Some of the hot spring pools on the way to town
Kusatsu is perhaps the most famous tourist destination in Gunma prefecture. So famous, in fact, that this was the 3rd time this year I visited Kusatsu. But this is for good reason--Kusatsu has the distinction of having the largest volume of hot spring water in all of Japan, with water bubbling up at a rate of 34,000 liters per minute in the yubatake in the middle of town.
The yubatake (湯畑) and cooling aqueducts
Close-up of the aqueducts
The water still looks pretty hot at the end of the run
Kusatsu was originally developed during the late 19th century, when Erwin Bälz, foreign medical advisor to the emperor, visited Kusatsu for the first time and sang the praises of the healing powers Kusatsu's hot spring waters. It is said that the waters in Kusatsu can heal almost all ailments, with the exception of lovesickness. For his work in publicizing and developing the area, a statue of Dr. Bälz is prominently displayed in Kusatsu.
Statue of German doctors Bälz and Shiba
In order to really appreciate Kusatsu, however, you need to don a proper yukata (cotton robe) and walk through town. People even do this in the winter, while it's snowing.
Wearing a yukata. Am I doing it right?
Some of the storefronts in Kusatsu
While walking around in our traditional garb, we were led to a hidden hot spring used by the locals. The building wasn't marked from the street, and only locals seemed to know it was there.
Unmarked local (and free) onsen
It was kind of neat to find a local, free onsen, but the water was a bit too hot for my comfort. We guestimated the water was about 47C (115F), which is only fun to sit in for a couple minutes.
Inside the free local onsen
We also attended a demonstration of the Yumomi (湯もみ) ritual. Since the water that comes directly from the spring is too hot to bathe in (54C, 129F), the ancient method of cooling the water was to stir and splash it around using long wooden planks. Although other methods are now employed to cool the water (such as the Yubatake), the traditional ritual/dance of Yumomi lives on, especially as an attraction for tourists.
A group of tourists try the Yumomi dance/ritual
Kusatsu is also well known for skiing. Although there is only one ski resort in Kusatsu itself, it is fairly large with a wide variety of runs. Note that there pictures were taken in the winter.
View from the top of the Kusatsu International Ski Resort (Feb. 2012)
Map of the runs at the Kusatsu Ski Resort
There are also some spots around the Yubatake where you can warm your hands or sit down and warm your feet. This is especially important in the winter when the outside temperature is very low.
Enjoying the feet-warming waters (Mar. 2012)
Steam rising off the Yubatake in early spring (Mar. 2012)
Kusatsu is one of the great treasures of Gunma Prefecture. Most people in Tokyo and larger cities don't know much about Gunma, but almost everyone knows about Kusatsu. I highly recommend coming to Kusatsu, staying in a traditional onsen hotel/ryokan and soaking in the healing waters.
For more information about Kusatsu, check the following links (in English):
