Long-weekend in Gunma and Karuizawa

There are quite a few bank holidays in Japan, which have allowed me to take an extended weekend vacation. However, as nearly all Japanese people have the day off on these days, it also means that popular places llike Kyoto, Osaka, Takayama, are overcrowded with locals. For this reason it is the perfect opportunity to travel to less explored areas of the country.

Gunma prefecture is a mountainous prefecture 2-hours northwest of Tokyo. It is known for its silk production, high-quality hot springs and extensive national parks that allow for outdoor adventures like bungee jumping, rafting or hiking. While its capital city is Maebashi, other areas attract more visitors.

Kusatsu Onsen, one of the more popular onsen towns in Japan. Minakami, the hub for outdoor activities. Oze National Park, with many hiking trails and beautiful natural scenery.

Karuizawa, on the other hand, is part of Nagano Prefecture, 1 hour from Tokyo, known for its historic town, pond and waterfalls.

This time I will talk about my 3-day trip to Minakami and Karuizawa in mid-September, using the JR Tokyo Wide Area Pass, together with 3 other friends. It allows unlimited travel to areas around Tokyo for 3 consecutive days for 15000 yen, and is also useful to visit places like Nikko, Izu, Kawaguchiko, and others. Note only foreign passport holders can purchase this pass, regardless if they are residents or not. We booked it prior to the trip at Shinjuku station's JR East office.

Day 1: Minakami, Tanigawadake Ropeway and bungee jumping

We met at Omiya Station at 9 AM, as it was the easiest place to meet considering all the four of us live at different sections of Tokyo. You only need to show the pass to cross the gate to the Joetsu Shinkansen. In order to arrive to Minakami area, we had to change in Jomo Kogen station to the local Minakami line (not covered by the pass). The whole journey from Omiya to Minakami took only 1 hour.

As our accomodation was a bit further north of the station, we continued to Doaibashi station, for 20 minutes more. Specifically, we spent the 2 nights at Tenjin Lodge, which are highly recommend. It is run by an american guy and his wife, and they made us feel at home. It is also a great way to truly appreciate Japanese countryside.

After leaving the luggages we headed to Tanigawadake Ropeway. It cost 3500 yen roundtrip to take the ropeway and then the lift up to Tanigawadake mountain (3000 to only take the ropeway halfway). In winter, people come to ski, but in September we could appreciate the green mountain views. The lift was especially fun, there was even the Minakami mascot waving at us!

At the top there is also a shrine, an observatory and a small coffee and snack shop with seats outside.

After going down the mountain, we took a bus down to Minakami. On the way, it started pouring heavily, so we had to seek shelter. We were a bit worried because two of us had booked to do bungee jumping, but thankfully they did not cancel and, instead, waited for the rain to stop. I was too scared to try it, but it was definitely fun to watch. It roughly cost 12000 yen for one jump, through Minakami Bungy

One lesson to learn with Japan countryside is that everything closes by 5 PM, sometimes even 4 PM. That includes buses. As the jumping had been delayed due to the rain, by 5.30 PM, we realized we had no bus to go back to the hostel. Thankfully the guys from bungee jumping were so nice to take us back in the car.

Like I said before, Tenjin Lodge made us feel like home. They prepared a delicious bbq, and we got some wine and chilled at the sofas. They also have a relaxing bath and futons for beds.

Day 2: Rafting and Takaragawa Onsen

After some toast and eggs at the hostel, it was time for rafting! We had booked a half-day summer tour with Canyons, for 8500 yen each.

They came to pick us up at the hostel and took us to the Canyons office. There were several working holidayers working there, as well as our guide, which made us feel more connected. After explaining us the itinerary, we changed into clothes (we had to take swimsuit and towels) and with two more Japanese, headed to the river, being 6 in total excluding our guide.

The rafting took about 2.5 hours, from 9.30 AM till 11 AM. River currents are stronger during spring (April-June), than summer time, which meant rafting was rather mild at this time. In spite of that the guide proposed different activities to rush our adrenaline, such as jumping from higher rocks, or swiming along with the current, so it was fun nonetheless.

After returning to the office, we had hamburgers and chips as we were starving!

From there, our next stop was Takaragawa Onsen Onsenkaku. It was only 20 minutes on the Minakami bus line from Canyons office to Takaragawa Iriguchi station. As we called the onsen on the way, a free shuttle bus came to pick us up. If not, it takes 25 minutes to walk to the onsen, but as there were notifces of a black bear roaming around, it was safer to take the bus.

Thanks to Tenjin Lodge, we got a 500 yen discount on the onsen, costing us 1000 yen each. And oh god, it truly was the best onsen in Japan. It has several outdoor rotenburo along the river. What also makes it special is that there is a mix bath area asides the unisex baths, you actually get a swimsuit/gown to wear, although when wet, it is difficult to say if it does its job properly. I would have also liked to have gone there in winter, covered in snow, it must be a nice plan for after skiing!

Asides the day-onsen, you can also spend the night there, which must be worth it as well. For day--onsen, it closes at 5 PM when the last shuttle bus back to the bus stop leaves.

As two friends were leaving that day, we headed back to Minakami station, and with my other friend, we changed to an accomodation more central to the station: Oyado Matsubaya. It was more of a ryokan experience, but the treatment could not be compared to the previous one. We wanted to go to Pizza La Bier but it was closed, so opted for takeaway food instead.

Day 3: Historic and scenic Karuizawa

Taking advantage of the pass, we chose to spend the last day of the 3-day trip in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. Leaving by 10 AM, it required taking the Joetsu shinkansen from Jomokogen station to Takasaki station (15 minutes), and then change to Hokuriku-Shinkansen to Karuizawa (20 minutes).

I was deeply surprised by the city, as I had not heard about it before planning this itinerary. It was full of Japanese tourists, as it was bank holiday, but the charm lied in historic houses, endless coffee shops, combined with nature.

From Karuizawa station we took a bus to Shirahito Falls (23 minutes). It is called "white thread" in Japanese, and is considered to be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Japan. It is only 3 meters wide but has an impressive width of 70 meters. Note that even if you travel a car you need to pay to actually enter the waterfall area, while the bus fares includes the entry ticket. There are also several souvenir and snack shops.

From there we took the bus back to the village, to visit Old Karuizawa Ginza Street. It is filled with local shops, traditional houses, and walking north, several interesting churches like St Paul's catholic church.

Walking for about 20 minutes back south was Kumoda Pond, also known as "Swan Lake". There is a 1 km walking trail around the picturesque lake. At this time the surrounding trees were green, but later in November the autumn leaves would be spectacular.

It was time finish the trip sadly, so we took the train back to Tokyo around 6 PM, arriving back to Omiya in an hour on the Hokuriku-Shinkansen.

If you had time, I would encourage you to also visit Kusatsu Onsen, the main onsen resort on Gunma, which can be reached from Karuizawa. Asides the pass, taking the car could also save time to visit more spots.