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Ikaho Onsen — photo: matsukaz · CC BY 2.1 jp · Wikimedia Commons

Ikaho onsen: the stone steps, the golden and silver water, day baths, and Ikaho or Kusatsu

Ikaho is a hillside onsen town in Shibukawa, Gunma, about two hours north-west of Tokyo. It is one of the best known in Japan and the easiest of Gunma's big three to reach. Most guides list inns and souvenir shops. This one puts Ikaho in numbers, explains the two kinds of water you will meet, shows how a day trip works, and helps you choose between Ikaho and Kusatsu, the town most people compare it with.

What the numbers say

• Ikaho Onsen's Wikipedia article is read 3,662 times in our sample, 6th of the 1,538 onsen places in Japan in our records and 2nd of the 62 in Gunma. Only Kusatsu (5,880) is better known in the prefecture.
• Our records list the water as a sulfate spring, a type on record at 321 of the 1,468 onsen places with a water type. That is the official class for the town as a whole; the two waters below come from different sources and look nothing alike.
• We have no source temperature, flow, pH or count of inns for Ikaho, so we do not give them.
• Ikaho is 118.6 km from Tokyo Station in a straight line, 24.6 km from Shima and 31.9 km from Kusatsu. It is the closest of the three to Tokyo.

Getting there

Our travel data puts Ikaho at about two hours from Tokyo, with no car needed.

• JR train and local bus. Take a JR train to 渋川 (Shibukawa) on the Jōetsu Line, usually changing at Takasaki if you come by Shinkansen, then a local bus up the hill. The bus takes about 20 to 30 minutes depending on the stop. The JR Pass covers the train, not the bus.
• Highway bus from Shinjuku. A direct bus runs from the Shinjuku bus terminal to Ikaho in about two and a half hours, with no change. It stops at the bottom of the stone steps, which makes it the easiest way in with luggage. Seats must be booked.
• By car. About 20 minutes from the Shibukawa-Ikaho interchange. Car parks fill up at weekends and in the autumn leaf season.

Times here are rough; check the current timetable before you go. For other trips, see onsen trips from Tokyo and the 3 best onsen towns near Tokyo, where Ikaho comes first.

The stone steps

Ikaho is built on a steep slope, and the town centre is one long stone staircase, 石段街 (ishidan-gai, the stone-step street), with inns, sweet shops and old game stalls on both sides. It has 365 steps; it was lengthened to that number in 2010. At the top is 伊香保神社 (Ikaho Shrine).

The steps are the reason to come. Most visitors walk them in the evening in the inn's yukata, which is easy because almost everything is within walking distance. Two practical points: the climb is steeper and longer than it looks, so take it slowly, and the steps are wet and slippery in rain and icy in winter. Wear proper shoes in the daytime and save the wooden sandals for a short walk. Our yukata guide covers how to wear one outside.

Partway up there is a free foot bath, a good place to rest. Under the steps, part of the way, the spring water runs in a channel, and in places you can see it through small windows in the paving.

Golden water and silver water

Ikaho is known locally for two waters, and you will see the names on signs and inn websites.

• 黄金の湯 (kogane-no-yu, golden water) is the old source, the water the town grew up on. It comes out of the ground clear but contains iron, which turns it brown as it meets the air. Expect a brown, slightly cloudy bath that can stain a white towel.
• 白銀の湯 (shirogane-no-yu, silver water) is a newer source, supplied from 1996. It is clear and has no brown colour.

Not every inn has both. Some have only one, and some draw on wells of their own, so if the colour matters to you, check the inn's page before you book and read the sign in the changing room when you arrive. Our guide to reading the water sign explains what the labels mean. Iron water as a type is one of the less common ones, on record at 81 of the 1,468 onsen places with a water type; it is not listed for Ikaho in our records, which go by the town's official class.

A day trip: where to bathe without staying

Ikaho works well as a day trip from Tokyo, especially on the direct bus. You have three kinds of choice.

• The public bath on the steps. 石段の湯 (Ishidan-no-yu) is a small public bathhouse beside the lower part of the steps, with golden water. It is the simplest choice: walk in, pay, bathe. Towels are on sale.
• The open-air bath near the source. 伊香保露天風呂 (Ikaho rotenburo) is a public outdoor bath up the valley above the town, a walk of 15 minutes or so from the top of the steps, fed with golden water close to where it comes out. Men and women bathe separately. It has no washing area, so it is for soaking only; rinse off first. It is busiest in the autumn leaf season.
• Hotel day bathing. Many inns sell a bath ticket to non-guests in the middle of the day, which is the way to try the silver water. Look for 日帰り入浴 (higaeri nyūyoku, day bathing) on the inn's own site. Hours are usually limited to the gap between check-out and check-in.

Prices and hours change, so we do not list them. If you have tattoos, the reliable route is a private bath; see private baths and going to an onsen with tattoos.

Around Ikaho

• Kajika Bridge. 河鹿橋 (Kajika-bashi), a small red bridge on the path between the top of the steps and the open-air bath, is the town's autumn picture. The leaves usually turn from late October into November, and the bridge is lit up at night for a few weeks; the dates are set each year. Expect crowds and full car parks at weekends.
• Mizusawa-dera Temple, 3.2 km away in a straight line, is an old temple on the hillside road, and the road to it is lined with udon restaurants.
• Haruna Shrine, 7.7 km away, sits among rock pillars on the far side of Mount Haruna. Lake Haruna Onsen, by the crater lake, is a small onsen place with chloride and sulfate water in our records; buses from Takasaki take about 90 minutes.
• Shikishima, 11 km east across the Tone river, is a quiet onsen place with a simple spring recorded at 46 °C and 1,500 litres a minute, about 10 minutes on foot from Shikishima Station on the JR Jōetsu Line. Our records have more numbers for it than for Ikaho.

Ikaho or Kusatsu?

Both are in Gunma, both are among the best-known onsen towns in Japan, and many visitors pick one. The difference is the water and the distance.

• Ikaho is closer, about two hours from Tokyo, with a shorter bus ride at the end. The water is sulfate, and the famous golden water is brown from iron. The town is a staircase you walk up and down. Pick it for a short trip, a first onsen night, or a walk in a yukata.
• Kusatsu is about three hours away, in the mountains. Its water is recorded at 44.9 to 94.5 °C with a pH as low as 1.0, strongly acidic, and it has 171 inns in our records. The town centres on a steaming square of wooden channels. Pick it for strong water and a lively town.

You can do both: the same Shinjuku highway bus continues from Ikaho to Kusatsu, about an hour and a half further on. Our guide to the 3 best onsen towns in Gunma adds Shima, the quiet third choice.

When to go

Ikaho is busiest at weekends, in the autumn leaf season and over the New Year. Midweek outside those times is the quietest. Ikaho sits on a mountainside, so winter brings snow and ice on the steps; it is pretty, but watch your footing. Our seasons guide compares the year across Japan.

Things not to do

Do not climb the steps in wooden sandals in the rain.

Do not expect to wash at the open-air bath; there is nowhere to do it.

Do not bring your best white towel into the golden water.

Do not assume the JR Pass covers the bus from Shibukawa.

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