A Tokyo bathhouse for ¥300
A campaign run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the city’s bathhouse association. 383 sento take part, the coupon is one per person, and it stops the moment the allocation runs out.
- The bathhouse fee went up to ¥600 on 1 August 2026. A month later, this coupon halves it.
- All you need is an email address — no app, no sign-up. But the official site warns that Gmail often fails to receive the verification code.
- 383 bathhouses across 39 wards and cities. Ōta ward has the most at 30.
- The discount covers the entrance fee only. Sauna access and towel rental cost extra, and plenty of sento are still cash-only.
- If you have tattoos, ordinary neighbourhood sento are usually the most relaxed type of bath in Japan — but there is no national rule, so it still comes down to the individual shop.
- What the coupon actually is
- Getting the coupon (and the Gmail problem)
- Using it at the bathhouse
- Where it works: 383 sento, 39 wards and cities
- Tattoos, cash and towels: the practical stuff
- The etiquette, in the order you’ll need it
- What ¥300 actually buys you
- October 10 is Sento Day — and it falls inside the campaign
- After the coupon: going regularly without paying full price
- Questions people actually ask
What the coupon actually is
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Sento Association are running a campaign called TRY A TOKYO SENTO from 1 September to 31 October 2026. You claim a digital coupon with your email address, show it at a participating bathhouse, and the adult entrance fee drops from ¥600 to ¥300. That is the whole mechanism.
| Dates | 1 September – 31 October 2026 Ends early once the planned number of redemptions is reached |
|---|---|
| Discount | Adult entrance fee ¥600 → ¥300 |
| Where | 383 bathhouses — association members that opted in |
| Limit | One claim and one use per person |
| How to claim | Email verification on the campaign site, or scan the QR code on a printed leaflet. No registration required |
| Run by | Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Public Bathhouse Association |
| Official site | sento-campaign.com/trytokyosento / |
The coupon is one part of a wider push: participating shops also hang a specially designed noren curtain, and the city is putting out promo videos and social posts to sell sento as something visitors should try. Useful context, because it tells you the budget behind this is finite — hence the early cut-off.
Getting the coupon (and the Gmail problem)
- Open the campaign site and follow the coupon button through to sento-campaign.jp.
- Enter an email address and request the verification code.
- Verify, and the coupon URL arrives by email. That email is the coupon — don’t delete it.
This is not a guess. The claim page itself says that Gmail users may find the verification code difficult to receive, and suggests trying a non-Gmail address instead. It also warns the mail can land in spam or trash. Starting with an Outlook, iCloud or Yahoo! JAPAN address saves you a round of troubleshooting. Note that the address you give may be used to send you a survey later.
The leaflet route
Leaflets carry a QR code on the back that launches the coupon directly. They are stocked at eight places, all of them Tokyo Tourist Information Centers or the Metropolitan Government Building:
| Location | Ward/City | Where exactly |
|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Tourist Information Center (Metropolitan Gov’t Building) | Shinjuku | Nishi-Shinjuku 2-8-1, Main Building No. 1, 1F |
| Tokyo Tourist Information Center (Busta Shinjuku) | Shibuya | Sendagaya 5-24-55, Busta Shinjuku 3F |
| Tokyo Tourist Information Center (Haneda Airport) | Ōta | Haneda Airport Terminal 3, 2F |
| Tokyo Tourist Information Center (Keisei Ueno) | Taitō | Ueno Park 1-60, in front of the Keisei Ueno ticket gates |
| Tokyo Tourist Information Center (Yaesu) | Chūō | Yaesu 1-6-1, TOFROM YAESU TOWER B1 |
| Tokyo Tourist Information Center (Tama) | Tachikawa | Shibasaki-chō 3-1-1, Ecute Tachikawa 3F |
| Metropolitan Gov’t Building Observatory | Shinjuku | Main Building No. 1, 45F |
| Metropolitan Gov’t Building information desks | Shinjuku | Main Building No. 1 (1F/2F), No. 2 (1F/2F) |
Using it at the bathhouse
- Open the coupon from the email.
- Scan the shop’s QR code with the camera the coupon page opens. If the scan fails, there is a code you can type in by hand.
- Enter “1” for the number of uses, show the confirmation screen at the front desk, and pay ¥300.
Also worth knowing: a coupon you already hold can stop working if total redemptions across the city hit the cap. If you want to go, go sooner rather than in the last week of October.
Where it works: 383 sento, 39 wards and cities
The city publishes the participating shops as a map and a PDF list but doesn’t give a headline number, so we counted them: 383 bathhouses in 39 wards and municipalities. The association’s own site puts roughly 430 sento in operation across Tokyo as of November 2024, which makes this close to nine out of every ten.
| Ward / City | Shops | Ward / City | Shops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ōta | 30 | Arakawa, Sumida | 15 each |
| Itabashi | 24 | Toshima | 14 |
| Adachi | 23 | Chūō, Shibuya | 7 each |
| Edogawa, Kita | 22 each | Meguro | 6 |
| Taitō | 20 | Bunkyō, Minato | 4 each |
| Shinagawa | 19 | Fuchū, Chōfu | 4 each |
| Nakano | 18 | Komae, Mitaka | 3 each |
| Kōtō, Katsushika Setagaya, Nerima | 17 each | Tachikawa, Hachiōji, Akishima Nishi-Tokyo, Higashi-Kurume, etc. | 1–2 each |
| Shinjuku, Suginami | 16 each | Chiyoda | 1 |
Tattoos, cash and towels: the practical stuff
Tattoos
There is no law in Japan banning tattooed people from bathing. Neither the Public Bath House Act nor the hotel legislation says anything about it, so every facility decides for itself — and the answer varies by type. Ordinary neighbourhood sento, the kind this campaign covers, are generally the most relaxed; large commercial super sento and hot spring resorts refuse far more often. Surveys of bathing facilities put roughly half in the “no” column, about a third with no restriction, and the rest allowing it if the tattoo is covered with a sticker.
Practically: if your tattoo is small, a cover sticker from a drugstore removes the question entirely. If it isn’t, one phone call to the shop before you go is worth more than any general rule.
Cash
Most sento are still cash-only. A minority — usually recently renovated ones — take PayPay or a transport IC card, but it is not something to count on. Bring coins.
Towels, soap and the sauna
| Item | Covered by the coupon? | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Sauna | No — charged separately | Most sento charge a few hundred yen on top of the entrance fee for sauna access. The amount differs by shop; check the ticket machine or the front desk. |
| Towels, soap, shampoo | No — rental costs extra | The campaign explicitly says renting these on site carries an additional charge. Many shops do keep shampoo and body wash in the washing area, but not all. Bringing your own is cheapest and safest. |
| Children’s entry | Coupon is for the adult fee | Children already pay less by law: ¥200 for ages 6–11, ¥100 under 6. |
| Opening hours | — | Typically mid-afternoon until around midnight, with one closing day a week that differs by shop (Monday is common). A few open at 6am. Always check before travelling. |
The etiquette, in the order you’ll need it
Baths are separated by gender and everyone is fully naked — swimwear and underwear are not allowed in the bathing area. That surprises more first-timers than anything else, so it’s worth saying up front. After that, the sequence is straightforward:
- Shoes off at the entrance, into the shoe locker. Keep the wooden tag or key.
- Pay at the front desk (or the bandai, the raised attendant’s seat in older shops). This is where you show the coupon screen.
- Undress completely in the changing room and put everything in a locker. Wear the locker key on your wrist or ankle. Valuables stay your own responsibility.
- Phones and cameras stay in the locker. The campaign’s own rules put this first: no electronic devices at all in the changing room or bathing area.
- Take a stool and a basin, find a free washing station, and wash before you get in the tub. Rinse every trace of soap off your body and hair.
- Keep your towel and hair out of the water. Most people fold the small towel on their head or rest it on the edge.
- Keep your voice down, and don’t wash clothes in the bath area.
- Towel off before stepping back into the changing room, so you don’t flood the floor.
- Put the stool and basin back where you found them.
What ¥300 actually buys you
Here is the part that makes sento genuinely good value, and it’s a quirk of Japanese law. A sento is legally an “ordinary public bath”, and its entrance fee is capped by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government under price control legislation. Every member bathhouse charges the same, whatever it has inside.
| Category | From 1 Aug 2024 | From 1 Aug 2026 (current) |
|---|---|---|
| Adult (12 and over) | ¥550 | ¥600 |
| Child (6 to 11) | ¥200 | ¥200 (unchanged) |
| Under 6 | ¥100 | ¥100 (unchanged) |
The association raised the adult fee because of energy and materials costs. Super sento and spa complexes, which fall outside the price cap, are free to charge what they like — typically ¥700 to ¥1,000 and up, with some Tokyo facilities well into four figures.
Because the price is fixed, every difference in facilities is pure upside. Some of the shops on the participating list, chosen to show the range:
Opening hours and closing days change. Check the individual shop before you travel.
October 10 is Sento Day — and it falls inside the campaign
10 October is Sento Day, because 1010 reads as sen-tō. Tokyo bathhouses mark it with the annual Lavender Bath Festival: tubs filled with dried lavender, plus a free towel featuring Yuppo-kun, the association’s mascot, for people who come that day.
Towel numbers vary by shop and run out, and some shops or districts hold the event on a slightly different date, so check the specific bathhouse first.
After the coupon: going regularly without paying full price
Being honest about the maths: the coupon saves you ¥300, once. Its real job is to let you find out for ¥300 whether this is something you want in your week. If it is, two things matter more than the coupon ever did.
The city-wide ticket book
The association sells a book of ten adult tickets for ¥5,400 — ¥540 a visit, ten percent off the door price. The current edition is valid until 30 June 2027, you buy it at the front desk of any member sento, and you can use the tickets at any member shop, not just the one that sold them. If you go even once a week, there is no reason not to have one.
Stamp rallies (mostly free to join)
| Event | Area | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Senzai-Ichiyu 026 Stamp Rally App-based (TOYPO); every 5 stamps enters a prize draw | Nationwide; around 400 Tokyo member shops | 26 Feb – 26 Nov 2026 |
| Chūō Ward bathhouse stamp rally Prizes collected at Hakuhinkan Toy Park, Ginza | Chūō | 1 – 30 Sep 2026 |
| Burari Yurari Stamp Rally 2026 | Edogawa | 1 Sep – 31 Dec 2026 |
| Taitō & Minato digital stamp rally 2026 | Taitō, Minato | 1 Aug – 30 Sep 2026 |
| Musashino–Mitaka bath-hopping rally 2026 | Musashino, Mitaka | 22 Aug – 4 Oct 2026 |
| Cool-no-Yu stamp rally | Bunkyō | 1 Jul – 30 Sep 2026 |
2026 reads as “026”, which can be read as ofuro (bath) — hence the nationwide rally this year. Check each organiser’s page for current terms.
While you’re claiming things from the city
The sento coupon is a Tokyo Metropolitan Government scheme, and it is not the only one. A few of these are worth considerably more than ¥300:
- Tokyo residents can claim points through the official Tokyo app — an order of magnitude more than this coupon → how to get up to 11,000 points from the Tokyo app
- If you shop or eat in Minato ward, its payment rebate runs at up to 25% at small independent businesses, capped at 15,000 points a month, and you don’t have to live there → MinatoKu PAY guide
- Sento take cash, but municipal rebate campaigns almost all run on QR payment apps. Without one you can’t collect at all → using a PayPay referral code
- Point sites pay you for applications you were going to make anyway — the same card, the same brokerage account, thousands of yen more just for entering through a different door → point sites, from scratch
Questions people actually ask
- Q. I live in Tokyo, I’m not a tourist. Can I still use it?
- Yes. The city describes the target as visitors from Japan and abroad, but claiming the coupon needs nothing except an email address — there is no residency or nationality condition attached.
- Q. Do I need to register or install an app?
- No. The official site states that no advance application is needed. One email verification and the coupon link arrives in your inbox; it opens in a browser.
- Q. The verification code never arrived. What now?
- Check spam and trash first. The claim page itself flags that Gmail addresses often have trouble receiving the code and advises trying a different provider, so the fastest fix is to claim again with a non-Gmail address.
- Q. Can I claim coupons for my partner and kids too?
- No — one claim and one use per person. Each adult needs to claim with their own email address.
- Q. Is the sauna half price as well?
- No. The discount applies to the ¥600 entrance fee only. Sauna access is a separate charge at most sento and you pay it in full. The amount varies by shop.
- Q. Can I turn up with nothing?
- You can, but it will cost extra. The campaign states plainly that renting towels, soap or shampoo on site incurs an additional charge. Many shops have shampoo and body wash in the washing area, but not all of them, and a towel you will almost always need to bring or rent.
- Q. Can I pay by card or QR code?
- Depends on the shop. Sento remain largely cash-only; PayPay and transport IC acceptance is spreading, mostly among renovated shops, but it is still the minority. Bring coins.
- Q. I have tattoos. Will I be turned away?
- There is no national rule, so it’s decided shop by shop. Ordinary neighbourhood sento — which is what this campaign covers — are the most permissive category of bathing facility in Japan; super sento and hot spring resorts refuse more often. If your tattoo is large enough that it can’t be covered with a sticker, call the shop before you go.
- Q. Could it end before 31 October?
- Yes. The city states that distribution and use both stop once the planned number of redemptions is reached, even if that happens inside the campaign window — and a coupon you already hold can stop working at that point.
- Q. What’s the cheapest way in once the coupon is gone?
- The association’s book of ten tickets at ¥5,400, which works out to ¥540 a visit and is valid until 30 June 2027. You buy it at the front desk of any member bathhouse. Beyond that, Sento Day on 10 October and the various ward stamp rallies are free to take part in.
Sources
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government press release on the TRY A TOKYO SENTO campaign, 27 August 2026 metro.tokyo.lg.jp
- Campaign site, participating-bathhouse PDF and leaflet-distribution PDF sento-campaign.com (shop count and the ward breakdown were tallied from the official list for this article)
- Tokyo Sento Association: bathing fee notice, fee revision notice, campaign page, Sento Day and stamp rally pages 1010.or.jp
- Tokyo Metropolitan Consumer Affairs Center on public bath price controls and the sento culture project shouhiseikatu.metro.tokyo.lg.jp
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare notice on tattooed guests at bathing facilities mhlw.go.jp
Accurate as of 5 September 2026. Campaign terms, fees, opening hours and extra charges can change — check the official announcements and the notices posted at each bathhouse.
