I previously shared about celebrating my birthday in one of the most famous onsen destinations in Japan which you can find here. And so, this is the continuation.
Kusatsu Onsen, one of the top 3 best hot springs in Japan is found in Gunma Prefecture, a few miles away from Tokyo. In this small town, you can find the famous Yubatake (ๆนฏ็, in english: hot spring field) in its center. This place was where I celebrated my birthday and it was very therapeutic! ๐
In my previous post, I shared that it is part of Nagano Prefecture, but when I checked the map, the address says it is in Gunma Prefecture. Sorry for the mistake. I also updated my previous post about it but the cover photo, I couldn't update it. So to clear the misunderstanding, this place is found in Gunma Prefecture.
That weekend, we stayed at Hotel Takamatsu and it's just a 5-minute walk away from Yubatake. Yubatake is best enjoyed in the nighttime because of the illumination and the steam coming from the water making it like a magical scenery.
Kusatsu's hot spring comes from the nearby active volcano named Mount Shirane. Mount Shirane last erupted in 2018. There are hiking trails and you can see a majestic lake but I didn't go. Next time!
The spring water is extremely hot, more than 70 degrees Celsius, and although it looks so appealing, you can't bathe in that temperature! And so, Yubatake was created. They created it to cool the hot water which will then be supplied to the numerous onsen resorts in Kusatsu.
I already mentioned illumination, right? Even in the rain, the water field still looked so amazing! Though my phone couldn't do justice to the beauty of this place at night.
The sulfur looked weird at nighttime. It looked kinda sticky and something slimy. Eww. ๐
Many people were in their yukata, including me, strolling in Yubatake. Some hotels provide yukata to their guests that you can wear around the town. I liked it, comfortable but it was a little bit cold. ๐
Some people also took advantage of the free foot bath (่ถณใฎๆนฏ in japanese, read as Ashi no Yu) near Yubatake. However, I didn't soaked my foot because my boyfriend was wearing boots and it would be too annoying to remove it, and if I did it alone, it would be too cruel of me. ๐ (If I do it alone and he would wait for me, where's the fun?)
If you won't use the stairs, you can use the road. Not a lot of cars are passing by so it's okay to to walk in the road.
There are a few restaurants opened til late in the area but I think most of them close early. It was past 9PM when we went there. Too early? Well, it's not the city so can't really expect restaurants to be opened til late. But there's a convenience store nearby for your hungry tummy. ๐
Before we headed back to the hotel, we stopped by the convenience store to get alcohol. What's a birthday without alcohol?! To tell you, I didn't have cake on my birthday so the alcoholic drinks would suffice.
There was a long line for take out in a yakiniku (็ผ่ or pork barbeque in english) shop and I noticed my boyfriend also wanted to buy. We just had that sumptuous dinner at the hotel and he wanted round 2!?! But oh well, it's fine. ๐ We found a yakitori (็ผ้ณฅ or chicken barbeque) shop nearby and less people so we bought food there - around 15 sticks. I know, that's a lot. ๐ Actually he asked me how many sticks I wanted, I told him 3, but when he ordered, I was just there dumbfoundedly staring at him while he told the staff 15 sticks.
After we bought yakitori, we hurriedly headed back to the hotel because it's almost our time to use the private onsen of the hotel.
Even when it's best enjoyed at nighttime, one can also enjoy the view at daytime. Saturday was a rainy day but Sunday was so sunny! We can now clearly see what this hot water field is in the morning.
It wasn't clear during the night but during the morning, you can see the wooden fields are not in their best shape. Yubatake has a long history, so I could imagine this to be too old.
Because it's daytime, you can see that the sulfur has transformed the ground and the rocks. It has a very foul smell, no thanks to the sulfur.
And because the ground is extremely hot, vegetation will die. So the town is importing their vegetation.
Near Yubatake, there's a large staircase leading to a temple but we were too tired that day so we didn't go. But we found something that piqued our curiosity.
It's actually a sacred hot spring water, and although there's a note saying do not throw coins in the water, there were already a lot.
We were too tired to stroll around, so we just stayed near Yubatake. There were benches you can sit and enjoy the view.
That Sunday, there was a cycling event and the stopover's in the town.
A lot of people were also enjoying the foot bath. It's really popular because it's free of charge. Bring your own towel!
You can feel the hotness of the water in this flowing stuff. It has already cooled down but still hot. They say multiply it by 3 and that's the temperature of the water in Yubatake.
It's almost 2PM so it's time to head back to the hotel to take their free shuttle services going to the bus terminal. It would be a long bus and train ride to Tokyo but we were refreshed by the hot spring waters of Kusatsu. The person who invented Yubatake must be so smart he thought of this way to cool the water.
Thanks for reading!
See you around! ใใใใใพใใญ๏ผ
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.