Shiga: Kusatsu City Promotes with ‘No Onsen’ Buns; On Name Confusion with Kusatsu Onsen

The Yomiuri Shimbun

10:08 JST, July 13, 2025

KUSATSU, Shiga — The tourism and local products association of the city of Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, has begun selling “onsen manju,” Japanese sweet buns that are commonly bought as souvenirs by visitors to hot spring resorts in Japan. This would not seem remarkable, except that the city does not actually have any hot springs.

Taking advantage of the fact that the city is often mistaken for the town of Kusatsu in Gunma Prefecture, where the famous hot spring Kusatsu Onsen is located, the association dared to promote the city by using a parody version of onsen manju called “No Onsen Manju.”

Kusatsu Onsen is said to be one of the three top hot springs in Japan. Kusatsu City, on the other hand, is located about 300 kilometers away.

According to the city association, it receives about 100 phone calls or emails a year from people who were confused by the names, and some people have actually visited Kusatsu City by mistake. The association’s website reminds visitors that “the city has no Kusatsu Onsen.”

A member of the tourism association said of the parody manju: “We feel sorry for people who came to our city by mistake. We hope this will become a souvenir for visitors here.”

The manju were created with the cooperation of a confectionery store in the city. They are filled with koshian (sweet bean paste) inside, like normal Onsen manju. The branding design on the surface of the manju is an onsen symbol struck through with a diagonal line to cancel it out.

The city association reported to the Kusatsu Onsen Tourism Association in Gunma Prefecture that it would begin to sell the manju. The official in charge at the Gunma association said, “We want to work together to heighten each other’s name recognition.”

The manju, priced at ¥300 each, were sold at a limited edition of 50 sets of two each in a Shiga Prefecture tourism event held at JR Osaka Station on June 22. The city association will consider selling the product at highway rest stops in Kusatsu City and elsewhere in the future.