JAPAN’S #1 hot spring town: Kusatsu Onsen (Gunma Ep 2)

Kusatsu has been voted the #1 onsen town in Japan for almost 20 years in a row by Japan’s major travel agents. The town is known for the high-quality sulfuric hot springs, which are believed to have therapeutic properties, promoting healing and relaxation. Most importantly, its onsen culture has been preserved through the generations, providing visitors with a unique opportunity to experience traditional Japanese bath rituals and customs.

On this trip, in addition to experiencing the onsens, we enjoy one of the world’s most sophisticated meals: the kaiseki dinner. It’s a 9-course meal with aesthetically beautiful and delicious dishes. A must-do for anyone visiting Japan.

In essence, Kusatsu Onsen combines natural beauty, cultural richness, and a therapeutic atmosphere, making it a must-visit destination for those seeking an authentic and rejuvenating experience in Japan.

Thanks to Visit Gunma for sponsoring this series.
Learn more about Gunma: https://www.visit-gunma.jp/en/?utm_medium=paid&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=r5_yt_campaign&utm_content=sns_colunm_minakami
@visitgunma321

Previous video: (Arrival in Japan & trip to Minakami): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX-Ilm98xvk
Watch the full series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX-Ilm98xvk&list=PLUt18OGs5Ho5dk-gywEj56bzwq3FSM6Bb&index=1

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Gunma, Japan: Vlog 02 (Kusatsu)
00:00 Why is Kusatsu Japan’s #1 onsen town?
00:50 Our hotel in Kusatsu
01:14 A 9-course traditional Japanese dinner
04:07 Private onsen – what’s it like?
05:01 The next day: morning music and breakfast
06:42 The main attraction in town: Yubatake
08:46 The traditional way to cool down the waters
10:25 The local’s point of view. What do the Japanese say about these waters?
11:34 The cutest city center
12:53 Onsen for the eyes!!!!
14:23 An onsen cafe!!!
15:36 A park of onsens with footbaths
18:28 Dinner keeps surprising
20:41 Kusatsu at night

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► WHO AM I?

I am a Brazilian-American journalist living in Florida. After traveling the world working with sports, news, and events for over 15 years, I realized that what I really love is the travel part of it all. So I exchanged life in the newsrooms and stadiums for the daily challenge of being an independent content producer. I created this channel to share the beauties of the world… stuff that, for so long, I only kept to myself. Also to help people planning similar trips and to inspire more people to venture out and enjoy life!

P.S.: The funny guy who appears in the vlogs is my husband, Gordon. He is Canadian-American, and he’s actually camera-shy. That’s why he’s behind the camera most of the time 😉

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NEW VIDEO ►►► https://goo.gl/rhM6Pw

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Onsen is an obsession in Japan. There are more than 3,000 onsen towns here and we are at the number one, the place every Japanese dreams to visit: Kusatsu. And the reason is obvious. Onsens are different and right here, look at what they have in the middle of the city.

Kusatsu Onsen has been voted the number one onsen in Japan for almost 20 years in a row by Japan’s major travel agents. We partnered with Visit Gunma to show you a different Japan. Gunma is located an hour away from Tokyo and it’s Japan’s retreat destination.

Doesn’t this make you want to come back every year? – Twice a year. – In the previous video, you saw a little bit of the nature. Now you’ll discover the most charming onsen town in the country. We’re staying at Kusatsu Onsen Naraya, a luxurious Japanese inn founded in the 18th century.

Wow, look at our room. – Enjoy your stay. – Thank you so much. Today it’s a very modern ryokan. There’s a massage chair here. We arrived just in time for dinner. – Good evening. [in Japanese] Oh, how lovely! I appreciate (the meal) [in Japanese] We get our own private dining room here.

And wow! So sophisticated! Even the floor is heated. – What are you tasting? – I have no idea. Because it only says appetizer. But it is good. Everything you try in Japan is good. How do you say? How do you say? Cheers! [in Japanese] – Wanmomo. Matsutake mushroom.

Please wait until the fire goes out or the steam goes out – Oh, okay. Thank you very much [in Japanese] Look at this how beautiful. It’s like a colorful star. This type of dinner is known as kaiseki. and it’s considered the world’s finest meal. It consists of beautifully plated dishes

Made with seasonal and local ingredients. Mmm! Fish of the day called burihira. Based on what I understood here. Delicious. – Burihira – Did you see that the menu had a back page? – No, I didn’t – She just came here, and turned… started bringing the dishes from here.

This is a one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine course meal. No wonder the kaiseki dinner can cost up to 30,000 yen per person. That’s because it’s also an art. And you may even be surprised by the chef himself. This is salmon roe.

And green onion, tuna, sea bream, salmon, egg, conger eel, We offer raw shrimp, shime mackeral and Japanese snail. – Oh, wow. Thank you very much [in Japanese] – Now, that’s a buffet. – That’s a buffet, exactly. Now why did I get all this and you got three? – Me, Renata.

– He just asked me “what”, and I said salmon. I didn’t ask for this, he just put it here. – Shiizakana, substantial dish. I think we’ve had substantial. – Aahh. -Ohhhh! – Different chopsticks for… – Everything is good, huh? Wow, the last one before dessert. I can’t believe I got to here.

A two-hour long dinner, and no kidding, among the best in my life. Thank you very much [in Japanese] The size of the dinner was actually great for a day like today. Earlier we hiked for close to six hours at Oze National Park. And since we left, only one thing was on my mind.

– Ready for a private bath? – Yes, totally ready, because here, men and women go separate, and it is the traditional way, meaning, the way you came to the world. When you have a private onsen, we can go together. Oh, it’s kind of outdoors here. You can feel the cold air,

And then the bath is hot, hot, hot. Paradise. Now, you’re not supposed to shower at the end, because this water here is rich in minerals, healthy and good for you. Thank you very much [in Japanese] The next day How lovely, they just played a song here. We’re ready for breakfast. This here, by the way, is called Yukata, very traditionally Japanese. You don’t have to wear it, you know, but they give you in the hotel and everybody does, so why not, right? It makes us feel we’re in a special place.

– Aaaah. – Oh, wow. Wow. – That’s a lot of food. – Yes. – And I don’t know where to start. – This is the sauce for this. – This for this. – Yeah. – For this? Put the egg here? – Here, yes. And there’s rice.

Traditional Japanese meals are a whole experience, and I love to figure this out. Thank you very much [in Japanese] – Rice is like the base, and then you add your ingredients. – Sweet potato. Fish. This time we got no English menu, so we’re on our own discovering what we have here.

Some things are constant in every meal, like the miso soup. That’s cute. Some kind of seafood. It needs the sauce. Now we’re talking. Delicious. Just a few meters from our hotel, the main attraction in town. This is the Yubatake. Translating from Japanese, it literally means “field of hot water.”

And all this has a purpose, it’s not here just for demonstration. They created kind of a wood aqueduct. The water goes from one to the next, and the whole purpose is to cool it down a little, increasing the contact with the air. So now you may think,

Wouldn’t it be easier to just mix with cold water? – No, it’s important you do it the right way. – Yes, and why is that? – Health benefits. – The minerals, you know, you don’t wanna dilute everything. If you mix with cold water, half of the benefits are gone. – Dilution not allowed.

– This is medicinal. Not like in Australia, baby. Here, don’t drink the water. – Hands only. – And they also have another place here for you to soak your feet. – I bet you don’t know what that’s for. – It says right here. – Stop looking at that.

– The Japanese are so creative, huh? Come on, Gordon, let’s go. The closest you get here to the source, the more you smell sulfur. It’s an interesting smell. Let’s put it this way. What smell is this, Gordon? – You. – Oh, come on. – Yeah, it’s not pretty. – It was you.

– Did you notice this Renata? – Huh? – These are names of people who are famous… have some sort of notoriety. – They have been here. Wow, do you think this is the year that they visited? Look at this, visited in 1587. Wow. Yes, Kusatsu’s fame has a long history.

Rumor has it that even leaders during the Edo Period ordered barrels of hot spring water to be delivered to Edo Castle, then located in present-day Tokyo. Japan has about 27,000 sources of hot water, all thanks to an abundance of volcanic magma, deep in the earth. Now, what happens here at the end?

This is the water that goes to every resort and onsen in town. And there are about 100 of them. There’s also the traditional way to cool down the waters. This is what we’re gonna see now. We’re gonna see a traditional dance presentation here, and it literally means “massaging the waters”. [traditional Japanese music]

Wow, how nice! That is the traditional method to cool down the water. People all of a sudden, when they realized that this is what they’re doing, people got so interested that they transformed into a show. And I just discovered that something very similar is still done in the onsens today.

The Managing Director of our hotel agreed to show me everything. Today, the job belongs to the warden. I’m gonna try it as well. Now we’re gonna check if I really paid attention to the job. It is hard work. Okay, I’m getting it. Is it too much? – Maybe not so aggressive.

– Not so aggressive, okay. Wow. This is wood. This is important. You cannot just put any metal or any other material. The water outside is at 50 degrees. It comes out here at 45. and here, I already lowered to 41. The secret here is to facilitate the contact with the air.

This whole process is so interesting that I’m sitting here with the Managing Director of our hotel, Saeki-san to understand a little bit more of how all this works. Thank you so much for showing us around and explaining everything. That’s a huge and serious job, right? How long does it take?

How often do they do every day? – Every day, I check the temperature every 2 hours or 3 hours If you have atopic dermatitis (eczema), a skin disease, or after a traffic accident, since your body stays warm all the time, you may be able to get rid of such illnesses.

The air in Kusatsu is said to be good for the eyes. It’s bad for your teeth. Kusatsu has 453 hot springs from seven different types of mineral-rich waters, but one thing is common. Bacteria and fungi cannot survive here. Kusatsu has pH 2, which is about the same as lemon water.

Many people come to Kusatsu to heal their bodies after accidents and relax in the public baths. So lots of apartments don’t have private baths or showers. You can rent an apartment, but you bathe at the public baths for free. Lots of people here still live that traditional life.

The city center here is so cute, full of shops and tourists. The show got so traditional, that they have the design here for sale. – Kusatsu and Yumomi also. – Is that what it says here? – Kusatsu. – Kusatsu, ah ok! The Yumoni girls! It’s everywhere, I just realized. In all the souvenirs!

– Gunmachan Gunmachan means this character – This? – This one, Kusatsu Onsen. – It’s beautiful. – Do you like? – Yeah, I love it. Nice? Kusatsu Onsen. This is sake, a Japanese drink. All made in the region. Sake is a specialty here in Gunma, as it’s made of rice,

And there’s a lot of rice production here. – Two different types… Should we? – Yes, yeah. Let’s go for it. As you walk around town, you can also find private onsens, like this one. Private onsens might be a good solution for people with tattoos, for example.

Tattoos are still a taboo here in Japan because they’re associated with the yakuza, the Japanese mafia, and as you’re sharing the bath with other guests, most onsens don’t allow that. As I learned that this steam is very good for your eyes, look at what they have here.

This is like an onsen for the eyes. You just put your face, keep your eyes open, as it’s good for the eyes, and your mouth shut because it’s bad for the teeth. Hello [in Portuguese] This is great for video editors, you know,

And people who spend a lot of time in front of the computer. Oh, and they have another one here for the feet. Much quieter than the one at the square. And there are also some free public baths here, like this one. Anyone can just go in and enjoy.

Kusatsu is also a sky resort, look at that. Look at how safe Kusatsu is. People are eating inside, and they leave their luggage right here outside, on the street. Now look at the Yubatake down there. We arrived at a charming temple called Kusatsu Kosenji. Look at this cafe here, how amazing.

You can order something inside and you eat over here. A little hot as you walk in, right? Thank you very much [in Japanese] They have some of the most different drinks here. This is konjac bubble drink. Konjac is not alcohol. It’s a plant typical from this region

And we tried it in our first dinner. This is mine. Look at this, a parfait. A lot of different ingredients here. This is like a bean paste, very traditional in Japan, and matcha. It’s so good. Wow! Brand new feet. Now here is one of the most unique things ever. They’re preparing eggs

For people to eat using the hot spring water! They leave it like this for two hours. What is great about Kusatsu is that everything is so close. You can walk everywhere. We’re arriving here at their most famous park, but this park is different from any other you’ve ever seen. Welcome to Sainokawara.

About 15,000 liters of water per minute gush from this source here. This is cold. This is a creek. Now this here. Oh, this is hot. This is so good. Oh, it’s warm. And you can even see the difference in color of the water. Look at this.

This is very clear, right? It’s a normal stream. And over here, this is the mineral water. It is free for you to come here, walk all this, and even soak your feet in the water. You just pay if you want to go enjoy the onsen itself there inside.

And they also rent towels here. It’s a beautiful place. Did you expect to find hot water like this everywhere? – Well, they said it was hot water, so I was expecting that. – Well, yeah. – I was expecting that. – Yeah, but I expected, like, inside the resorts.

But really, it’s all over the city. I think it is very surprising in so many ways. – This is so amazing. – Yeah. It’s not so hot, you know, like in the cafe. Still very relaxing. – Ahhh! – Doesn’t this make you want to come back every year?

– Twice a year. – [laughing] It feels so good. Let’s see if the water temperature here is different. They’ve got a few pools here. Whoa! Oh, yeah, this is much hotter. Ha ha! Whoo! You can even see from the steam that is coming out. How interesting.

Look at what happens when you touch the bottom. Oh! Everything that has contact with the water gets kind of whitish because of the sulfur. Even the coins, when people throw here, they don’t last much. They’re metal. So remember to remove all jewelry before getting in. Onsens are everywhere.

You can book a private one, go to public ones. It is very cool, very different. – Uh, huh. – And it is so interesting because everywhere you walk, the smell is in the air, right? – Uh, huh. – Good evening [in Japanese] – So, this is the dinner? – The dinner, yes.

– Yes [in Japanese] Thank you very much. [in Japanese] Different set-up today, huh? And look at the menu. Totally in Japanese. This is a soup. This is eel and tofu made by soybeans. – Okay. – Eel. Tofu. – Yeah, it’s so soft. Gotta be careful, huh? Because it falls off. It’s so delicious.

– Yes. But how does the tofu taste? – It tastes like the soup, right? Because it’s dipped in the soup. At this point, we decided not vlogging anymore and just enjoying dinner. That was until this dish came out. Wowwww! – This is sashimi. – Oh, geez. Thank you very much. [in Japanese]

Look at this presentation. – It takes presentation to a whole new level, huh? – Wow. They got the salmon, tuna, shrimp, scallop. Are you prepared? – For what? The best tuna of my life? – Mm-hmm. Oh, wow. – You don’t need to chew. – You don’t. You don’t. It just melts. I’m speechless.

– Apparently not. – [laughing] – Matsutake mushroom Crab and cream croquette. – Fried mushroom. – Wagyu beef. – Wagyu beef is considered the world’s most luxurious steak to too many reasons, including the cattle’s special diet and the short supply. A beef that melts in your mouth.

Probably, no, for sure, the most tender meat I’ve ever had. Based on the previous meals, you can imagine that the dinner didn’t end here. But we’ll cut the segment short to show you other unique experiences in Kusatsu at night. These meals are so elaborate

I was reading online that you cannot even book a stay in a place like this, like, for the same day, because they need time to prepare everything properly. Everything was very delicious. – Thank you very much [in Japanese] Now, look at this park in the evening.

But we came back for another reason to experience the outdoor onsen. This is Sainokawara Rotenburo. Bear in mind that filming is not allowed in public onsens as people are normally nude. We got special permission when no one was around. It feels absolutely amazing. Here they separate men and women,

But on Fridays they have family evenings when bathing suits are allowed and everyone gets to enjoy together. As tattoos are a concern to many foreigners, here’s an interesting piece of information. No gang-related tattoos are allowed at Sainokawara Rotenburo, but others are. And it’s not only the park that gets all colorful.

Look at the city center, Yubatake. What’s so cool is because as it’s much colder, you know, at night, the steam is much stronger. And this water right now feels even better. Does all this look like a lot of water? That’s because indeed it is.

Kusatsu has the largest output of natural hot spring waters in all of Japan. Japan is not only Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, and Okinawa. So we look forward to seeing you.