Yukawa Hotel Kusatsu Forest

Yukawa Hotel in Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma prefecture, draws calcium-rich spring water — one of the milder of Kusatsu's multiple spring sources — at the forest edge above the main Kusatsu village, offering a quieter thermal experience than the ultra-acidic Yubatake main source in a setting of beech and larch forest that turns gold in the extraordinary Gunma highland autumn. The calcium springs at Yukawa complement the sulfurous main Kusatsu source for visitors with skin sensitivities who cannot tolerate the highly acidic primary waters, and the hotel's forested riverside position beside the Yukawa stream creates a more naturalistic rotenburo experience than the denser ryokan district around the Yubatake. The Kusatsu plateau's proximity to Shiga Kogen ski country, the volcanic Shirane-san crater hike in summer, and the Manza and Shima onsen resorts of Gunma's volcanic heartland make Yukawa a convenient base for exploring Japan's richest geothermal highland.