Yumomi at Kusatsu Onsen

Posted on 25. Apr, 2010 @ 4:24 am by harvey in Culture, Travel Views: 1,690

I had never head of this Yumomi stuff before I visited Kusatsu Onsen.

Kusatsu Yumomi Team

They do this show at an onsen called 熱の湯 (netsu no yu) where the water temperature is naturally 52 degrees Celsius. The practical purpose of this Yumomi activity is to bring the temperature of the hot springs water down to a point where it can be used to bathe. Even back in the day when it was still used people would only get in the water for something like 2 minutes before having to get out to avoid becoming… well… cooked.

Nowadays the 熱の湯 onsen is not open to tourists (as far as I know), but they do the yumomi show a few times a day for all the tourists in the area. It’s definitely worth the visit!

There are more videos of these event on our YouTube channel so go check them out.

They even let us try out some yumomi ourselves. Everyone loves some 体験 (taiken) time in Japan!

Let's Yumomi Together!

I have some more pictures of the Kusatsu Onsen area that I’ll be blogging eventually, so stay tuned!

Let me just say for a moment. I love onsen. The three things I miss most about living in Japan full-time are… the food, the trains, and the onsen. If you get a chance to visit Japan, try to arrange a way to visit an onsen. They’re fabulous!

- Harvey

Kusatsu on Wikipedia

More Onsen on JapanNewbie:

Tatoo in the Onsen

Sunamushi Onsen

Luxury at Asaba Ryokan

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http://www.muza-chan.net/ Muza-chan

I never knew about this tradition! Thanks!
http://www.twitter.com/yumyumsesame Amanda aka yumyumsesame

I can’t wait to go to an onsen again. Have you ever been to Nagashima onsen? It’s sooo good. ^_^

Last year my boyfriend and I went to New Zealand for a holiday and stayed near a hot spring resort. It wasn’t anything like the onsen in Japan though. Just lots of hot outdoor swimming pools. I prefer to feel like I’m sitting in nature. Plus it’s just not the same if you’ve got your bathers on. >_^

http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

Is that Nagashima Spa Land? I have heard of that, but I don’t know Nagashima Onsen! Though, there are tons of onsens as you know, I probably just haven’t been there! Sounds great though. Japan has so many…

Haha she said “bathers.” We call them swim suits in the U.S. :-) Languages are fun ~~~~

http://www.twitter.com/yumyumsesame Amanda aka yumyumsesame

Yeah it’s part of Nagashima Spa Land. There’s the amusement park, onsen and resort all connected together but I just went to the resort/onsen bit. :)

Swim suit. lol.

It’s weird how you all say “bangs” instead of “fringe”. No matter how many times I hear that it still doesn’t sound right!!

http://goinglocoinyokohama.wordpress.com/ locohama

wow, this is really interesting. Makes me wanna go to Kusatsu again!
http://www.thesoulofjapan.blogspot.com thesoulofjapan

Lovely Jukujo smiling there.
John

What are the kanji on the tool they use?

RMilner

It’s hiragana and says “ku sa tsu”.

I wonder why not just mix the hot water with some cold, or pipe it out into a pool where it could cool down.

John

Naruhodo.

I was reading in the wrong direction!

Arigatou gozaimashita

http://www.japannewbie.com harvey

They say that if you mix the hot water with cold, then the healing properties of the onsen will be lost! That’s the way the story goes.

Welcome to JapanNewbie.com! My goal is to get you excited about Japan and the Japanese language. Love it! This blog has been around for more than five years now, so be sure to dig into the archives and use the search. You never know what you might find!

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Yumomi at Kusatsu Onsen

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