Hike from Mt. Motoshirane, Kusatsu (October 11th - 13th)

Gentiana scabra var. buergeri (Rindou)

Here are more pictures from the hike from Mt. Motoshirane back to the Youth Hostel.
We saw lots of Gentiana scabra var. buergeri (Rindou) flowers.


Tripterospermum japonicum (Tsuru Rindou)


Chamaepericlymenum canadense (Gozen-tachibana)


Chamaepericlymenum canadense (Gozen-tachibana)




Viburnum furcatum (Oo-Kamenoki)


Sorbus commixta (Nanakamado)





View from the cable car.




Epilobium angustifolium (Yanagi Ran)
I didn't know they grow around there.


Gentiana scabra var. buergeri (Rindou)


Gentiana scabra var. buergeri (Rindou)


Capricornis crispus (Nihon Kamoshika)

Mt. Motoshirane, Kusatsu (October 11th - 13th)

Yugama Caldera.

On the second day of the trip in Kusatsu, we went to see the caldera and hike up to Mt. Motoshirane. We took a bus from the busstop near the Youth Hostel, where we stayed.
It was fall color season, so there was a traffic jam up to the rest house near the caldera.
From there, we went to Mt. Motoshirane. The view was amazing, and we saw some smoke coming from the top of Mt. Asama. On the way to there we found lots of blueberries and cowberries, too.


A long line of people coming up to see the caldera.


Vaccinium uliginosum var. japonicum (Kuromame-no-ki)
It tastes pretty good.


Gaultheria miqueliana (Shiratama-no-ki)


Chamaepericlymenum canadense (Gozen-tachibana)


Maianthemum dilatatum (Maizuru-sou)


Empetrum nigrum var. japonicum (Gankouran)


Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Kokemomo)
It tasted pretty good, too.


Some leaves of Dicentra peregrina (Komakusa) still left.


The trail on the way to the summit of Mt. Motoshirane.








Mt. Asama from the top of Mt. Motoshirane.

Kusatsu Hot Spring (October 11th - 13th)

Yubatake at Kusatsu Hot Spring.

We went to Kusatsu to enjoy the hot spring this weekend.
Here are the pictures taken around the main area of the hot spring. There are lots of small public baths around this area. They are for the people in this community, but we, travelers can also use them for free. There are several different kinds of springs, so each bath has different temperature and acidity, but most of them have strong acidity, so if you lick it a bit, it tastes sour and salty. By the Yubatake, we found a small restaurant bar, which served really nice meal.
We enjoyed the huge outside bath in Sai-no-kawara under the stars at night, too.


Yubatake.


Yubatake...They collect the extract of the hot spring water.


Yubatake.


Jizou-no-yu, one of the public bath.


Ruri-no-yu, another public bath. This one is pretty close from the Kusatsu Bus Terminal, so I just stopped by this place right before I took the bus back home.


Here is the inside of the Ruri-no-yu.


Yubatake at night.


Pork ginger at the restaurant "Dan".
The pork was really thick, but it was pretty tender and so tasty!
Lots of people were there in the pretty small local restaurant.


Sainokawara...hot spring water making this creek.


Cute cat found in front of Kusatsu Hotel.