Dōgo Onsen in Matsuyama is one of the best-known hot spring districts in Japan, and you can bathe there for the day without staying overnight. This guide compares eight places: the three public baths of Dōgo Onsen, two hotel baths that take day visitors, and three baths on the edge of Matsuyama. It lines up prices, hours, closed days, towels and parking from each facility’s own pages, and explains how the Dōgo Onsen public baths work if you are new to them.
In short
- The three Dōgo Onsen public baths cost ¥500 (Tsubaki-no-Yu), ¥610 (Asuka-no-Yu, ground-floor bath) and ¥700 (Honkan, Kami-no-Yu ground floor) for an adult. A 3-bath ticket is ¥1,440 and is valid for the day of sale and the next day.
- Honkan and Asuka-no-Yu cannot be booked for bathing, but their private rooms and the Yūshinden tour can. All three baths take credit cards, e-money and QR payments, including UnionPay, Alipay and WeChat Pay.
- Hotel day-use baths cost ¥1,100 (Okudōgo Ichiyu no Mori) and ¥1,650 (Dōgo Prince Hotel), and open at 15:00.
- Free parking: Okudōgo Ichiyu no Mori, Dōgo Saya Onsen Yurara and the two Hoshinooka Onsen baths. Dōgo Onsen’s city car parks charge ¥100 for 30 minutes, with the first hour free if you use one of the three baths.
- None of the eight official pages checked says whether tattoos are allowed, so ask before you go.
Checked with official pages on October 5, 2026.
1. Eight baths side by side
Depends on the facility
The Dōgo Onsen public baths are the cheapest (¥500 to ¥700) and open from 06:00 or 06:30; the hotel baths open at 15:00. Prices are for one adult (junior high school age or older, or 12 and over at Dōgo Onsen). A “from” price is the cheapest course or the weekday price. Times use the 24-hour clock.
| Bath | Adult price | Hours | Parking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dōgo Onsen Honkan | From ¥700 | 06:00–23:00 | City lot, 93 spaces, paid |
| Tsubaki-no-Yu | ¥500 | 06:30–23:00 | City lot, 93 spaces, paid |
| Asuka-no-Yu | From ¥610 | 06:00–23:00 | City lot, 93 spaces, paid |
| Dōgo Prince Hotel | ¥1,650 | 15:00–23:30 | About 80 cars |
| Okudōgo Ichiyu no Mori | ¥1,100 | 15:00–20:00 | 300, free |
| Dōgo Saya Onsen Yurara | From ¥750 | 07:00–24:00 (to 01:00 Dec–May) | 200, free |
| Hoshinooka Onsen main bath | ¥750 | 05:30–23:30 | 90, free |
| Hoshinooka Onsen Senyukan | From ¥850 | 06:00–24:00 | 40, free |
2. How do I get to Dōgo Onsen?
Matsuyama City
The Dōgo Onsen official site (which also has English, Chinese and Korean versions) gives these times: from JR Matsuyama Station, about 25 minutes by Iyotetsu tram to Dōgo Onsen; from Matsuyama City Station, about 20 minutes by tram; from Matsuyama Airport, about 43 minutes by limousine bus to the Dōgo Onsen Station front; and from Matsuyama Kankō Port, about 43 minutes by limousine bus. Honkan is about 3 minutes on foot from Dōgo Onsen Station, according to the site’s FAQ.
The city runs two car parks. Dōgo Onsen Car Park (4-30 Dōgo Yunomachi) has 93 spaces, is open 05:30 to 23:30 and costs ¥100 for 30 minutes. If you bathe at any of the three public baths and run your parking ticket through the machine inside, the first hour is free. Entry is only by a right turn from the south side. The Iwaitani-Higashimachi lot (43 spaces, open 24 hours, ¥100 for 30 minutes) gives the first hour free whether or not you bathe. A tourist overflow lot (60 spaces) is free but opens only on certain days.
3. How do the Dōgo Onsen public baths work?
Matsuyama City
Honkan (道後温泉本館), Tsubaki-no-Yu (椿の湯) and Asuka-no-Yu (飛鳥乃湯泉) are public baths run by the Dōgo Onsen consortium. They are not hotels, so you cannot stay there. The official guide describes the steps at Honkan.
- Buy a ticket outside. If there is no wait, buy a bath or viewing ticket at the ticket stand (札場) outside.
- Put your shoes in a locker. The shoe lockers have keys and are free. Show your ticket at the reception.
- Take a number if there is a wait. At busy times you register on a call system: choose a course, enter the number of people and a phone number, and get a numbered ticket. The system calls you, and you must arrive within 15 minutes or the ticket is cancelled. The site’s “current waiting time” page shows the wait.
- Bathe. Shampoo, conditioner and body soap are provided in the baths. Free lockers are in the changing rooms.
Towels depend on the course (see below). The official FAQ says you may not wear underwear or a swimsuit in the bath. The three baths allow a special “bathing garment” designed for people with scars from breast cancer surgery or skin grafts. Food and drink from outside are not allowed. Each of the three baths closes for one day each December for cleaning. Pages checked for the Dōgo Onsen baths do not mention tattoos.
Payment. All three baths accept credit cards (VISA, Mastercard, JCB, AMEX, Diners, DISCOVER and UnionPay), brand debit cards, 15 kinds of e-money (including Suica, ICOCA, PASMO and other transit cards) and 7 kinds of QR payment (including Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay).
The 3-bath ticket. The 3-bath ticket (3館周湯チケット) costs ¥1,440 for an adult (¥680 for a child) and is valid on the day of sale and the next day. It covers the ground-floor bath at Honkan (Kami-no-Yu), Tsubaki-no-Yu and the first-floor bath at Asuka-no-Yu, once each. It cannot be changed to another course. Buying the three adult tickets separately adds up to ¥1,810.
4. Dōgo Onsen Honkan (道後温泉本館)
Matsuyama City
The official site says Honkan has a history of about 3,000 years and calls it said to be the oldest hot spring in Japan. In December 1994 it became the first public bath designated an Important Cultural Property. A repair project that began in January 2019 finished on December 20, 2024. The photos below were taken in December 2017, before the repair.
The course decides which bath and rest room you use. Adults are 12 and over, and children 2 to 11.
| Course | Adult / child | Open (last entry) | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kami-no-Yu, ground floor | ¥700 / ¥350 | 06:00–23:00 (22:30) | Bath only; 60 minutes |
| Kami-no-Yu, 2nd-floor room | ¥1,300 / ¥650 | 06:00–22:00 (21:00) | Rental yukata, tea and a sweet; 60 minutes |
| Tama-no-Yu, 2nd-floor room | ¥2,000 / ¥1,000 | 06:00–22:00 (21:00) | Both baths, yukata, towel and bath towel, tea and a sweet; 60 minutes |
| Tama-no-Yu, 3rd-floor private room | ¥2,500 / ¥1,250 | 06:00–22:00 (20:30) | As above, in a private room; 90 minutes |
The bath courses cannot be reserved. The two private rooms on the third floor must be reserved, for 90 minutes each. “Shirasagi no Ma” costs ¥6,000 per group and “Hishō no Ma” ¥3,000 per group, and both add ¥1,300 per adult and ¥650 per child. Each room takes 5 groups a day at fixed start times. The rooms have no bath of their own; you bathe in the Honkan baths and rest in the room. Reservations open 90 days ahead on the booking site (until 22:00 the day before), or by phone on the day at 089-921-5141. The Yūshinden (又新殿), a bath built for the imperial family, can be visited with a guide for ¥500 (¥250 for ages 6 to 11) from 09:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30). It is not a bathing course and needs a reservation.
No towels come with the ground-floor Kami-no-Yu course or the Kami-no-Yu 2nd-floor course. The shop sells rental towels (¥110) and bath towels (¥320). Part of every ticket helps pay for the repair of the building.
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Address: 5-6 Dōgo Yunomachi, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-921-5141
5. Tsubaki-no-Yu (道後温泉 椿の湯)
Matsuyama City
This is the local bath in the middle of the Dōgo shopping street. Like Honkan, it uses spring water that is neither heated nor diluted. The adult price is ¥500 and the child price ¥200 (ages 2 to 11). It is open 06:30 to 23:00 (last entry 22:30), and a visit is limited to 1 hour. The shop sells rental towels (¥110) and bath towels (¥320), soap, and shampoo and conditioner (¥50 each).
Address: 19-22 Dōgo Yunomachi, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-935-6586
6. Asuka-no-Yu (道後温泉別館 飛鳥乃湯泉)
Matsuyama City
Asuka-no-Yu is the newer annex, designed as a bathhouse in the style of the Asuka period. It uses the same unheated, undiluted spring water as Honkan. It has a large bath and an open-air bath, which Honkan does not have, and every course allows 90 minutes.
The ground-floor bath alone costs ¥610 for an adult and ¥300 for a child. Adding a rest room on the second floor costs ¥1,280 (¥630) for the large hall or ¥1,690 (¥830) for a private room. The special bath (family bath) on the second floor is ¥2,040 per group plus ¥1,690 per adult and ¥830 per child; it must be booked online or by phone at 089-932-1126 (06:00 to 23:00), and soap is not allowed in it, so you wash in the ground-floor bath. The ground-floor bath is open 06:00 to 23:00 (last entry 22:30). The second floor is open until 22:00, with last entry at 21:00 for the large hall and private rooms and 20:30 for the special bath. The ground-floor bath has body soap, shampoo, conditioner and a hair dryer. A rental towel comes with the private-room course, and a rental towel and bath towel with the special bath.
Address: 19-22 Dōgo Yunomachi, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-932-1126
7. Dōgo Prince Hotel (道後プリンスホテル)
Hotel day-use bath
The hotel’s large bath “Yunoka”, its open-air bath “Yunone” (8 tubs) and the private open-air bath “Yuraku” are open to day visitors. The large bath has bubble, jet and silk baths, plus a löyly sauna and a steam sauna. Day-use is 15:00 to 23:30 with a 90-minute stay and last entry at 22:00, with no regular closed day. The price is ¥1,650 for an adult (junior high school age and older) and ¥825 for a child aged 2 and over. The Yuraku private bath is ¥5,500 for 45 minutes, plus the ¥1,650 admission. Neither can be reserved in advance. The hotel is closed for maintenance from October 25 to 27, 2026, and day-use is not available on those days. On busy days, such as Saturdays and long weekends, day-use may be stopped.
Towels can be rented and amenities are provided. The hotel has about 80 outdoor spaces, which can fill up on days with overnight guests; use a nearby coin car park then. The hotel runs a free bonnet-bus shuttle from the clock tower at Dōgo Onsen Station about every 10 minutes from 15:00 to 22:00 (about 3 minutes); the page does not say whether day visitors may ride it.
Address: 100 Dōgo Himezuka, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-947-5111
8. Okudōgo Ichiyu no Mori (奥道後 壱湯の守)
Hotel day-use bath
This hotel is about 10 minutes by car from Dōgo Onsen. Its open-air bath “Suimei no Yu” covers about 1,508 square meters, with 7 kinds of tubs each on the men’s and women’s sides. The water is an alkaline simple sulfur spring. The spring comes out at 38 degrees, and the hotel heats it to 42 degrees.
Day-use is 15:00 to 20:00 (last entry 19:00) and costs ¥1,100 for an adult (junior high school and older) and ¥550 for a child (age 3 to elementary school). You can rent a face towel (¥100) or bath towel (¥300) at the front desk. It has 5 private open-air baths (15:00 to 23:00, last entry 22:00) at ¥4,400 for 45 minutes per tub, with towels. Day visitors can reserve a private bath from 1 month ahead. The operator, Kaiei Ryokans, publishes its closure dates on a notice page, so check it before you go.
There are 300 free parking spaces. Without a car, take Iyotetsu Bus No. 52 (Matsuyama Airport line) from Dōgo Onsen Station for about 15 minutes, get off at “Yunomoto” and walk 2 to 3 minutes. The hotel’s free shuttle bus is for overnight guests only.
Address: 267-1 Otsu, Suemachi, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-977-1111
9. Dōgo Saya Onsen Yurara (道後さや温泉ゆらら)
Matsuyama, west of Dōgo
Yurara is a large public hot spring where every bath uses natural hot spring water. Besides the big bath and open-air bath, it has a sauna (a self-löyly sauna for men and a far-infrared sauna for women) and a cold bath of natural groundwater. A free foot bath is open in summer 10:00 to 22:00 and in winter 10:00 to 16:00.
As of May 2026, an adult (junior high school and older) pays ¥750 on weekdays and ¥800 on weekends and holidays. A child (age 4 to elementary school) pays ¥300 on weekdays and ¥350 on weekends and holidays, and babies from 0 to 3 are free. It is open every day: June to November 07:00 to 24:00 (last entry 23:20), and December to May 07:00 to 01:00 (last entry 00:20). Paid extras include a Yurara towel (¥180) and a rental bath towel (¥300).
The car park has about 200 spaces and is free, according to the Ehime prefecture tourism site. By bus (Iyotetsu), take the Matsuyama Airport line to “Fukuguchi” and walk about 3 minutes, or the Mitsu-Yoshida line to “Takaoka Tenjinmae” and walk about 1 minute. Address: 125-1 Takaoka-cho, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-965-4126
10. Hoshinooka Onsen (星乃岡温泉)
Matsuyama, Hoshioka
Hoshinooka Onsen has two baths close together, both open all year. The prices below are those on the official pages, labelled “from December 28”.
10.1 The main bath (大浴場)
The main bath uses an alkaline simple hot spring from 1,000 m underground and has a carbonated rock bath, a bubble and jet bath, an electric bath, a cold spring bath, a cold plunge, a walking bath, a sauna and a mist sauna. An adult pays ¥750 and a child (age 4 to elementary school 6th grade) ¥250. It is open 05:30 to 23:30 (last entry 23:00). The page says a morning-bath campaign gives a ¥600 price for bathing before 10:00; check whether it is still running. The bath building is non-smoking, with a separate smoking room. The Ehime tourism site lists 90 free parking spaces, a 10-minute walk from Fukuonji Station on the Iyotetsu line, and 15 minutes by car from the Matsuyama interchange.
Address: 1-3 Hoshioka 1-chome, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-905-0103
10.2 Senyukan (千湯館)
Senyukan has a garden open-air bath (bubble and electric), a “source bath” from 1,000 m underground, a carbonated bath, a herbal bath, a hot sauna and a source-water mist sauna. An adult pays ¥850 on weekdays and ¥900 on weekends and holidays, and a child ¥300. It is open 06:00 to 24:00 (last entry 23:20). There is a family bath that is open 24 hours. The Ehime tourism site lists 40 free parking spaces and says it is a 10-minute walk from Fukuonji Station.
Address: 1-2-16 Hoshioka, Matsuyama. Google Maps. Phone: 089-958-6700
11. How do I choose?
Depends on the facility
- Short and cheap: Tsubaki-no-Yu (¥500) or the Honkan ground-floor Kami-no-Yu course (¥700).
- All three Dōgo baths in a day or two: the ¥1,440 3-bath ticket, which is ¥370 less than buying them separately.
- A long rest after the bath: Asuka-no-Yu with the large hall (¥1,280, 90 minutes) or the Honkan Kami-no-Yu 2nd-floor room (¥1,300, 60 minutes).
- A private bath for a family: the Asuka-no-Yu special bath, the Dōgo Prince Hotel’s Yuraku or the private baths at Okudōgo Ichiyu no Mori.
- By car, without paying for parking: Okudōgo Ichiyu no Mori, Yurara and the two Hoshinooka baths.
- An early bath: Hoshinooka main bath from 05:30, Honkan and Asuka-no-Yu from 06:00, Yurara from 07:00.
12. Common questions
Can I book a bath at Dōgo Onsen?
Not the baths themselves. At Honkan, Asuka-no-Yu and Tsubaki-no-Yu you buy a ticket on the day. You can book the Honkan private rooms, the Yūshinden tour and the Asuka-no-Yu special bath. The Dōgo Prince Hotel’s day-use bath cannot be booked in advance.
Do I need to bring a towel?
At Dōgo Onsen the ground-floor baths and the Kami-no-Yu 2nd-floor course do not come with towels. You can rent them at the shop (¥110 for a towel and ¥320 for a bath towel), or bring your own.
Can I stay at the Dōgo Onsen public baths?
No. Honkan, Asuka-no-Yu and Tsubaki-no-Yu are day-use public baths, and the official FAQ refers people who want a stay to the Dōgo Onsen Ryokan Cooperative Association.
Is English supported?
The Dōgo Onsen official site has English, Chinese and Korean versions. The other pages used for this guide are in Japanese and do not say whether staff speak English. Ask the facility before you go if you need help in English.
Sources (checked October 2026)
- Dōgo Onsen: Honkan (fees, hours, shop), guide to using the baths, FAQ and access and city car parks
- Dōgo Onsen: Tsubaki-no-Yu and Asuka-no-Yu
- Dōgo Prince Hotel: baths and day-use, access and closure days for September and October 2026
- Okudōgo Ichiyu no Mori: day-use baths, access and facilities and parking
- Dōgo Saya Onsen Yurara: main bath and top page (access); Ehime tourism site: Yurara
- Hoshinooka Onsen: main bath, Senyukan and access; Ehime tourism site: main bath and Senyukan