3rd visit to this onsen town though first time by car.  Drove about 1 hour+ uphill. 

Yubatake (湯畑)

Symbol of Kusatsu onsen with a flow of 5000 litres per minute.

 

Sainokawara Kōen (西の河原公園)

Went to the huge rotenburo in Sainokawara park for daytime onsen again.  It could easily accommodate 100+ people. We hardly visit daytime onsens as we usually stay in onsen hotels/ryokans in each trip but this is not to be missed.

Admission fee is JPY600 per adult.  We brought towels from hotel.

 

Yumomi performance

A traditional method to cool down Kusatsu onsen without diluting it by stirring it with large wooden paddles.  The performance includes folk songs and dancing by the ladies.  Visitors were invited to join the stirring before it ended in about 30 min.

 

On the way back to Karuizawa, dropped by two waterfalls – Asama and Uotome in Mt Asama.

 

 

===>    Nagano Romantic Road and Venus Line