♡ Captain Ari

Kusatsu, Gunma Onsen Trip!~~~~May 5, 2019

How was everyone's Golden Week? I hope everyone had a lovely break!

The beginning of Golden Week, I was fortunate enough to visit Kusatsu in Gunma and stay at a beautiful ryokan with a friend. We arrived before the check in time, so we left our bags at the ryokan and did a bit of sightseeing! Because it was so cold, the first thing I wanted to do was head to the nearest foot onsen. It was drizzling a bit, but I really didn't mind. I actually love muggy weather while being in an old onsen town, it's the perfect atmosphere in my opinion.

After finding a foot bath, I soaked my feet for about 5 minutes or so and then we continued on our path. I took sooooo many pictures and because we arrived a day before the official start of Golden Week, the first day there wasn't crowded at all. I was so relieved, crowds make me nervous and up my anxiety.

Once it was finally time to check into the rooms, we headed back to the ryokan and put our stuff away. I really wanted to go back out and do more sightseeing before dinner but I wanted to change into a yukata first.

The ryokan provided guests with a generous selection of yukata that they could wear outside for a fee of 500 yen (around $4.80 USD). The guests are expected to return them at a certain time at night or at check out. I picked a black yukata with a silver and black obi. A female staff member came to my room and helped me to get dressed. The sleeves were short on me but that’s to be expected at 187cm. I really should consider getting a few yukata tailor made to fit my tall body.

After I was dressed, I was all ready to go! First we walked to Yubatake, because it was in the town center it was a little crowded. The foot bath there was almost completely full but as we walked to it, a couple of people were getting out. As I sat in the foot bath, I viewed the area map and decided to see

the yuyomi performance! I also got to participate in the yuyomi performance!

"With temperature ranging about 70 degree Celsius, Kusatsu onsen is too hot for a human to bathe. In the past, people performed yumomi to lower down the water temperature to allow others to bath. Yumomi is a traditional art of stirring Kusatsu hot spring water while enchanting folk songs. Nowadays, Yumomi performance is an attraction not to be missed while in Kusatsu Onsen. The performance is held several times daily in Netsu no Yu bath house located next to Yubatake."

After the performance we walked to another onsen "Otaki No Yu". Unfortunately when I was there, I only got to experience two onsens but apparently there were more in a different area of the building and I didn't find this out until I left. :( This actually happened to me more than once but the first time was at a Korean bath house. I hope I can go back in the future and experience all the onsens in Otaki no Yu.

After soaking in the onsen, I had trouble dressing myself back in my yukata but I got it to work somehow. Yet another reason why I would love to take kimono dressing classes. ^-^

We headed back to the ryokan just in time for dinner. The dinner was served in the rooms and breakfast downstairs in the dining hall. The room dinner was beautiful and delicious! A big variety of dishes and flavors but I must admit I personally enjoyed the breakfast more!

When dinner ended I was so tired! The trip getting there was exhausting enough but after soaking in multiple onsens all day, walking, exercising with big wooden blocks and then having a big filling dinner..anyone would be tired! However I decided to endure it and head to the ryokan's onsen so the staff could take the food away and set up my futon. The time that I went to the onsen, there was no one else there, so I was able to truly relax and unwind. So much so, that I nearly fell asleep in the water! lol

The next morning I woke up and took an early morning onsen run. After that I had breakfast and soon after, it was time to check out. Thankfully guests were allowed to keep bags at the ryokan even after checking out, so that's exactly what we did.

First we did a bit of omiyage shopping. We stopped by the Ghibli store first and also took some pictures. That was around the time when it started getting crowded. Golden Week officially started so people were coming in by the bus load! The streets were becoming too crowded to walk properly and the wind was blowing roughly. On top of all that, it began snowing! So with the wind it was almost like a blizzard!

At one point we headed up a long hill and found a place where you could go fishing. The store gives you a fishing rod, a bucket and bait and your supposed to catch a certain amount a fish. After catching the fish, you have an option of taking them to the restaurant next door and having them cooked! So that's exactly what I did! I ended up catching 3 fish( 2 big ones and one tiny one), then we headed next door to get them grilled! We just had breakfast and for some reason I was still quite hungry.

After eating the fish, which were SO yummy, we headed back toward the ryokan but first we went to another onsen. This particular onsen was located in a spot outside where the men's side was almost fully visible from the forest walkway. I'm talking naked men, both young and old, on full display to the public! You would think it was a nude beach! I had to avert and cover my eyes while walking- lol! I saw some things that I wish I could unsee. However the women's side was completely covered so I happily went to to bathe without worry. The only problem was, this particular onsen didn't have a shower station where the guests could shower before entering the bath. But because the hot spring temperature was so high, i'm sure it killed any bacteria that came in contact with the water. Sure of it! There were times I had to get out of the water and just lay out on a rock because I was getting so hot. I literally had snow falling on my body but still felt very hot! One thing I really loved about this onsen was how big the outdoor bath was. Kinda like how they are in some anime's! I loved it!

After about 2 hours in the bath we headed back to the ryokan to grab our bags and then we walked to the town center. We still had a little time until we had to head back to Tokyo so we went to a foot onsen cafe. It's a cafe where you can soak your feet and order food and drinks to consume while your soaking! How nice of an idea is that? I personally loved it! I had an ice cream float type drink, bread and soup. It was getting so cold and windy outside, at one point even the foot bath wasn't helping us from freezing. Whenever a customer would open the front door to get inside or leave, a huge gust of wind would sneak it's way inside and make everyone shiver in discomfort. Eventually we finished our food and left. That's when we headed back to the station to go back home.

Amazing trip! Pictures below! ^ ^

Some of the photos are in disorder so apologize in advance!

You see what I mean how short the sleeves are on me. lol

Have a good day!

Labels: foot bath, gunma, hot spring, japan, Japanese blog, kusatsu, onsen

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Kusatsu, Gunma Onsen Trip!~~~~May 5, 2019

How was everyone's Golden Week? I hope everyone had a lovely break!

the yuyomi performance! I also got to participate in the yuyomi performance!

After soaking in the onsen, I had trouble dressing myself back in my yukata but I got it to work somehow. Yet another reason why I would love to take kimono dressing classes. ^-^