Kusatsu Onsen
草津温泉36°37′ N 138°36′ EOnsen townPop. 6,058Gunma
Kusatsu Onsen suits anyone who wants a full onsen town at 1,200 metres with free public baths, strong acidic water and a small ski area above the streets, and it sits about 25 minutes by bus from the nearest station.
Photo by Johnny Ho on Unsplash and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Stay near the Yubatake so you can walk to the free baths early in the morning and again late at night.
The name
くさつ
草津One theory takes the name from "kusauzu", a word for water that smells, after the hydrogen sulphide that rises from the springs. Another traces it to a line in the Daihannya sutra that names a "Kusatsu hot spring" in the south.
japanese
The tourism association presents both theories and leaves the choice open. Wikipedia's account adds that the spelling 草津 settled in the Edo period after several earlier forms.
Eat in Kusatsu Onsen
Drink in Kusatsu Onsen
Everything in Kusatsu starts at the Yubatake, the steaming wooden channels in the middle of town where the tourism association says about 4,000 litres of water rise every minute. The Yubatake source measures pH 2.1, sharp enough that the inns and day baths cool and stir it before anyone gets in. Inns and shops ring the square, and the free locals' baths sit a few minutes' walk away down the lanes.
Three big day baths run under the town's tourism corporation. Gozanoyu stands on the Yubatake itself, Otaki-no-yu has the graded hot tubs locals call awase-yu, and Sai-no-kawara is an outdoor bath of about 500 square metres in a wooded park. All three state that they do not turn away guests with tattoos, so a tattooed visitor can use the town's best-known day baths.
The town lies on the eastern slope of Kusatsu-Shirane, an active volcano that JMA watches around the clock. Its alert level for the Yugama crater dropped from 2 to 1 on 15 May 2026, Gunma reopened Route 292 over the pass on 29 May, and the town still keeps everyone 500 metres back from the crater. Winter closes the Shiga-Kusatsu road in mid-November, so a winter trip comes and goes from the Naganohara or Karuizawa side.
Quick answers about Kusatsu Onsenよくある質問
What does the name Kusatsu Onsen mean?
Kusatsu Onsen comes from the local name くさつ, meaning one theory takes the name from "kusauzu", a word for water that smells, after the hydrogen sulphide that rises from the springs. Another traces it to a line in the Daihannya sutra that names a "Kusatsu hot spring" in the south. The tourism association presents both theories and leaves the choice open. Wikipedia's account adds that the spelling 草津 settled in the Edo period after several earlier forms.
Is Kusatsu Onsen a good place to stay?
Stay near the Yubatake so you can walk to the free baths early in the morning and again late at night.
Within 12 km
Places to stay nearby宿
Within 12 km
Places to eat and drink nearby食
In the journal
Read more about Kusatsu Onsen特集
Feature · 9 min read
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Comparison · 10 min read
Which ski-hill onsen towns are best for a soak after the last lift?
Nozawa puts thirteen free public baths a short walk from the lifts. Kusatsu is the clearest answer for tattooed riders, and Shibu and Ginzan give their best baths to the people who stay the night.