Ikaho

The stone steps

The symbol of Ikaho is its stone-step street. Japanese Wikipedia describes a staircase of 365 steps lined with inns, souvenir shops, shooting galleries and restaurants, with Ikaho Shrine at the top. Japan-guide puts the street at roughly 300 metres long. Golden Water, the town's original spring, runs down the base of the steps.

The history of the steps is not settled. Japanese Wikipedia says the street took shape in the Sengoku period, possibly after the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. A travel site we checked offers a different date for the first construction, so we do not give one.

Touge Town is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Initial D manga, its publisher, studios or rights holders.

The steps and Initial D

Shibukawa city placed Initial D manhole covers around the stone steps in 2020. One is in the plaza below the steps and shows Takumi Fujiwara and Natsuki Mogi. Another is below Ikaho Shrine on the steps and shows the Takahashi brothers. A third, near the Bungaku no Komichi path, shows Mako Sato, Sayuki and Silhouette. These are official city artworks, so they are reliable places to visit.

On the film side, Anime Pilgrimage lists the Ikaho Onsen stone steps as the first mapped scene of the third Legend film. Ikaho Shrine is on its list for the second film. These matches are compiled by fans, so we grade them as fan-identified.

Shopping street and bridge corner

Two fan-submitted spots on the Minkara car community site are linked to Ikaho. The first is called the Initial D Green Shopping Street. The post says it is the real model for the shopping street where the story's tofu shop stands, and it gives an Ikaho address, though the author says the address is a placeholder. The second is a corner on a bridge that the post links to two of Takumi's battles. It gives only Ikaho as its location.

Neither post compares the real place with the story in detail, and neither is confirmed by the city or the publisher. We grade both as fan-identified with low confidence and give no coordinates.

The owner's register treats the Green Shopping Street as a published anime-and-photo composite, but we could open only the Minkara listing, so we keep the low grade.

Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum

The museum shows toys and sweets-shop items from the Showa era beside classic cars. Its address is 2145 Kaminoda, Yoshioka, Kitagunma District, so it is in the neighbouring town of Yoshioka rather than inside Ikaho itself. It is a short drive from Ikaho, and Visit Gunma says about 15 minutes by bus from the Ikaho bus terminal.

For Initial D fans, the second floor has a corner that recreates the Fujiwara Tofu Shop, using the real shop's signboard and cooking tools, according to Car Watch. A replica of the shop front stands on the outside wall, where visitors can photograph their own car. Car Watch also says a yellow FD3S displayed there was once owned by the manga's author, Shuichi Shigeno.

Admission is 1,100 yen for adults. Opening hours are 8:30 to 18:00, and 8:30 to 17:00 from November to April. Parking is free for 200 cars. Check the museum's own website before you go, because Visit Gunma's page was last updated in December 2020.

The hot springs

Ikaho has two spring waters. Golden Water (Kogane no Yu) is the original spring, which is clear when it comes out and turns brown in the air because of its iron content. Silver Water (Shirogane no Yu) was developed in 1996, is colourless and cooler, and is not used by every inn.

A public bath called Sekidan no Yu stands on the steps, and the roofed open-air bath Ikaho Rotenburo was built in 1950 near the spring. A 1920 fire destroyed about 70 percent of the town, so the present streets are younger than the legends around them.

The writer Tokutomi Roka stayed here in 1898 before writing his novel Hototogisu. The Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park is also listed by Anime Pilgrimage as a mapped scene in the first and third Legend films.

Getting to Ikaho

From Tokyo, take a train to Shibukawa Station and then a bus to Ikaho. The bus takes about 20 minutes and costs about 750 yen one way. Buses run every 20 to 30 minutes according to Japan-guide.

A direct highway bus from Shinjuku takes about 2.5 hours and costs 2,800 to 3,100 yen. By car, Japanese Wikipedia gives about 20 minutes from the Shibukawa-Ikaho interchange. Mt Haruna's summit is a further bus ride from Ikaho, covered in the Mt Haruna guide.

At a glance

The places

What we could not confirm

• Touge Town is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Initial D manga, its publisher, studios or rights holders.
• Shopping street and bridge corner come only from fan posts and are low confidence.
• Sources disagree on whether the tofu shop building was moved to the museum or recreated; we say recreated, as the museum's tourism page does.
• Museum hours and prices come from 2020 and later pages and should be checked before a visit.
• The museum is in Yoshioka, not inside the Ikaho onsen district.
• Do not stop or pose in traffic lanes anywhere on the Haruna roads; use designated car parks.

Keep reading

• The real places behind Initial D in Gunma
• Shibukawa: the Gunma town behind Initial D
• Mt Haruna and Lake Haruna: the real Akina
• Mt Akagi, Mt Myogi and Usui Pass: the other Initial D mountains

Sources

• Ikaho Onsen (Japanese Wikipedia) · 365 steps, Golden and Silver Water, history, bath facilities, access, coordinates
• Ikaho, Gunma (Wikipedia) · Merger into Shibukawa on 20 February 2006, iron-brown water
• japan-guide.com: Ikaho Onsen · Stone steps about 300 m long, nearby attractions
• japan-guide.com: Getting to Ikaho Onsen from Tokyo · Bus times, fares, highway bus
• Visit Gunma: Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum · Address, hours, admission, parking, tofu shop recreated
• Car Watch: Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum · Second-floor tofu shop corner, real sign and tools, replica, yellow FD3S
• Impress Travel Watch: Shibukawa Initial D manhole covers · Manhole locations near the steps
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 3 · Stone steps listed as scene 1
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 2 · Ikaho Shrine listed
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 1 · Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park listed
• Minkara: Initial D Green Shopping Street · Fan-submitted spot and placeholder address
• Minkara: Initial D corner on the bridge · Fan-submitted spot linked to two battles

Touge Town is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Initial D, its publisher, studios or rights holders. These are public roads: racing or drifting on them is illegal and dangerous. Our drift day runs only on the closed Gunsai course.

石段街

伊香保の象徴は石段街です。日本語版Wikipediaは、旅館、土産物店、射的場、飲食店が並ぶ365段の石段を紹介しており、頂上には伊香保神社があります。Japan-guideは、通りの長さを約300メートルとしています。町の元の源泉である黄金の湯は、石段の下の方を流れています。

石段の歴史ははっきりしていません。日本語版Wikipediaは、戦国時代に形づくられ、1575年の長篠の戦いの後だった可能性があるとしています。確認した旅行サイトには別の建設年が書かれていたため、ここでは年を断定しません。

Touge Townは独立した団体であり、頭文字Dの漫画、出版社、制作会社、権利者とは提携しておらず、その承認も受けていません。

頭文字Dの取り組みの中の石段

渋川市は2020年に、石段街の周辺へ頭文字Dのマンホール蓋を設置しました。石段下の広場には藤原拓海と茂木なつきが描かれ、石段街の伊香保神社下には高橋兄弟が描かれています。文学の小径の近くには、佐藤真子、沙雪、シルエイティが描かれたものがあります。これらは市が設置した公式の作品なので、確実に訪れられる場所です。

劇場版については、Anime Pilgrimageが「Legend 3」の最初の聖地として伊香保温泉石段街を挙げています。伊香保神社は「Legend 2」の一覧にあります。これらはファンによる照合なので、「ファン特定」として扱います。

グリーン商店街と橋の上のコーナー

カーコミュニティサイトみんカラには、伊香保に関連するファン投稿のスポットが2つあります。1つ目は「頭文字D グリーン商店街」です。投稿には、作中の豆腐店がある商店街の実在モデルと書かれ、伊香保の住所が記されていますが、投稿者はその住所が仮のものだと述べています。2つ目は橋の上のコーナーで、拓海の2つのバトルに結び付けられています。所在地は「伊香保」としか書かれていません。

どちらの投稿も、実際の場所と作中の描写を詳しく比べてはおらず、市や出版社による確認もありません。そのため、ファン特定・信頼度低として扱い、座標は記載しません。

オーナーの台帳では、グリーン商店街は公開されたアニメと写真の合成画像に基づくものとされていますが、私たちが開けたのはみんカラの登録ページだけなので、低い評価のままにしています。

伊香保おもちゃと人形自動車博物館

館内には、昭和のおもちゃや駄菓子屋の品々が、クラシックカーとともに展示されています。住所は北群馬郡吉岡町上野田2145で、伊香保の中ではなく隣の吉岡町にあります。伊香保から近く、Visit Gunmaによれば伊香保バスターミナルからバスで約15分です。

頭文字Dのファンにとっては、2階に藤原とうふ店を再現したコーナーがあります。Car Watchによると、実際の店の看板と調理道具が使われています。外壁には店先のレプリカがあり、自分の車と一緒に撮影できます。Car Watchはまた、展示されている黄色いFD3Sはかつて作者のしげの秀一さんの所有だったと伝えています。

入館料は大人1,100円です。営業時間は8:30〜18:00で、11月から4月は8:30〜17:00です。駐車場は200台分が無料です。Visit Gunmaのページは2020年12月に更新されたものなので、訪れる前に博物館の公式サイトで確認してください。

温泉

伊香保には2種類の湯があります。黄金の湯は元の源泉で、湧き出たときは透明ですが、鉄分を含むため空気に触れると茶色に変わります。白銀の湯は1996年に開発された湯で、無色で温度が低く、すべての旅館が使っているわけではありません。

石段には共同浴場「石段の湯」があり、源泉の近くには屋根付きの露天風呂「伊香保露天風呂」が1950年に造られました。1920年の火災で町の約7割が焼けたため、現在の街並みは、その周りの伝説よりも新しいものです。

作家の徳冨蘆花は1898年に伊香保に滞在し、のちに小説『不如帰』を書きました。徳冨蘆花記念文学館の駐車場は、Anime Pilgrimageでも「Legend」の第1作と第3作の聖地として挙げられています。

伊香保へのアクセス

東京からは、電車で渋川駅へ行き、そこからバスで伊香保へ向かいます。バスは約20分、片道約750円です。Japan-guideによれば、20〜30分おきに運行されています。

新宿からの直通高速バスは約2.5時間で、2,800〜3,100円です。車の場合、日本語版Wikipediaでは渋川伊香保ICから約20分とされています。榛名山の山頂は伊香保からさらにバスで行く場所で、榛名山のガイドで扱っています。

早わかり

場所

確認できなかったこと

• Touge Town is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Initial D manga, its publisher, studios or rights holders.
• Shopping street and bridge corner come only from fan posts and are low confidence.
• Sources disagree on whether the tofu shop building was moved to the museum or recreated; we say recreated, as the museum's tourism page does.
• Museum hours and prices come from 2020 and later pages and should be checked before a visit.
• The museum is in Yoshioka, not inside the Ikaho onsen district.
• Do not stop or pose in traffic lanes anywhere on the Haruna roads; use designated car parks.

あわせて読む

• 頭文字Dの舞台となった群馬の実在の場所
• 渋川市：頭文字Dの舞台となった群馬の町
• 榛名山と榛名湖:実在する「秋名」
• 赤城山・妙義山・碓氷峠:『頭文字D』のもうひとつの舞台

出典

• Ikaho Onsen (Japanese Wikipedia) · 365 steps, Golden and Silver Water, history, bath facilities, access, coordinates
• Ikaho, Gunma (Wikipedia) · Merger into Shibukawa on 20 February 2006, iron-brown water
• japan-guide.com: Ikaho Onsen · Stone steps about 300 m long, nearby attractions
• japan-guide.com: Getting to Ikaho Onsen from Tokyo · Bus times, fares, highway bus
• Visit Gunma: Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum · Address, hours, admission, parking, tofu shop recreated
• Car Watch: Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum · Second-floor tofu shop corner, real sign and tools, replica, yellow FD3S
• Impress Travel Watch: Shibukawa Initial D manhole covers · Manhole locations near the steps
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 3 · Stone steps listed as scene 1
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 2 · Ikaho Shrine listed
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 1 · Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park listed
• Minkara: Initial D Green Shopping Street · Fan-submitted spot and placeholder address
• Minkara: Initial D corner on the bridge · Fan-submitted spot linked to two battles

独立した企画で、いかなるシリーズ・出版社・制作会社・権利者とも提携・承認関係にありません。公道は実在の生活道路です。路上でのレース・ドリフトは違法で危険です。ドリフトデーは閉鎖された群サイのコースでのみ行います。

本页暂无中文译本，以下为英文原文。

The stone steps

The symbol of Ikaho is its stone-step street. Japanese Wikipedia describes a staircase of 365 steps lined with inns, souvenir shops, shooting galleries and restaurants, with Ikaho Shrine at the top. Japan-guide puts the street at roughly 300 metres long. Golden Water, the town's original spring, runs down the base of the steps.

The history of the steps is not settled. Japanese Wikipedia says the street took shape in the Sengoku period, possibly after the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. A travel site we checked offers a different date for the first construction, so we do not give one.

Touge Town is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Initial D manga, its publisher, studios or rights holders.

The steps and Initial D

Shibukawa city placed Initial D manhole covers around the stone steps in 2020. One is in the plaza below the steps and shows Takumi Fujiwara and Natsuki Mogi. Another is below Ikaho Shrine on the steps and shows the Takahashi brothers. A third, near the Bungaku no Komichi path, shows Mako Sato, Sayuki and Silhouette. These are official city artworks, so they are reliable places to visit.

On the film side, Anime Pilgrimage lists the Ikaho Onsen stone steps as the first mapped scene of the third Legend film. Ikaho Shrine is on its list for the second film. These matches are compiled by fans, so we grade them as fan-identified.

Shopping street and bridge corner

Two fan-submitted spots on the Minkara car community site are linked to Ikaho. The first is called the Initial D Green Shopping Street. The post says it is the real model for the shopping street where the story's tofu shop stands, and it gives an Ikaho address, though the author says the address is a placeholder. The second is a corner on a bridge that the post links to two of Takumi's battles. It gives only Ikaho as its location.

Neither post compares the real place with the story in detail, and neither is confirmed by the city or the publisher. We grade both as fan-identified with low confidence and give no coordinates.

The owner's register treats the Green Shopping Street as a published anime-and-photo composite, but we could open only the Minkara listing, so we keep the low grade.

Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum

The museum shows toys and sweets-shop items from the Showa era beside classic cars. Its address is 2145 Kaminoda, Yoshioka, Kitagunma District, so it is in the neighbouring town of Yoshioka rather than inside Ikaho itself. It is a short drive from Ikaho, and Visit Gunma says about 15 minutes by bus from the Ikaho bus terminal.

For Initial D fans, the second floor has a corner that recreates the Fujiwara Tofu Shop, using the real shop's signboard and cooking tools, according to Car Watch. A replica of the shop front stands on the outside wall, where visitors can photograph their own car. Car Watch also says a yellow FD3S displayed there was once owned by the manga's author, Shuichi Shigeno.

Admission is 1,100 yen for adults. Opening hours are 8:30 to 18:00, and 8:30 to 17:00 from November to April. Parking is free for 200 cars. Check the museum's own website before you go, because Visit Gunma's page was last updated in December 2020.

The hot springs

Ikaho has two spring waters. Golden Water (Kogane no Yu) is the original spring, which is clear when it comes out and turns brown in the air because of its iron content. Silver Water (Shirogane no Yu) was developed in 1996, is colourless and cooler, and is not used by every inn.

A public bath called Sekidan no Yu stands on the steps, and the roofed open-air bath Ikaho Rotenburo was built in 1950 near the spring. A 1920 fire destroyed about 70 percent of the town, so the present streets are younger than the legends around them.

The writer Tokutomi Roka stayed here in 1898 before writing his novel Hototogisu. The Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park is also listed by Anime Pilgrimage as a mapped scene in the first and third Legend films.

Getting to Ikaho

From Tokyo, take a train to Shibukawa Station and then a bus to Ikaho. The bus takes about 20 minutes and costs about 750 yen one way. Buses run every 20 to 30 minutes according to Japan-guide.

A direct highway bus from Shinjuku takes about 2.5 hours and costs 2,800 to 3,100 yen. By car, Japanese Wikipedia gives about 20 minutes from the Shibukawa-Ikaho interchange. Mt Haruna's summit is a further bus ride from Ikaho, covered in the Mt Haruna guide.

At a glance

The places

What we could not confirm

• Touge Town is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Initial D manga, its publisher, studios or rights holders.
• Shopping street and bridge corner come only from fan posts and are low confidence.
• Sources disagree on whether the tofu shop building was moved to the museum or recreated; we say recreated, as the museum's tourism page does.
• Museum hours and prices come from 2020 and later pages and should be checked before a visit.
• The museum is in Yoshioka, not inside the Ikaho onsen district.
• Do not stop or pose in traffic lanes anywhere on the Haruna roads; use designated car parks.

Keep reading

• The real places behind Initial D in Gunma
• Shibukawa: the Gunma town behind Initial D
• Mt Haruna and Lake Haruna: the real Akina
• Mt Akagi, Mt Myogi and Usui Pass: the other Initial D mountains

Sources

• Ikaho Onsen (Japanese Wikipedia) · 365 steps, Golden and Silver Water, history, bath facilities, access, coordinates
• Ikaho, Gunma (Wikipedia) · Merger into Shibukawa on 20 February 2006, iron-brown water
• japan-guide.com: Ikaho Onsen · Stone steps about 300 m long, nearby attractions
• japan-guide.com: Getting to Ikaho Onsen from Tokyo · Bus times, fares, highway bus
• Visit Gunma: Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum · Address, hours, admission, parking, tofu shop recreated
• Car Watch: Ikaho Toy, Doll and Car Museum · Second-floor tofu shop corner, real sign and tools, replica, yellow FD3S
• Impress Travel Watch: Shibukawa Initial D manhole covers · Manhole locations near the steps
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 3 · Stone steps listed as scene 1
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 2 · Ikaho Shrine listed
• Anime Pilgrimage: Initial D Legend 1 · Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park listed
• Minkara: Initial D Green Shopping Street · Fan-submitted spot and placeholder address
• Minkara: Initial D corner on the bridge · Fan-submitted spot linked to two battles

Touge Town is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Initial D, its publisher, studios or rights holders. These are public roads: racing or drifting on them is illegal and dangerous. Our drift day runs only on the closed Gunsai course.