missionary, Mary Cornwall Legh. In 1916 Cornwall Legh using her own funds established the St. Barnabas' Mission, providing residential care facilities to the sizable population of Hansen's Disease sufferers then present in the Yunosawa area of Kusatsu. Cornwall Legh devoted her remaining years to the care of the Kusatsu leprosy community, her work and dedication to this cause recognized with honors by the Japanese Government. In 1941 the St. Barnabus' Hospital was closed, replaced by the, subsequently notorious, government run Kuryu Rakusen-en Sanatorium. St. Barnabus' Church and Cornwall Legh Park in Kusatsu attest to the charitable legacy of Mary Cornwall-Legh and the history of the community she sought to serve. In 1926, the construction of the between Kusatsu and Karuizawa, which had been begun in 1908 was finished. In 1948, a ski lift was erected on Mount Tengu, near Kusatsu. It was the first ski lift in Japan, with Kusatsu going on to become one of the country's first proper ski resorts. In 2020, a local election in which over 90% of voters voted to recall town councillor Shoko Arai made international headlines. Arai, the only woman on the council, had accused mayor Nobutada Kuroiwa of sexually assaulting her. Kuroiwa denied the accusations, which triggered a backlash against Arai, who was accused of tarnishing the town's reputation with her allegations. In December 2021, Arai filed a complaint against the mayor of the town for indecent assault, but the Maebashi District Public Prosecutor's Office dismissed the complaint on the grounds that the mayor was not suspected. In response, the mayor filed a complaint against Arai for the crime of filing a false complaint, and in October 2022 the Maebashi District Public Prosecutor's Office indicted Arai on charges of filing a false complaint and defamation against the mayor. In December 2022, Reiji Iizuka, a writer, stopped selling e-books meant to denounce the mayor and issued a statement apologizing to him. Government Kusatsu has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral town council of 12 members. Kusatsu, collectively with the other municipalities in Agatsuma District, contributes two members to the Gunma Prefectural Assembly. In terms of national politics, the town is part of Gunma 5th district of the lower house of the Diet of Japan. Economy The town's main income is tourism (about 90% of the working population is employed in the tertiary sector), primarily in connection