Chojuten — Local services in Kusatsu

Like many others, we were suddenly handed manju and a hot cup of tea while walking down the street by a friendly grandpa. The manju was piping hot and delicious, and the tea was great, but we were on our way to lunch so we didn’t buy anything and did not feel pressured to. It was easy to simply walk away. We checked the reviews and were surprised how many negative reviews this place had.

We walked by a few more times over the next day and saw how hard the workers worked, standing outside even in the cold. We got samples again the following day and purchased a box to go. The cashier lady was a bit short, but not particularly rude. After purchasing, the men working outside were very sweet and thankful.

We ate a couple the next morning and they were just as delicious and also individually packaged, which made it easy to pack away.

Thanks to the ‘sales tactic’ that we had a quick and yummy breakfast. I’m glad we didn’t let the negative reviews influence our decision to check...

I usually don’t write bad reviews for any store unless the experience was really disturbing. And this was the worst experience I’ve got in Japan. You were forced to take the steamed bun and tea by the 2 old men. Then the moment you about to return the cup, the old lady in the cashier said something in Japanese once she saw us not bother to buy. And she quickly gave us a rude and disgusting side eye. This is a total SCAM and I hope the tourism association of Kusatsu onsen will step up their game and do something because it makes everyone’s day not enjoyable. Suddenly all other shops seem like a scam too because of this one. Look at all the comments. I’ve never hate any shop like this one. AVOID...

As you pass by the shop the old man will hand out manju and tea for free. They don’t force you to buy anything. But after tasting their buns definitely the best in the town (I’ve tried 3 others shops).

They have a slight brown sugar caramelize taste and the buns were filled with red beans. Personally prefer the original one over the matcha one.

They say only fresh for 5 days which the buns do start to harden day by day. But if you steam then before eating it becomes soft and fluffy again. I kept mines in the fridge for over a week and after I steam them they taste just like fresh ones.

If you don’t like that peer pressure just walking by quickly and they would...