accordance with the in-building announcements and guidance from the staff so that you can leave within the designated time.

Hydration After Bathing and How to Spend Time in the Post-Bath Space

After entering a hot spring, water in the body is lost due to sweating. After leaving the changing room, please purchase water, tea, fruit juice drinks, etc. from vending machines in the building or nearby shops, and hydrate yourself properly. In courses such as the second-floor seats and third-floor private rooms of the Honkan, and the 2nd-floor courses of Asuka-no-Yu, a service providing tea and tea snacks is also available. In the post-bath space and rest rooms, please refrain from loud conversations or running around so that other guests can relax quietly, and make sure to make phone calls on mobile phones in designated areas. When leaving the building, return rented yukata, towels, locker keys, etc. to the designated return locations, take your shoes out of the shoe locker, put them on, and exit.

Operating hours, fees, and transportation schedules of each facility are subject to change. Please check the detail page of each spot and official information for the latest information.