Spring pilgrimage

Some Like It Hot

Revitalising onsen and outdoor activities make Kusatsu an all-season playground

Amir Ali, amir@mediacorp.com.sg

 Kusatsu town is built around the Yubatake, or onsen source.

Visit Japan, and you would be remiss to overlook the time-honoured Japanese habit of communal bathing. And one of the best ways to experience this would be to visit one of the many onsens that dot the countryside.

As much of the land is volcanic, hot springs — onsen, in Japanese — are a focal point of many communities. Fresh spring water that is naturally heated by volcanic activity has long been harnessed by the Japanese for its public baths, partly because of its heating properties in colder months, but also because of its mineral properties — it is often both acidic and sulfurous — which are said to nourish the skin, revitalize the body and, because of its high temperatures, cleanse as well. And because of its geothermal nature, onsen water can often provide power to entire communities.

I visited one such town recently. Kusatsu, in Gunma prefecture north-east of Tokyo, is one of Japan’s three most-beloved onsen resorts according to Hirano-san, my Japanese guide to this little town of 7,000 inhabitants. Despite its size, Mr Hirano told me some three million tourists visit Kusatsu and its onsen every year. That’s an average of 250,000 people a month in space that’s a fraction that of Singapore.

In the shadow of active volcano Mt Asama and spread over just 50 sq km of deciduous mountainside, much of Kusatsu town is built around a marvellous onsen source, dubbed Yubatake. This startling, steamy outcropping of volcanic rock that’s nearly double the size of a competition swimming pool is the source of much of the town’s onsen water, which emerges from the ground at a searing 90° plus Celsius. Wooden channels built atop the Yubatake serve to cool down the water to a more bearable temperature. More than 30,000 litres of piping hot water flows out of the Yubatake and Kusatsu’s other onsen every minute, ensuring a fresh, constant supply of onsen water to the whole town.

Strolling around the Yubatake, there are a few souvenir shops and small restaurants, as well as a konbini or two, but Kusatsu is refreshingly devoid of the commercialism I have come to expect of modern Japan. Your best bet for a souvenir would be manju — brown buns filled with sweet bean paste — which, in Kusatsu, are steamed using onsen water. But, for me, the real attractions of the town are its many inns and hotels — nearly all of which have their own onsen — as well as the mountain’s outdoor activities.

Set 1,200m above sea level, Kusatsu’s climate endows it with four distinct seasons, each with its own attractions. I was lucky to have been able to experience Kusatsu near the end of the four-month ski season. And though the temperature was pleasantly mild, at about 3° Celsius during the day, and sunny, there was abundant, powdery snow to dust the various pistes of Mt Moto-Shirane (2,171m) just a few minutes up the road. Avid outdoor enthusiasts, take note: When not covered in high-quality snow (and snowboarders), the slopes are the backdrop for breathtaking outdoor hiking during summer and autumn, with the stunning aqua-green caldera of neighbouring Mt Kusatsu-Shirane as one of the highlights.

There are more than 170 places to stay in Kusatsu, ranging from massive, western-style towers to delicate, traditional Japanese wood cottages — and nearly all of them have an onsen in which to soak your cares away. Indeed, some are built atop their own sources of onsen water.

For the traveller in search of an authentic Japanese getaway, it is worth booking yourself into one of the more traditional ryokans (inns), complete with personalized table service available in your room.

Two of the best hotels I saw were the Boun (www.hotelboun.com) and the Kanemidori (www.kanemidori.co.jp) — the former have elegant appointments, while the latter have both exclusivity and a central location on its side.

If you want to try onsen localstyle — away from the confines of a hotel-based bath — check out the Sai No Kawara, a massive, open-air onsen open to the public. Be aware, however, the men’s bath is in full view of a major tourist walking trail. But the ladies’ bath is obscured.

Being a small town whose main industry is tourism — 90 per cent or more of its visitors are Japanese — you would think that, surely, night time activities are sorely lacking. And you would be right. Although there are a couple of bars in the bigger hotels, with karaoke and even some disco facilities, your best bet at night would be to go to an onsen, let the mineral-laden waters fill your pores and rejuvenate your skin, and go to bed warm and extremely rested. Indeed, restful is perhaps the best word I could use to describe my time in Kusatsu — a town small in size, but packed with pleasures. From its amazing mountainside vistas to its sophisticated ski and snowboard facilities to its superb onsen, Kusatsu really is as good as that age-old cliche: A winter wonderland.

Getting there

From Tokyo Station in the capital, take a 1-hour Shinkansen (bullet train) ride north on the Nagano Line to Karuizawa — a pretty little town modelled on a Canadian skiing village. A coach will take you up the mountain pass to Kusatsu — a scenic 1 hour journey. CTC Holidays has travel packages that include Kusatsu in the itinerary.

Onsen etiquette

The first thing you should know when you go to a traditional onsen is that you must be nude to enter. The baths in Kusatsu are single sex, though there are mixed facilities in Japan. Before stepping into the bath, sit down at one of the many washing nooks, and shampoo and shower yourself squeaky clean. You will be provided with a small washcloth upon entry. This can be used to scrub yourself during the shower or cover your privates as you traverse from locker room to shower to bath. However, it is frowned upon to introduce this cloth into the onsen water. The best place to stash it would be folded neatly on top of your head.

From TODAY, Traveller – Thursday, 23-April-2009