Ujina Natural Hot Spring Honoyu — Attraction in Hiroshima

Great experience. I went at 1pm during a weekday. Not a lot of women are in the onsen. But around 2pm, there were a sudden surge of customers - mother and child coming in, aside from solo women.

When you enter the establishment, you'll see an umbrella rack where you can leave your umbrellas (you need to have a ¥100 as a token) and then the shoe cabinet where you will leave your shoes. You'll need to exchange the cabinet key with your locker key at the reception.

They only accept cash and you need to purchase tickets in a vending machine. I paid 1,180 (880 for the adult ticket + 300 for the big towel). Once you get the tickets, go to the reception and give the tickets and your shoe cabinet key to the receptionist. They will exchange this with your locker key.

In the locker room, completely dress off, except for the towel you'll be carrying around with you. Lots of baths to choose from - indoor and outdoor, also a cold bath at 16 degrees, and steam/sauna at 80 degrees hot! (According to the thermometer inside). Outside is a big telly showing a Japanese local series. When I stepped out of the indoor baths, I thought I was going to be frozen - freezing point has passed and it felt great when I soaked in the outdoor bath. Hairdyers are available, just bring your own lotion and other skincare products.

Overall, super straightforward and easy to be in. There's a restaurant on the ground floor. Perfect to get a cold beer after soaking...

I visited on a Monday from 1200-1500. It wasn't empty, but there was enough space to use all the facilities. I was the only foreigner there. As pointed out already, everything is in Japanese, but with Google Translate, you'll find what you need on the machine to buy your entry ticket. Top left highlighted button is entry, the one below a towel. It's only a small face towel, so bring one to dry off when you're going home.

Reception staff were very friendly and showed me the way. They didn't speak English, but it worked fine without. Process is the same as every other sauna/wellness. Except for the price 1050 yen for entry and a towel. That's so cheap compared to home.

Nice facilities. 5 Baths plus a sauna inside and 5 baths outside. Male and female separate, so don't expect a relaxing day with your partner! Strange, however, is the television inside the sauna and the outdoor area where some kind of talkshow is on. I would've though the Japanese to go full Zen in baths like this. Actually, it's pretty annoying and not really relaxing, but it blends out at some point.

As for the comments regarding no entry with tattoos. I saw (only) one local with a small tattoo. I only have a relatively small one. Just to be sure, I bought some band aids in 7-Eleven and put them over it. Held fine and no complaints.

Can definitely recommend this place for a nice...

Take streetcar #5 from Hiroshima eleven stops to Ujina 2-chome and then an eleven minute walk in a straight line. Take your own towel, face towel and brush. Stand in front of the temperature taking machine, stick your shoes in a shoebox, grab the key, walk inside and buy a ticket for 880 yen during the week, I think it's 940 on the weekends. Hand the shoebox key and the ticket to the guy at the front and he will hand you another key for a larger locker inside the onsen. Women can be seen inside the men's locker room mopping the floor, unusual coming from the US but at least to me, not a big deal. Wash yourself first and then try the various baths, including baths outside, cold baths and a sauna. A most excellent adventure,...