Nushiyu Ryokan

A small family-run inn on the Yubatake with Kusatsu's only open-air bath looking down on the hot-spring field, fed by the rare Shirahata spring, plus a free private bath — but it's an old stair-climbing house with smoking rooms, no air conditioning and cash-only payment, and the view is mostly from the men's side

Nushiyu Ryokan stands beside the stone steps up to Kōsenji temple, about 15 seconds' walk from the Yubatake. The official site dates the family business to the early Meiji era; today it's a 14-room house of Japanese rooms on five floors with no lift. Its pitch is the water: it is one of about ten inns that draw the Shirahata spring beside the Yubatake, and it advertises the only open-air bath in Kusatsu that looks down on the hot-spring field. The official site is unusually candid — the building is old, there are many stairs, the water is pumped up rather than gravity-fed (though not recirculated, heated or diluted), and the Yubatake is hard to see from the women's open-air bath. Guests rate it 4.40 across 571 reviews on one major site (baths 4.53, dinner 4.56) and 4.3 across 853 on another (baths 4.6, but cleanliness 3.9). Bloggers who stayed in December 2022, mid-2025 and December 2025 liked the soft-feeling, hot water, the free private bath you use whenever it's empty, generous home-style dinners and friendly staff; 2026 reviewers add valet parking and an unrequested anniversary surprise. The complaints, mostly from 2025–2026: rooms are sold as smoking rooms and some guests smelled smoke from neighbours, bathrooms and washrooms are worn, one found cobwebs and another dusty fans, sound carries through the old building, the baths can be very hot, and trees block the Yubatake view from the open-air tubs unless you stand. Payment is cash only. Two-meal stays run about ¥14,000–17,000 per person for two sharing on most dates, up to about ¥26,000 at peak.