Yayoi period
The legendary origin of Kusatsu goes back to the second century during the Yayoi period. According to the legend, either Yamato Takeru or Yamabushi discovered the hot springs around Kusatsu. There is no historical evidence for either claim, however. But there is evidence that Yamato Takeru named the towns Tsumagoi and Agatsuma after his wife ("tsuma" means "wife" in Japanese). Since both towns are near Kusatsu, we do know that people at least settled near Kusatsu at that time.
Kamakura period
Up to the 12th century there is no specific record of Kusatsu. Local lore recounts that in 1193, Minamoto Yoritomo came to Kusatsu in pursuit of fleeing Taira clan warriors. He then bathed in the Yubatake .The Gozaishi on which Yoritomo sat, and the Yoritomo-g? in which he is said to have bathed, can be visited to this day, near the Yubatake. The story also says that there was a lot of undergrowth near the Yubatake, which was cut by Yoritomo, suggesting that there was no settlement near today's Kusatsu at that time. Kusatsu's history began in 1200 when K?senji was founded. Records can be found in the annals of Kusatsu.
Sengoku period
Almost 400 years later, during the Sengoku period, there is more evidence for the existence of Kusatsu, which, in the meantime, had grown into a hot-springs resort popular with wounded Samurai, who came here to heal their wounds. In the Tokyo University?Historiographical Book Of Facsimiles we can find correspondence between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyoshi on the following issue: in the year 1595 (Bunroku 4) Hideyoshi recommended the Kusatsu hot springs to Ieyasu. The latter was ill, however, and couldn't go to Kusatsu himself, so he advised his servants to fetch some water from Kusatsu and bring it to his residence in Edo (Tokyo).
Some historians have argued that Ieyasu actually feigned illness in order to avoid going to Kusatsu, as the Sanada clan, which was
