Kyoto Katsura-Onsen Nizaemon no Yu
京都桂温泉 仁左衛門の湯きょうとかつらおんせん にざえもんのゆ
An old-school Kyoto super sento with real spring water
Day Use
YesLast entry is 12:30 am; the bath closes at 1:00 am.
Adult admission is 900 yen on weekdays and 1,050 yen on weekends and holidays; member rates run about 100 yen less per tier. Children and preschoolers pay less, and under-2s bathe free. Ganbanyoku is a separate charge on top of bath admission and cannot be booked alone: 800 yen on weekdays, 900 yen on weekends and holidays. An 11-visit ticket book costs 8,300 yen, valid for 6 months including weekends and holidays. Bath towel rental is 130 yen (120 yen for members); face towels are sold, not rented, for 180 yen (170 yen for members). A weekday-only day pass was announced in March 2026, but its price has not been published yet.
Bathing & Water
Uses natural hot spring water
Open-air outdoor bath
Enclosed indoor bathing area
Sauna room of any kind
Dry sauna and salt sauna in the main bath area; a separate steam sauna adjoins the outdoor bath (see highlight: steam_sauna).
Bathing Arrangements
Shared bathing area for all genders
Baths are gender-separated, not mixed; the two bathing rooms (Utsusemi and Fujitsubo) simply swap between men's and women's daily. The co-ed ganbanyoku room is a separate dry-heat facility, not mixed bathing.
Policies & Services
Allows entry with visible tattoos
Tattoos are refused outright, including tattoo stickers or anything resembling one.
Welcomes children and families
General bathing welcomes children; a baby bath is provided and diapered infants are admitted at parental discretion (diapered/incontinent seniors are refused). Ganbanyoku is restricted to junior-high age and up.
A restaurant or dining room open to visitors, not only meals for overnight guests
Shower, wash stations, soap and shampoo provided
Towels to rent or borrow at the desk
Bath towel rental 130 yen (120 yen member); face towels are sold, not rented, for 180 yen (170 yen member).
Relaxation space for after bathing
On-site or nearby parking available
Highlights
Jet Bath
Steam Sauna
GanbanyokuAbout
Nizaemon no Yu is a long-running super sento on Route 9 in Nishikyo Ward, on the western edge of Kyoto. Its hot-spring water wells up from two sources under its own grounds rather than being trucked in from elsewhere, as some sento in the city do. Two large indoor bathing rooms swap between the men's and women's sides daily, alongside a jet bath and a choice of dry or salt sauna. The two rotenburo alternate the same way: one is built around a huge boulder with a small waterfall, the other has a garden-style layout and a mist steam room where you sit waist-deep in hot water while warm mist drifts down from above. A separate ganbanyoku (岩盤浴) room, open to men and women together, lets you lie on heated stone floors of three different kinds, unusual for a bathhouse in Kyoto city. The building feels like an old neighborhood sento rather than a shiny new one: the tiles and fittings show their age, and reaching the rotenburo means a flight of stairs. Regulars keep coming back anyway, for the low prices and the unhurried pace. The dining hall is built around an old farmhouse moved here from Shiga.
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Last updated September 19, 2026