Takasaki

Takasaki (高崎, [1]) is a city in Gunma prefecture in Honshu, Japan.

Culture and History

Takasaki, about 100km north of Tokyo, is famous as the hometown of the Daruma doll. It is also the hometown of former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.

Travel to Takasaki - Visa Requirements

By train

Takasaki is a stop on the Joetsu Shinkansen and Nagano Shinkansen lines, and is a hub for the JR Takasaki, Hachiko, Ryomo, Joetsu and Shin-etsu lines.

Frequent Shinkansen services depart Tokyo station for Takasaki every 15-30 minutes, with more frequent departures for the evening rush. You can reach Takasaki in about one hour, at a cost of ¥4800. Regular trains on the Takasaki Line depart from Ueno station 2-3 times per hour, reaching Takasaki in about 2 hours at a cost of ¥1890.

There are also hourly departures for Takasaki on the Shonan-Shinjuku Line which runs via Shinjuku station (1 3/4 - 2 hours, ¥1890 from Shinjuku).

Buses to Takasaki

Tours and Getting around Takasaki

Takasaki tourist attractions and sightseeing

Takasaki city tours

Takasaki souvenirs and shopping

Takasaki Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

• Shoya (庄や), Yajima-cho 117-8 (on the ground level on the left side of the plaza at the West Exit of JR Takasaki station), tel. 027-328-8833, [2]. Open daily 11:00 am to 7:00 pm, Sundays and holidays 1:00 to 5:00 pm. If you can tolerate occasional smokers, this is a pleasant place to sample a wide variety of specialty snacks and sake from around Japan while you wait for train connections. Its catch phrase is kutsurogi no sato 'a place to relax' and the happi coats of the staff say yorokonde 'enjoy'. Not much English spoken, but there are picture menus [3] for both food and sake. Snacks range in price from ¥300 for edamame (soybeans) or kimchee to ¥1300 for a serving of shabushabu, with most in the ¥500 to ¥700 range. Overflowing glasses of sake in masu (square boxes) run about ¥700-800.

• Yaki-manju is a Japanese sweet famous in Gumma. It's broiled manju, Japanese-style bun with sweet soybean sauce. You can buy one at any shop with a long line of customers.

Takasaki nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Takasaki cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Get out

• Ashikaga - historical home of the Ashikaga shoguns
• Karuizawa - a popular winter and summer getaway with skiing and shopping - a traditional shopping street as well as a huge outlet mall with a number of Western brand stores. One stop westbound from Takasaki on the Shinkansen. For a slightly less expensive route take the Shin-etsu Line west to Yokogawa Station in Annaka and take a 30-minute bus ride through the hills to Karuizawa Station. Savings aside, the bus is worth the extra time during autumn for the colorful scenery.

This page was last edited by Wikitravel user Texugo. Based on work by Jose Ramos, Joel Bradshaw and Jani Patokallio, Wikitravel user(s) Drcwright and Episteme and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license