Hakurei-no-Yu (Yubatake Source)

3.9★ · 35 Google ratings · Kusatsu, Gunma · 白嶺乃湯（湯畑源泉）

✓ Natural hot-spring water✓ Free-flowing source water

Before you go

Can you bathe here?

Day visitors

Local residents onlySince the COVID-era restriction began around 2021, this free communal bath has been locked to everyone except registered town (Kusatsu) residents, consistently reported as of September 2025; before 2020 it was open to well-mannered tourists during the day, with only the overnight hours (19:00-08:00) reserved for residents.stated by 10 visitors · Jan 2021 – Sep 2025

Hours

09:30–19:00from the facility listing

Price

FreeThis is a free communal bath (one of 19 in Kusatsu), with no admission fee — access restriction, not price, is the real gating factor.stated by 3 visitors · Jun 2019 – Dec 2024

Tattoos

Not known · call aheadno policy stated in the 26 recent reviews we read

How we know this

Watch out

Day visitors

Since the COVID-era restriction began around 2021, this free communal bath has been locked to everyone except registered town (Kusatsu) residents, consistently reported as of September 2025; before 2020 it was open to well-mannered tourists during the day, with only the overnight hours (19:00-08:00) reserved for residents.

stated by 10 visitors · Jan 2021 – Sep 2025

The bath

What you’ll find

A free, genuinely flow-through community bathhouse near Kusatsu's Yubatake, with a single hot (42-45C) acidic sulfur-aluminum-sulfate-chloride tub, that has been locked to non-residents since the pandemic (2021 onward), a sharp change from its pre-2020 policy of daytime tourist access with residents-only overnight hours.

Indoor baths

1A single tub, on the larger side for a community bath, fitting about 4 people.stated by 1 visitor · Feb 2020

The water

Free-flowing (kakenagashi)

✓ YesThe bath is genuine, complete flow-through spring water direct from the Yubatake source.stated by 2 visitors · Apr 2017 – Aug 2017

Spring type

Acidic sulfur-aluminum-sulfate-chloride (Yubatake source)The spring is classified as an acidic sulfur-aluminum-sulfate-chloride type, sourced from Yubatake.stated by 1 visitor · Apr 2017

Bath temperature

42°CThe bath commonly runs around 42C at the cooler end, though older reviews measured 44-45C near the inlet, and several reviewers simply describe it as a hot bath.stated by 2 visitors · Feb 2020 – Jun 2024

Guide

What visitors add

Day-use visits

CLOSED TO TOURISTS: ten distinct reviews from Jan 2021 through Sep 2025 report the bath is restricted to Kusatsu town residents (originally citing COVID measures); the two most recent (Jul/Aug 2025) found it locked with key access - one was turned away at 9am. No review since 2021 reports non-resident entry.

stated by 10 visitors · Jan 2021 – Sep 2025

The water

Hot but manageable: two reviewers measured about 42 C (one calling it one of the easier communal baths to soak in), one reported 44-45 C, and one measured 45 C even at the point furthest from the inflow; at least three other reviews simply call it hot.

stated by 7 visitors · Jun 2017 – Jun 2024

Towels, soap & lockers

One reviewer notes a pleasant tatami-floored changing room and a tub roomy for a communal bath (about 4 people). The building was rebuilt/renovated around 2018 - four reviews from 2019-2021 describe it as new and very clean.

stated by 5 visitors · Apr 2019 – Feb 2021

The water

One reviewer specifies the spring as Yubatake-source acidic sulfur-aluminium-sulfate-chloride water. Smell reports diverge: that spec implies sulfur, but one reviewer reports no sulfur smell, rather a slightly iron-like odor. One 2024 reviewer found the water unusually slippery for Kusatsu.

stated by 3 visitors · Apr 2017 – Jun 2024

Water handling

Two reviewers state the bath is full gensen kakenagashi; a third notes hot water gushing out abundantly.

stated by 3 visitors · Jan 2017 – Aug 2017

Day-use visits

(Pre-2021 status, now superseded) One 2019 reviewer described it as a 'hidden bath' not openly advertised but usable by well-mannered tourists; another 2019 reviewer noted it was locked for residents-only use from 19:00 to 8:00 the next morning.

stated by 2 visitors · Jun 2019 – Dec 2019

Timing