Japan has soaplands in 63 towns. As a foreign visitor, you can realistically use them in 29.
That is the short version, and it is the part most guides leave out. Of the 581 shops we track, 104 have publicly indicated that they accept international customers. The rest will usually turn you away at the door — politely, but after you have already made the trip, and often after you have paid for a taxi to get there.
This article is the map of those 29 towns: how many shops are confirmed in each, what kind of place it is, and where it fits into a trip. The shop-by-shop list, with a link to each shop's own website, is here: shops that accept international customers.
What "accepts international customers" means — and what it does not
It means the shop said so itself. Either its own website carries English, Chinese or Korean information, or it has listed itself on a service that shops use to signal they are open to foreign visitors.
It does not mean English is spoken. A good number of these shops accept international customers with no English support at all. Bring a translation app and expect to use it.
It does not mean the other shops refuse you. A town with no entry here means we have not confirmed a shop there — not that you would be turned away. We publish only what shops have confirmed themselves. We never publish a list of shops that refuse.
The numbers move. Shops open, close, and change their minds. This page is rebuilt from our own records, and the shop list carries the date of the last check. Confirm on the shop's own site before you travel.
Where the choice is widest
Four towns hold 47 of the 104 confirmed shops:
Town
Confirmed
Shops in town
Yoshiwara, Tokyo
16
89
Nakasu, Fukuoka
14
37
Fukuhara, Kobe
10
52
Susukino, Sapporo
7
21
If this is your first visit and you want the widest choice, start with one of these four. Everywhere else, you are choosing between a handful of shops, which means a single closure or a full booking can leave you with nothing.
Note the second column against the third. Even in Yoshiwara, which has by far the most, the confirmed shops are a minority of the total. Walking into an unconfirmed shop and hoping is not a plan.
Tokyo and the Kanto region — 34 shops
Town
Confirmed
Shops in town
Yoshiwara, Tokyo
16
89
Utsunomiya, Tochigi
4
12
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
3
29
Yokohama, Kanagawa
2
9
Kabukicho, Tokyo
2
6
Nishikawaguchi, Saitama
2
16
Gotanda, Tokyo
1
1
Chiba
1
36
Omiya, Saitama
1
20
Shinjuku, Tokyo
1
2
Mito, Ibaraki
1
12
Yoshiwara is about ten minutes on foot from Minowa station, and it is the one place in Japan where you have real choice. Kawasaki, Nishikawaguchi and Omiya are each within about an hour of central Tokyo and have a different character from Yoshiwara and from each other; there is a separate article on how those four districts differ.
Mito is further out, in Ibaraki. The district sits between two stations: about fifteen minutes on foot from Kairakuen station, or thirty from Mito station. If you arrive at Mito station, take a taxi or ask the shop about a pickup.
Kansai — 18 shops
Town
Confirmed
Shops in town
Fukuhara, Kobe
10
52
Ogoto, Shiga
5
25
Wakayama
3
8
If you are staying in Kyoto or Osaka, these are your options — and they are not alike.
Fukuhara is a city district in Kobe, two minutes on foot from Shinkaichi station and from Minatogawa-koen station, and about fifteen minutes from Kobe station. You can get there and back on trains alone, with no pickup to arrange.
Ogoto is a hot-spring town about twenty minutes from Kyoto by train, and the station is not the district — walking there is not realistic. Shops will collect you from the station if you arrange it when you book. It suits a sightseeing day better than it looks on a map, because early-morning hours are common. There is a full article on Ogoto.
Wakayama sits on the Wakagawa river, roughly equidistant from Wakayama-shi station, Wakayama station and Wakayama Castle — about eighteen minutes on foot from each. Arrange a pickup in both directions.
Kyushu and Okinawa — 27 shops
Town
Confirmed
Shops in town
Nakasu, Fukuoka
14
37
Okinawa
5
16
Kumamoto
4
15
Beppu, Oita
2
9
Miyazaki
1
3
Kagoshima
1
3
Nakasu is the easiest district in Japan to reach. It sits on an island between the Hakata and Naka rivers, in the middle of Fukuoka's nightlife quarter. Kushida-Jinja-Mae station is about three minutes on foot; Hakata station is sixteen minutes on foot or six by car. Fukuoka Airport is unusually close to the city centre for a major Japanese airport. The yatai food stalls Fukuoka is known for are in the same few streets, and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and the Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art are nearby.
If you are weighing ease of arrival rather than number of shops, Nakasu beats everywhere else on this page.
Beppu is nine minutes on foot from Beppu station, by the bay. Takegawara Onsen — a public bathhouse that is a registered national cultural property — stands in the same few streets, which makes Beppu the easiest of these towns to fold into a hot-spring trip.
Hokkaido and Tohoku — 8 shops
Town
Confirmed
Shops in town
Susukino, Sapporo
7
21
Asahikawa, Hokkaido
1
1
Susukino has a subway station inside the district and is about forty minutes from New Chitose Airport. It is Sapporo's nightlife quarter, so it fits into an evening without any special planning.
Elsewhere — 17 shops
Town
Confirmed
Shops in town
Hiroshima
6
12
Niigata
3
8
Takamatsu, Kagawa
3
8
Tokushima
2
7
Katayamazu, Ishikawa
1
5
Morioka, Iwate
1
1
Fukui
1
3
These are worth knowing about mainly if your trip already takes you there. Katayamazu is a hot-spring town on the Ishikawa coast, so the Ogoto logistics apply: assume you will need a car or a pickup.
How to use this list
Pick the town from your itinerary, not the other way round. Travelling across Japan for a shop is rarely worth it when the shop may be fully booked.
Open the shop list and find the shops in that town. Every entry links to the shop's own site.
Check the shop's site yourself before you travel. Our confirmation is from a monthly check, not from today.
We re-check every shop's own website on the first of each month, and we record the date of the last check on the shop list. A shop is added when it says publicly that it accepts international customers, and it is removed when that statement disappears from its site. The counts on this page are rebuilt from the same records, so they move with the list.
We do not take a shop's word from a third party, we do not guess from a language switcher alone where the rest of the site contradicts it, and we do not list a shop that has said it does not accept foreign customers. That last rule is the reason this list is shorter than you might like — and the reason you can act on it.
The most common way a visit goes wrong is not price. It is distance: arriving at a station and discovering the place is nowhere near it, in a district where you cannot read the signs and should not be wandering around.
Most shops that accept international customers sit in five districts, and those five behave very differently on this one point. This article is about how to get to each of them and back.
The five districts, and how you reach them
District
City
Access
Airport
Nakasu
Fukuoka
In the middle of the nightlife district — walkable
Very close
Susukino
Sapporo
Subway station inside the district — walkable
About 40 min
Fukuhara
Kobe
City district — walkable from the station
Via Osaka
Yoshiwara
Tokyo
10 minutes on foot from Minowa station
Via Haneda/Narita
Ogoto
Shiga
Not walkable. A car is needed
Via Osaka/Kyoto
Yoshiwara has the most accepting shops by a wide margin. But if you are weighing ease of getting there, Nakasu is the easiest of the five — Fukuoka Airport is unusually close to the city centre for a major Japanese airport, and the district is somewhere you can simply walk to.
Nakasu sits inside Fukuoka's main entertainment area, so you are walking through ordinary restaurant-and-bar streets to get there. Nothing about the journey requires explanation.
From the airport, the subway reaches the city centre in minutes. If you are in Japan for a short trip and this fits your route, it is the least troublesome option on this list.
Susukino (Sapporo)
Susukino has a subway station named after it, and the district is around it. From New Chitose Airport, allow about 40 minutes to central Sapporo.
Winter is the thing to plan for. Snow does not stop the subway, but it slows walking considerably.
Fukuhara (Kobe)
Fukuhara is a city district, walkable from the station. From Osaka, about 30 minutes.
This is the practical choice if you are based in Osaka rather than Kyoto.
Yoshiwara (Tokyo)
The nearest station is Minowa on the Hibiya line, about ten minutes on foot. It is also reachable from Asakusa.
Ten minutes is not far, but this is a residential-feeling district rather than a bright entertainment street. Take a taxi if you are unsure, and do not walk around looking for a shop — decide before you go. And as everywhere: no photographs, including of the street.
Ogoto needs a car
Ogoto is a hot-spring town, and the station is not the district. Walking is not a realistic plan.
Some shops will collect you from the station. Arrange it when you book:
Tell them on the phone that you want a pickup
Travel to Ogoto-Onsen station (about 20 minutes from Kyoto)
Call the shop when you arrive
Get in the car
They will drive you back to the station afterwards, usually at no charge, and you can ask even if you did not use the pickup on the way in. There is more on Ogoto in its own article.
You will not miss the last train
This is worth stating because it runs against the instinct.
Soaplands do not operate past midnight — they are not permitted to trade across the date boundary. So the usual nightlife problem of losing track of time and missing the last train does not really arise. An evening visit ends while the trains are still running.
But early morning has the opposite problem
Soaplands may open from around sunrise, and early slots are often discounted or shorter. The catch is getting there.
In a city, the first train is early enough. In a hot-spring town, services are sparse and the first train may be later than the shop opens. If you want an early-morning slot outside a city, stay locally the night before.
Practical details that cost time
Station exits. Large Japanese stations have many exits, and the wrong one can mean five to ten extra minutes crossing over the tracks. Check which exit before you pass the ticket gate.
Luggage. Do not bring a suitcase. Leave it at your hotel — Japanese hotels will hold bags before check-in and after check-out — or in a station locker. Large lockers are limited and fill up during holidays.
Cash before you travel. Many Japanese ATMs do not accept foreign cards. Withdraw in the city before heading to a smaller district, especially Ogoto.
Taxis. Japanese taxis are reliable and metered. Showing the driver the shop's own website on your phone works better than saying the name.
Choosing, in one line each
Easiest overall: Nakasu. Close to an airport, walkable, and a reasonable number of accepting shops
Most choice: Yoshiwara. By far the most accepting shops, but a ten-minute walk and a quiet district
Based in Osaka: Fukuhara
Based in Kyoto, and want a hot spring: Ogoto — but arrange the pickup
In Hokkaido: Susukino. Allow for snow in winter
Whichever you pick, call ahead and confirm they will accept you on the day
In short
Distance is the part visitors underestimate. Four of the five districts are walkable; Ogoto is not, and needs a pickup arranged in advance. The last train is not a worry, the first train sometimes is, and your suitcase should be somewhere else.
If you are staying in Kyoto or Osaka, you have two realistic options, not one. Most guides mention neither clearly. This article is about the less obvious of the two, and about how a hot-spring town changes the practical side of a visit.
Kansai has two options, and they are not alike
Fukuhara, Kobe
Ogoto, Shiga
Shops accepting international customers
More — the larger of the two
Fewer
What kind of place
A city district
A hot-spring town
From Osaka
About 30 minutes
—
From Kyoto
—
About 20 minutes
Combines with sightseeing
Not particularly
Yes — this is the point
If your priority is simply finding a shop that will accept you, Fukuhara is the stronger choice, and it is where most of Kansai's accepting shops are. Both are on the same list:
Ogoto is worth knowing about for a different reason: it is a hot-spring town, twenty minutes from Kyoto, where a visit can sit inside an ordinary day of sightseeing rather than replacing one.
What Ogoto actually is
Ogoto (雄琴, sometimes written おごと) is a hot-spring district in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, on the western shore of Lake Biwa — Japan's largest lake.
The station is JR Ogoto-Onsen (おごと温泉) on the Kosei line, roughly 20 minutes from Kyoto Station
The town has ryokan, public baths, and the soaplands clustered together in one area
Mount Hiei and the temple complex of Enryaku-ji are nearby, as is the old town of Sakamoto
Timetables change, so confirm the train yourself. But the order of magnitude matters: this is a short local ride, not an excursion.
Only a small number of shops here accept international customers
Ogoto has a substantial number of shops. Only a few of them accept customers who are not Japanese.
That ratio is worse than it sounds, because the consequence is different in a small town. In Tokyo, being turned away means walking to the next street. In Ogoto, it can mean the trip is over.
So calling ahead matters more here than almost anywhere. Ask your hotel's front desk in Kyoto to phone for you, and confirm they will accept you on that day — the answer can depend on who is working. Ask about tattoos in the same call.
A hot-spring town changes the logistics
Getting from the station
The station and the district are not the same place. Some shops will collect you by car from the station — arrange it when you book. Otherwise, confirm how long the walk is before you commit to a time.
Where to stay
Two different plans:
Stay in the hot-spring town. Everything is within walking distance, and you get the ryokan and the baths. Book earlier; there are not many rooms
Stay in Kyoto and come out for the day. Twenty minutes each way is nothing, and Kyoto has far more rooms. This is the easier plan for a first visit
The ryokan baths are a separate matter
If you stay at a ryokan, its bath has its own rules and its own hours. Day-use bathing hours differ by facility and often exclude the middle of the day.
Tattoos. Both the ryokan's communal bath and the soapland may refuse visibly tattooed customers. If this applies to you, ask both before you book either.
Early morning fits a sightseeing day
Soaplands do not trade past midnight — they are not permitted to operate across the date boundary. But they may open from around sunrise, and early slots are often discounted or offered as shorter courses.
That makes a clean order for the day:
Early morning at the shop
Back to the ryokan for the bath and breakfast
Train to Kyoto, or up to Enryaku-ji, by late morning
Trying to fit it in late at night does not work here, and there is no price you can pay to make it work.
Cash
Bring more than you calculate, and bring it from the city.
A hot-spring town has fewer ATMs than a city, and many Japanese ATMs do not accept foreign-issued cards at all. Withdraw yen in Kyoto or Osaka before you travel.
Payment comes in two parts — a bathing fee at the front desk and a service fee handed to the attendant right after you enter the room, in cash, and ideally the exact amount. The full structure is in what a soapland actually costs and the budgeting guide.
Decide in this order
The shop — the hardest thing to change, so settle it first
The room — ryokan in Ogoto, or a hotel in Kyoto
The sightseeing — the easiest to move, so leave it last
Fix the sightseeing first and a refused booking wrecks the whole day.
A few practical notes
Do not take luggage into the shop. Leave it at the hotel or in a station locker
No photography — inside, and on the street. Not the shopfronts, not the district
Public holidays and the autumn-foliage season fill both the ryokan and the shops. Shift your dates if you can
Assume no English. A shop accepting international customers has not promised a shared language
In short
Kansai gives you two choices. Fukuhara in Kobe has more shops that will accept you. Ogoto has fewer, but it is a hot-spring town twenty minutes from Kyoto, and that buys you something Fukuhara does not: the visit can be part of a normal day rather than the whole of it.
Either way, confirm by phone before you travel. In a small town, being turned away at the door costs the day.