Ikaho Onsen is one of the oldest hot spring resort towns in Japan. It’s located in Gunma prefecture and you can get there from Tokyo in 2 hours by train. If you’re planning to go there by car on a weekend be prepared to be stuck in traffic for hours. It’s not that the place is a such a popular destination but rather the town itself is really tiny and the roads are very narrow so even a little bit of traffic will cause gridlock. I visited the town last weekend while on my drive in that area and rather enjoyed myself. The town is built around a concrete staircase that leads up the side of a mountain with a shrine at the top. Along the staircase are the standard omiyage shops, onsens and very old style amusement stands that you might find in a country fair from the ’50s. I agree with Marxy when he describes the place as having a run-down charm. I’m sure that a 150 years ago this place was very hard to get to from Tokyo and must have been the ultimate weekend escape for the wealthy. In the onsen I visited, on the wall hung many faded photos of people long gone photographed along the same staircase. Ikaho is definitely an charming place if you are in the area but I don’t think it’s worth going to as the main destination of a weekend trip. Unless there is a specific onsen you want to visit.
(1) Another photo along the steps (2) Famous scriptures engraved on the steps. Sorry I’m too lazy to translate it (3)(4) There’s hot spring water flowing down the mountain in underground aquaducts. Along the path there were spots where you could look through glass windows and see the water.
(1) This is a free foot onsen where you take off your shoes and soak your feet. The color of the water is due to the sulphur and not caused from hundreds of dirty feet. (2) Check out the Panda in this sign.
Wow. Great photos Roy. There are so many tiny charming towns like this in Japan and exploring them is such a kick. That’s one thing I really love about Japan. I love taking photos in little Japanese towns like this.
What an interesting looking town, I love these kind of places and will have to try to check it out one day. I wonder if the curry advertising sign with the housewife pictured in the first photo is an original or just a retro reproduction?
It really looks nice there. Little Towns have more special and secret places to discover than big cities i think.
There’s so many hot springs in Japan, so it seems to me there’s also must be a bottled mineral water. Is it popular among local people? I was born in a spa-area of my country and we get a lot of various drinking mineral waters but unfortunately there’s a tiny amount of hot mineral baths (like onsens in Japan).
Mike, yeah I’ve seen my share of small country town while cycling around Japan and I never get tired of them.
Dylan, that’s the bon curry woman. She gets updated every generation to someone more modern.
Karurosu, I agree. But there are lots of secret parts in the big city worth seeing too.
ait.meijin, yep there are many brands of mineral water that come from the mountains. Mostly from Nagano and Yamanashi.
Great pics and info. I’m heading to Kusatsu from Tokyo and Ikaho was floating about in my head as a ’should-i-visit-or-miss-it’ plan. Looks like I’ll miss it and head straight to Kusatsu. Thanks.