Nakasendō: Nihonbashi to Usui Pass Section · Stage 10
Over the old road to the Usui pass (about 1,200 m by the Kumano shrine; maps also give 956 m, the modern road's lower pass), a mountain path up the Haneishi-zaka: 10.6 km, +853 m. The Japanese Alpine Club's section times come to about 5 h 10 from Yokokawa station to the shrine, and 1 h 05 (2.8 km) on down to the Kyū-Karuizawa bus stop, then 35 minutes to Karuizawa station. Below the pass the old road is faint and crosses a rough stream bed; the Club names the old Usui pass promenade path and prefectural road 133 as ways round. There are no shops and no drinkable springs between Yokokawa and Kyū-Karuizawa (the pass tea houses sell drinks when open): carry water, and a portable toilet. The Club also warns of falling rocks on the Haneishi-zaka, monkeys below the pass, leeches from June to August and frequent bear sightings between the pass and Kyū-Karuizawa; Annaka city says the path is eroded in places since Typhoon No. 7 of 2023, with hollows hidden under fallen leaves. The red bus from the Miharashidai lookout runs in season only, not on Wednesdays (except holidays) and not in thick fog or heavy rain (Karuizawa Kōtsū): plan to walk down. There is no station at the pass. Annaka city suggests the other way round: the bus to Karuizawa and a taxi to the Kumano shrine, then down to Yokokawa, about 6 hours against 7 up (the Club).
Best season: Spring and autumn; the Usui pass is a mountain path. No body manages the old road or publishes a walking season: the month table below is from climate normals. Most of the road is on town streets and main roads; the Saitama plain is very hot in summer, and the Usui pass holds snow and ice in winter. Before you go
Over the old road to the Usui pass (about 1,200 m by the Kumano shrine; maps also give 956 m, the modern road's lower pass), a mountain path up the Haneishi-zaka: 10.6 km, +853 m. The Japanese Alpine Club's section times come to about 5 h 10 from Yokokawa station to the shrine, and 1 h 05 (2.8 km) on down to the Kyū-Karuizawa bus stop, then 35 minutes to Karuizawa station. Below the pass the old road is faint and crosses a rough stream bed; the Club names the old Usui pass promenade path and prefectural road 133 as ways round. There are no shops and no drinkable springs between Yokokawa and Kyū-Karuizawa (the pass tea houses sell drinks when open): carry water, and a portable toilet. The Club also warns of falling rocks on the Haneishi-zaka, monkeys below the pass, leeches from June to August and frequent bear sightings between the pass and Kyū-Karuizawa; Annaka city says the path is eroded in places since Typhoon No. 7 of 2023, with hollows hidden under fallen leaves. The red bus from the Miharashidai lookout runs in season only, not on Wednesdays (except holidays) and not in thick fog or heavy rain (Karuizawa Kōtsū): plan to walk down. There is no station at the pass. Annaka city suggests the other way round: the bus to Karuizawa and a taxi to the Kumano shrine, then down to Yokokawa, about 6 hours against 7 up (the Club).
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 29 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
Yokokawa (横川), at the end of the JR Shin'etsu Line from Takasaki, below the old Sakamoto post town and the Usui checkpoint. No place to stay is mapped within 1 km: stay in Takasaki, or in Karuizawa after the pass. JR Bus Kantō runs from Yokokawa to Karuizawa station, about 35 minutes (Annaka city), seven or eight times a day.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end
Mountain pass
Usui Pass (碓氷峠). The Usui pass, about 1,200 m on the Gunma–Nagano border, with the Kumano shrine astride it and tea houses (Japanese Alpine Club). The line ends here. The old road goes on down to the Kyū-Karuizawa bus stop, about 1 hour and 2.8 km (Japanese Alpine Club), faint in places below the pass. The seasonal red bus from the Miharashidai lookout does not run on Wednesdays (except holidays) or in thick fog or heavy rain (Karuizawa Kōtsū). Karuizawa has many places to stay, and JR Bus Kantō runs back down to Yokokawa, about 35 minutes, seven or eight buses a day.
Make it your trip
Every day ends at or near a railway station, but Warabi, Kōnosu, Annaka and Yokokawa have no place to stay nearby: base yourself in Ōmiya, Kumagaya and Takasaki and ride the JR lines to and from each day's ends. The last day ends on the Usui pass, with no station: walk about an hour down the old road to the Kyū-Karuizawa bus stop, sleep in Karuizawa, and take JR Bus Kantō back down to Yokokawa (about 35 minutes, seven or eight buses a day: check the last one).
The road from Tokyo to the Usui pass in 10 days, station to station.
Plan this journeyThrough Tokyo and across the Saitama plain: six flat days of town streets.
Plan this journeyInto Gunma and up to the Usui pass: base in Takasaki and ride the train; the last day crosses the mountains.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (384 m) and high point (1,205 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (384 m) and the highest point (1,205 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 3°/-5° | 3°/-5° | 7°/-3° | 13°/1° | 18°/7° | 21°/11° | 25°/16° | 26°/17° | 21°/13° | 15°/7° | 11°/0° | 5°/-4° |
| Low point, day / night | 8°/-2° | 8°/-2° | 11°/1° | 17°/6° | 22°/11° | 25°/15° | 29°/20° | 30°/20° | 25°/17° | 20°/11° | 15°/4° | 10°/0° |
| Rain, mm | 56 | 58 | 70 | 87 | 113 | 163 | 179 | 161 | 170 | 162 | 54 | 46 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible | Possible |
| Daylight | 9 h 56 | 10 h 51 | 11 h 54 | 13 h 05 | 14 h 04 | 14 h 37 | 14 h 25 | 13 h 35 | 12 h 28 | 11 h 20 | 10 h 16 | 9 h 42 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
The nine days to Yokokawa are on town streets and main roads with traffic: keep to the pavements, and where a road has none, walk facing the traffic.
The Nakasendō (Japanese Wikipedia)The last day climbs about 850 m on a mountain path to the Usui pass, about 5 h 10 by the Japanese Alpine Club's times, and ends there, an hour above the Kyū-Karuizawa bus stop: falling rocks on the Haneishi-zaka, monkeys, leeches from June to August, and paths eroded since the 2023 typhoon, with hollows under fallen leaves (Annaka city). No shops or drinkable water on the way: carry water. Wear boots, start early, and plan to walk down; the red bus from the pass runs in season, not on Wednesdays or in fog.
Japanese Alpine Club: the Usui passBears are seen often between the Usui pass and Kyū-Karuizawa (Japanese Alpine Club). Karuizawa town asks walkers to carry a bell, radio or whistle, avoid dawn and dusk, and walk in company; autumn is when bears feed hardest before winter.
Karuizawa town: bearsThe Saitama plain is among the hottest places in Japan in July and August: walk early, carry water, and use the stations' shade and shops.
The Nakasendō (Japanese Wikipedia)Getting there
Travel around Yokokawa to Usui Pass.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
The walk starts at the Nihonbashi bridge in central Tokyo, by Nihombashi and Mitsukoshimae subway stations and a short walk from Tokyo station.
The Nakasendō (Japanese Wikipedia)The JR Takasaki Line follows the road from Ōmiya to Takasaki, and the JR Shin'etsu Line on to Yokokawa: every day but the last ends at or within about 1 km of one of their stations. Yokokawa and Karuizawa are linked by JR Bus Kantō, about 35 minutes (Annaka city), seven or eight times a day: check the last bus.
Annaka city: the old Nakasendō courseTake your trip with you
Prepare every day while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
The line is a named mapped section of the eastern Nakasendō, 151 km from Nihonbashi to the Usui pass, mostly on town streets and main roads through Saitama and Gunma, and the guide makes no complete-route source claim: No OpenStreetMap relation covers this part of the road (relation 10601310 is the western, Ōmi section), and we have not checked the line way by way against the historic road. The days end at railway stations on or near the road, most in its old post towns: TrailSplits chose them, not an authority, and the walking times are our estimates. The Kiso valley's best-known walks on the same road have their own guides: Magome to Tsumago (/trails/nakasendo-magome-tsumago) and Yabuhara to Narai over the Torii pass (/trails/nakasendo-torii-pass).
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 29 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
The Nakasendō and its post towns (Japanese Wikipedia)Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation