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Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma — beside Yubatake, about five minutes' walk from the bus terminal

Naraya

草津温泉 奈良屋

4.6/5Japanese Guest ConsensusAggregated from 15 Japanese guest blogs and stay reportsSources checked Oct 12, 2026

Naraya — the entrance, Kusatsu Onsen · Abasaa / Public domain

Japanese Guest Consensus

Kusatsu's famously soft-yet-acidic Shirahata water, cooled by hand the old way, a few steps from Yubatake — with tableside sushi, and dinners that can run long

Naraya has stood beside Kusatsu's Yubatake since 1877, and it is one of the best-rated inns in Japan's most famous hot-spring town: 4.63 across 186 reviews on one leading booking site, 4.67 across 928 on another and 4.8 across 1,690 on a third, with the baths scoring highest (4.79). The water is the reason. It comes from the Shirahata spring at 55–56°C and a pH of about 1.2 — strongly acidic — and instead of adding cold water the inn's bath-keepers let it rest overnight and then stir it by hand (yumomi) to soften its bite. Guests describe it as 'gentle, just as its reputation says', a little hot but keeping them warm long after. The building is carpeted in tatami, corridors included, so you walk barefoot. Dinner is the other highlight: a sushi chef makes nigiri at your table, the head chef won a national Japanese-cuisine prize in March 2026, guests staying several nights say the dinners never repeat, and breakfast comes with big croissants. The criticisms are consistent: in summer 2026 several guests said dinner took two and a half hours (fewer of the latest reviews mention it); sound travels (footsteps, corridor voices, even the kitchen); older rooms show their age; and parking, a walk away, turned muddy during 2026 works. Only one room, Iwakagami, has its own onsen bath, and there are stairs everywhere.

Overall Score4.6/5
Cuisine
4.4
Onsen Privacy
3.8
Tranquility
3.8
Hospitality
4.5

Latest updates

What newer Japanese stay reports, posts and official notices have added since this review was written

Room Selection Guide

Recommended

  • Iwakagami (いわかがみ) — the only room with its own onsen bath

    A 90㎡ split-level room with a semi-open-air bath fed from the Shirahata spring and a view over Yubatake. It is the inn's only room with a private onsen, and one of only two with a Yubatake view (the other is Minezakura). Like five other rooms, it does not accept children. One August 2026 guest could not open the blinds on the half-open-air bath because a neighbouring inn's windows overlook it, and noticed people at the convenience store next door late at night.

  • Sen'yu-tei (泉游亭) rooms named after alpine flowers

    Thirteen rooms, most with beds. The inn renovated 11 rooms between May and July 2026, including six here (Watasuge, Shakunage, Rindo, Azami, Komakusa and Kokemomo). Before that, a guest in Kokemomo said they 'couldn't hear any noise from other rooms at all', and a November 2024 couple in Watasuge and Kokemomo loved the dinner and the water but found the central air conditioning too warm — those comments describe the pre-renovation rooms, and we don't know whether the air-conditioning issue remains. Azami, Komakusa and Kokemomo do not accept children.

Request To Avoid

  • Single rooms (Utsugi, Waremokou)

    Handy for solo travellers — a 2024 guest paid ¥28,050 a night with two meals — but theirs was about 15㎡ with no window and let in street and rain noise through a vent, and they could also hear people talking in the corridor.

  • Tsutsuji, Kiri, Momiji and Sakura, if stairs are hard

    The inn notes these need extra climbs of 12, 12 and 16 steps. Everyone faces 11 steps at the entrance and 12 to the baths; there is no lift in the wooden wing and the inn cannot accommodate wheelchairs. Three 2026 reviews also said the stairs make the building easy to get lost in, that there is no handrail at the entrance, and that they had to wait for their shoes.

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Dining Deep Dive

Breakfast Consensus

4.4/5

A Japanese breakfast with tamagoyaki — and the large croissants that nearly every blogger photographs

Bathe late at night or before breakfast: the large baths flow 24 hours a day, swapping men's and women's sides at 4:00, and are closed only for cleaning (1:00–4:00 and 10:00–12:30). Rinse off after bathing if you have sensitive skin — the inn warns the acidity can cause a rash.

Dinner Insights

4.3/5

Served in semi-private dining rooms. In March 2026 head chef Waragai won the Japan Ryokan & Hotel Association prize in the modern cuisine category of the 35th All-Japan Japanese Cuisine Competition (official site). The signature is a sushi chef who makes nigiri at your table ('big, fresh toppings'), alongside dishes such as tomato hot pot and Joshu beef teppanyaki, and three 2026 reviews from multi-night guests say the dinners never repeated. Pace is the weak point: in July–September 2026 several reviews on two sites said dinner took two and a half hours or arrived unevenly, though only one of the latest reviews raised it; one could hear kitchen chatter, and a 2023 guest noted the dining space is not fully private and sushi requests are limited.

Onsen & Wellness Realities

Water Type

Shirahata spring: acidic sulphur-aluminium sulphate-chloride water, 55–56°C at the source and about pH 1.2. It is cooled without added water — rested overnight to 46–47°C, then stirred by hand — and served at about 42°C. The inn calls it basically colourless with settling flakes; one blogger saw it milky white.

Privacy & Atmosphere

Two large baths, Okumiage-no-yu and Hana-no-yu (with indoor and outdoor tubs), both free-flowing around the clock. The semi-outdoor baths face the street and have no view, and there is no sauna. Three private baths with ceramic tubs (Hi, Fu, Mi) are open to guests 24 hours; a 2023 guest paid ¥2,700 for 45 minutes under the previous set-up, and one 2026 reviewer wanted more privacy and clearer instructions; another said voices carry between the private baths.

Tattoo Policy

The inn's FAQ says large tattoos are not allowed in the public baths; small ones are fine if covered with a sticker. It suggests the private bath as the alternative.

Local Warnings & Nuances

  1. 01

    Check-in is 15:00 (last 19:30) and check-out 11:00; a late check-out to noon costs ¥5,000 per room.

  2. 02

    From Kusatsu Onsen Bus Terminal it is a 5-minute walk, or call and the inn will fetch you (tell them in advance if arriving after 17:00).

  3. 03

    Parking is not on site: the inn uses a lot about 10 minutes' walk away and will pick you up. A temporary car park is in use from 25 August 2026 to 31 March 2027, and reviewers in September 2026 complained it was muddy after rain.

  4. 04

    Day visitors can bathe 12:30–14:00 (¥1,500).

  5. 05

    Prices in our sources: about ¥30,000 per person with two meals in 2022, and ¥28,050 for a single room with two meals in 2024.

  6. 06

    Children are not accepted in six of the inn's 35 rooms: Iwakagami, Azami, Komakusa, Kokemomo, Nanakamado and Minezakura.

  7. 07

    Night paving works are planned on the back street from 2 to 6 November 2026 (not on the 3rd). The inn expects little noise but suggests noise-sensitive guests pick other dates.

  8. 08

    Three 2026 reviews mention being upgraded to a better room without asking.

Before your stay

Souvenirs from Kusatsu Onsen and practical help for your trip.

Things to do nearby

Kusatsu Onsen: sights, experiences and seasonal events from Trip Gacha, our sister site.

Photo credits

  • Kusatsu Onsen Yubatake & Yumomi Show: Aspere / CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Sources

The real blog posts and stay reports this article draws on

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Photo credits

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Photo credits: Yubatake at night, Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma · Σ64 / CC BY 4.0