Kotobukiyu
Ueno, Tokyo
- Daily
- 11:00 to 1:30
- 3rd Thu
- Closed
Closed 1 and 2 January.
Source: 1010.or.jp, checked 5 Oct 2026.
Kotobukiyu is a temple-style sento near Inaricho with a karahafu roof, a huge painting on the bathroom wall and an outdoor rock bath. Inside there are hot and lukewarm tubs, a daily herbal bath, a sauna and a cold plunge, and it stays open until 1:30am.
Insider tip
Wash at the taps before you get in, and keep your small towel out of the water. A towel set (bath towel, small towel and scrubbing towel) is ¥100, and shampoo and body soap are free. The sauna costs ¥350 extra on weekdays and ¥450 at weekends. Open 11am to 1:30am, closed the third Thursday. It's 2 minutes from Inaricho station.
What the guides say about Kotobukiyu
Tsubameyu near Okachimachi opens at 6am, and its 1950 building and Mt Fuji lava rock mountain are a registered national Tangible Cultural Property. Kotobukiyu near Inaricho has a temple-style roof, a huge wall painting and an outdoor rock bath. Haginoyu by Uguisudani is one of the biggest sento in the city and also opens from 6am to 9am. For Yanaka, Saitoyu is 3 minutes from Nippori station.
What's on near Kotobukiyu
Upcoming events within a ten-minute walk of Kotobukiyu, from the weekly Tokyo events calendar.
Shitamachi Tanabata Matsuri
下町七夕まつり
Station Tawaramachi (Ginza Line), 5 min walk
Star festival along the 1.2 km shopping street between Ueno and Asakusa, hung with bamboo branches and paper streamers made by local shops and schools. The main weekend closes the street to traffic for parades, street performers, and food stalls.
Kappabashi Kitchenware Festival (42nd Kappabashi Dougu Matsuri)
第42回かっぱ橋道具まつり
Station Tawaramachi (Ginza Line), 5 min walk
Kappabashi's kitchenware street holds its yearly week of sales round Tool Day on 9 October, ending with a day when the street is closed to traffic.
Spring Festival in Tokyo 2027 (Tokyo-Haru-Sai classical music festival in Ueno)
東京・春・音楽祭2027
Station Ueno (JR Park exit), 1 min walk
A month-long classical music festival of opera, recitals and small concerts in Ueno Park, held in the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, the Former Tokyo Music School Sogakudo and the park museums. Programme and ticket details are announced separately.
Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0 Painting within Painting: The Adventure of Paintings about Paintings. From the Renaissance to the Present and Beyond
画中画 絵をめぐる絵の冒険 ルネサンスから現代、そのさきへ
Time 9:30 to 17:30, Fridays and Saturdays to 20:00 (museum's general hours, last entry 30 minutes before closing)
A large show on paintings that depict other paintings, tracing how European artists handled the act of depicting and the act of looking from the Renaissance to today. Loans include works from the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, including Habsburg pieces, plus the Musee d'Orsay and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It is the museum's only venue for the show.
Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0 Dinosaur Expo 2027
特別展「恐竜博2027」
Station Ueno (JR Yamanote Line), 5 min walk
A special exhibition tracing how dinosaurs evolved from the Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous, with real specimens shown in Japan for the first time. The centrepiece is a Tyrannosaurus skeleton more than 11 m long, also a first for Japan.
Wei-Te Wong from Taipei City, Taiwan, Republic of China, CC BY-SA 2.0 Smaller local events nearby
Hoonji Manaita-biraki Festival
Tue 12 Jan · Bando Hoonji, Ueno
A ritual in which a carp is cut up on a huge board without touching it by hand, with the carp shared with onlookers.
Map · Source: Taito City odekake navi · 報恩寺の爼開き
Manaita-biraki (carp-cutting rite) at Hoon-ji Festival
Tue 12 Jan · Hoon-ji temple (Bando Hoon-ji), Higashi-Ueno
A cook in court dress cuts two carp on a large board with a knife and long iron chopsticks without touching the fish by hand, a rite handed down at the temple since the 13th century.
Free to watch · Map · Source: Taito City (annual events) · 坂東報恩寺 まないた開き
Nearby
Around Ueno
Museums, market chaos, and Tokyo's great public park
Ueno does double duty. On one side you've got the park with its museums, its shrine, and some of the most famous cherry blossoms in Japan. On the other you've got Ameyoko, a market street that still runs on shouting and cash. Do both in one day and it's one of the best free-ish days out in Tokyo.
Ueno has 12 places on the Roam Tokyo map: 3 museums, 3 bathhouses, 2 shrines and temples, 2 parks and gardens, 1 restaurant and 1 market. Read the Ueno guide.
From the blog
Good to know
- What is the address of Kotobukiyu?
- 5-4-17 Higashi-Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo (in Japanese: 台東区東上野５−４−１７).
- What are the opening hours of Kotobukiyu?
- Daily 11:00 to 1:30; Closed 3rd Thu. Closed 1 and 2 January.
- How do I get to Kotobukiyu?
- The nearest station is Inaricho (Ginza Line). Kotobukiyu is in Ueno, Tokyo.
- How much does Kotobukiyu cost?
- Kotobukiyu is cheap, marked ¥ on the site's price scale.
- How long do you need at Kotobukiyu?
- Plan for 1-2 hours.
- When is the best time to visit Kotobukiyu?
- Late evening.
Stay near Kotobukiyu
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