Kusatsu, home to one of the largest sources of hot water derived from nearby Mount Kusatsu-Shirane.
With around a hundred hot springs in Kusatsu and a total of about 34,000 liters of water coming off the ground that is sulfurous and acidic, for centuries, many people believe (even to this day) that the water can cure many ailments.
And while Kusatsu is a beautiful mountain town with many locations for one to enjoy the hot springs, the place that many come to see is Yubtake (which means “hot water field”), one of the largest sources of water where people obtain for the hot springs.
And to help understand this, I will break it down in two posts. The first post, we will talk about the initial water and how it gets filtered.
Before you reach this section, you come across the town’s mascots.
You will images of the Kusatsu characters or practicing Netsu no yu, which is using long wooden boards and people stir and bash the water to cool it down.
In fact, right when you approach Yubtake, to the left is a building where you can get tickets and learn to do “Netsu no yu”.
The water is 54 degrees C (129 degrees F), so it’s extremely hot. By the time it gets to the various hot springs, it has cooled down but some people feel it may be a bit hot for them, others may feel the temperatures are just right.
For this section, the spring water pours out of the rock and then it goes through several rows of wooden boxes (Yu no hana), instead of people, these wooden boxes cultivates and filters certain elements of the water out.
When you look at these wooden boxes, you can see the water filling up, while the sulfur stays in the boxes. As you can see from the photos above, you will see how the first part of the filtering process works.
You will see a stone fence with names around Yubatake of famous people who visited Kusatsu. Aside from Japanese names of poets and politicians, you will also see German scientists or those in the medical field as well, including Erwin Baiz who was responsible for popularizing Kusatsu’s onsen and creating the tourism boom of how the water heals people from ailments. But Baiz and many people before him have felt the water that is from Kusatsu really does heal and you will read comments today that people feel their visit and sitting in the onsen has helped them.
And one of the cool things about Yubatake is that they have two live streams:
In tomorrow’s post, I will explore the second part of Yubatake!
