Enjoy both the hot spring and gift shopping! Don’t miss out on these gifts at Kusatsu Onsen
Have you ever heard of “Kusatsu Onsen”?
Located in Gunma Prefecture, Kusatsu Onsen is one of the most famous hot springs in Japan.
The snow and steam glisten in the winter nights, and the lighting complements the hot spring’s beauty.
The smell of sulfur is particularly strong around the hot water field.
That smell is also the true charm of the hot spring!
This time, I want to introduce you to 3 selections of gifts you can buy at Kusatsu Onsen!
Kusatsu Onsen: Tamago Bōro
First is Nakayoshidou Honpou’s “Kusatsu Onsen: Tamago Bōro.”
The retro packaging is cute ♪
This is a product exclusive to Kusatsu Onsen!
You can hear crispy sounds when you bite into them.
If you keep chewing until they get fine, the rest will melt inside your mouth.
At first, I couldn’t taste much flavor, but as I kept chewing, I began to taste the slight sweetness of sugar.
Because of this gentle flavor, people of all ages, from children to elders, support this snack!
The jar looks like glass, but it is actually plastic, so you don’t need to worry about breaking it.
1 jar of Tamago Bōro is 546 yen (tax excluded)
Nakayoshidou: Onsen Manjū
Next is Nakayoshidou’s “Onsen Manjū (Japanese steamed cake).”
The Onsen Manjū are sold all over the Kusatsu Hot Spring Resort.
There are shops where you can eat fresh, just-baked manjū, but because I am featuring gifts, I will introduce the gift box version of the manjūs.
A set of 8 of these Nakayoshidou’s Onsen Manjū are 676 yen (tax excluded).
The outside is soft and moist, and your hands will not get dirty when eating them.
There is red bean paste inside.
The red bean paste is sweet and satisfying.
I tried microwaving it for 10 seconds and eating one.
It felt like I was eating a fresh manjū and it was very delicious ♪
There are other stores that sell Onsen Manjū so please look out for them!
ChiChiYa: ChiChiYa Baum
Lastly is ChiChiYa’s ChiChiYa Baum.
ChiChiYa is a long-established Japanese confectionary shop.
And that ChiChiYa created their version of the western confectionary, baumkuchen.
A set of 5 is 1030 yen.
It may feel expensive to some, but you will understand why once you try them!
It looks like a castella (Japanese sponge cake) at first glance, but it is much more moist than store-bought baumkuchen and the flavors of butter and whipped cream are stronger.
The sanding sugar that’s on top adds a nice, crunchy accent to the overall texture!
You can see from the cake layers that this was carefully made.
This will go great with warm matcha!
ChiChiYa also manufactures and sells Onsen Manjūs.
Those Onsen Manjū use red bean paste made in Hokkaido and the clean, pure water from Kusatsu.
There are 3 ChiChiYa shops at Kusatsu Onsen.
If you ever go to Kusatsu Onsen, please stop by the shop ♪
And those were the 3 selections of gifts you can buy at Kusatsu Onsen!
After you enjoy Japan’s hot springs, have fun gift shopping as well!