KUSATSU ONSEN
YOU CAN ENJOY THE TOP REAL HOT SPRING IN JAPAN, AFTER PLAYING WITH TOURISM.
Just a five-minute drive from the hot spring town of Kusatsu Onsen, this ski resort’s powder snow and fun family activities have attracted visitors since 1935.
With ample amounts of powdery snow, and gentle winter temperatures, Kusatsu is the ideal location for a ski resort. In fact, Kusatsu was one of the pioneers in introducing skiing to Japan. Just two years after skiing was brought to Japan by Austro-Hungarian soldier Major Theodor Edler von Lerch (1869–1945) in 1911, the sport crossed the mountains from Niigata Prefecture to Kusatsu, where it quickly took off. In 1914, just one year after the first skiers took to the area’s slopes, the town’s first ski resort opened. That same year, Kusatsu’s skiing club-the second one in Japan at the time-was established.
In 1935, Kusatsu Onsen Ski Resort—then called Rinkan Ski Resort and consisting of the Tenguyama Slope that still exists to this day—opened its pistes to the public. Since then, it has been home to a number of “firsts” in the development of skiing in Japan. Kusatsu was the first ski resort in Japan to open a chair lift in 1948 and also first resort to operate a ski school. It even hosted Japan’s first ever ski tournament.
Along the way, Kusatsu Onsen Ski Resort has continued to add to its historic lineup, opening new trails, chairlifts, and activities. The latest addition is the R292 Trail, which was opened during the 2018–2019 season.
Skiing the hills of Kusatsu makes you part of the history of the sport in Japan. Visitors will carve up the same slopes as some of the first Japanese skiers did over one hundred years ago.
While most famous for its powder and soothing hot water, Kusatsu Onsen Ski Resort is not just a winter destination. During the green season, the resort is a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. Kusatsu’s natural scenery and the relatively cool summer climate make exploring the hiking routes and seasonal highland scenery a pleasure. Activities like grass skiing, mountain boarding, putter golf, and tennis are also popular.
In spring and summer, the hills are brightened by alpine flowers, while in autumn the mountainside is ablaze with autumn leaves. Breathe in the clean forest air, whether on the slopes and snowshoe trails in winter or hiking the hills during the green season.
The hot spring area of Kusatsu Onsen sits on a plateau 1,200 meters above sea level, with the mountains in the west of the region reaching elevations of more than 2,000 meters. Considered one of the top three hot spring resorts in Japan, the city is famed for its yumomi bathing culture that grew around a rather unusual way of cooling its piping hot water, and for the large volume of water that springs from its grounds—the highest in Japan at approximately 32,300 liters per minute.
For hundreds of years, a steady stream of bathers has made the journey to Kusatsu to soak in the acidic, sulfur-infused onsen. The water’s antibacterial properties are said to cure every ailment outside of a broken heart! The healing waters were even transported cross-country to alleviate the afflictions of shogun samurai lords.
In the words of a local folk song, “Kusatsu yoi toko; Ichido wa oide,” “Come visit Kusatsu once in your life; you are in for a treat.”