Shibukawa

Shibukawa (渋川) is a city in Gunma, known for hot springs in Ikaho (伊香保) area.

Understand

Shibukawa is known as the belly button of Japan, as it is in the very centre of Japan (not taking Okinawan islands into count). Famous for the "Heso Matsuri" or belly button festival, Shibukawa lies in the shadow of Mount Haruna with great views of Mount Akagi and Mount Komochi. Shibukawa municipality includes the famous hot spring resort town of Ikaho.

Tourist information site

The local tourism association maintains a multilingual guide site.

Get in

Shibukawa is easily accessible by train from Takasaki station, which can be reached by Shinkansen (bullet train). By car it can be accessed via Route 17.

Get around

Busses travel frequently between Shibukawa and Ikaho and can be caught from the station. Taxis are also available, but are a little more pricy.

See

Ikaho is worth a day visit at least, but a weekend is well spent there. Green Bokujou and Shibukawa Skyland Park are great places to take the kids.

Shibukawa station has a visitors centre which has more information on must see spots. There is also a map outside of the station, written in Japanese and poor English.

Do

Shibukawa station has a visitors centre which has information on the many activities the area offers.

  • 1000人Rock Fes.Gunma. Shibukawa hosts this annual "Rock Festival" that's modeled after the Rockin'1000 project of Italy. If you are a vocalist, guitarist, bassist, or drummer, you can take part in a massive performance together with 999 newfound friends. Preparations to participate need to be made well in advance and might not be the easiest if you don't speak some Japanese, but spectators are allowed and just need to show up the day of the event. (updated Dec 2024)

Buy


Eat

Shibukawa's famous sweet potato sweets are a must try.

Drink

Sleep

Ikaho has many hotels, while Shibukawa proper has a few hotels in close proximity to the station.

Connect

Go next

Numata, Minakami and Nakanojō are accessible from Shibukawa via road or rail.

  • Fujimi
  • Takayama
  • Showa
  • Higashiagatsuma
  • Shinto
  • Yoshioka
  • Takasaki


Routes through Shibukawa
Minakami ← Numata ←  N  S  → Maebashi → Takasaki
Minakami ← Numata ←  N  S  → Maebashi → Takasaki
Nakanojo ←  N  S  → Maebashi → Kiryu


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