The old Nakasendō from Nihonbashi in Tokyo across the Saitama plain and up to the Usui pass in 10 days: nine end at stations on the JR Keihin-Tōhoku, Takasaki and Shin'etsu lines, the tenth on the pass, an hour's walk above the Kyū-Karuizawa bus stop.
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
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Ten days: nine end at or near a railway station, and the tenth on the Usui pass, about an hour's walk above the Kyū-Karuizawa bus stop. Some stations have no place to stay nearby: sleep in Ōmiya for the first days, in Kumagaya for the plain and in Takasaki for Gunma, and ride the train to each day's start; after the pass, sleep in Karuizawa. Suggested plans keep each day under 6 hours of walking, so the Usui pass has a day of its own.
Changing where you stay suggests a new number of days: the fewest that keep each day under 6 h of walking and in daylight, where a place to stay allows.
Days end where the route has a stay, a camp or a village.
Stage 1: From the Nihonbashi bridge north through central Tokyo, past the first post town of Itabashi, across the Arakawa to Warabi: 20.3 km, +78 m, city streets all the way.
Warabi Town or village
Warabi (蕨), an old post town; Warabi station on the JR Keihin-Tōhoku Line is about 1 km east of the old road (not counted in the day's distance). No place to stay is mapped within 1 km: Ōmiya, a few stops north, has many hotels.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 2: Through the old post towns of Urawa and Ōmiya, now Saitama city, to Ageo: 19.2 km, +52 m, flat.
Ageo Town or village
Ageo (上尾), an old post town with a JR Takasaki Line station by the road. One hotel is mapped nearby; Ōmiya, back down the line, has many more.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1000 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMapStage 3: By the old post town of Okegawa to Kōnosu: 12.3 km, +12 m, flat.
Kōnosu Town or village
Kōnosu (鴻巣), an old post town with a JR Takasaki Line station by the road. No place to stay is mapped within 1 km: Kumagaya, the next day's end, has business hotels by its station.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 4: Across the Saitama plain to Kumagaya: 15.1 km, +22 m. Kumagaya is among the hottest places in Japan in summer: carry water and walk early.
Kumagaya Town or village
Kumagaya (熊谷), with a JR Takasaki Line and Shinkansen station and business hotels by it.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 5 places to stay within about 1000 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMapStage 5: West to the old post town of Fukaya: 12.7 km, +18 m, flat.
Fukaya Town or village
Fukaya (深谷), an old post town with a JR Takasaki Line station about 400 m from the road, and a few hotels by it.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 3 places to stay within about 1000 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMapStage 6: On to Honjō: 10.9 km, +28 m, flat.
Honjō Town or village
Honjō (本庄), an old post town with a JR Takasaki Line station about 500 m from the road; one hotel is mapped nearby, and Takasaki has many.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1000 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMapStage 7: Across the Kanna river into Gunma, by the old post towns of Shinmachi and Kuragano, to Takasaki: 21 km, +54 m.
Takasaki Town or village
Takasaki (高崎), the castle town where the Shinkansen and the JR lines meet, with many hotels near the station; a good base for the last three days by train.
OpenStreetMap lists at least 16 places to stay within about 1000 m; TrailSplits has not checked which are open.
See the area on OpenStreetMapStage 8: By the old post town of Itahana to Annaka station, about 2 km short of the old post town of Annaka, which the next day walks through: 10.5 km, +43 m.
Annaka Town or village
Annaka (安中) station on the JR Shin'etsu Line, about 200 m from the road. No place to stay is mapped within 1 km: ride back to Takasaki.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage 9: Through the old post towns of Annaka and Matsuida, up the Usui valley to Yokokawa, below Sakamoto, the last post town before the pass: 18.4 km, +317 m, climbing gently.
Yokokawa Town or village
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.
Find your own accommodation; TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
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).
Longest day: day 10, 5 h 10.
Days end at a stage end with a refuge or a village, or in a village the route passes through. Walking times are the The Nakasendō and its post towns (Japanese Wikipedia)'s published times where it gives one, with our estimate beside it; a day that walks part of a stage gets a share of the stage's time by distance and climb. Running times use 7.5 km/h plus one hour per 700 m of climb: a steady reference, not a prediction. Daylight is sunrise to sunset where the day starts; the time left is for breaks, meals and delays. For villages we count the places to stay OpenStreetMap lists; we have not checked which are open. A plan is not a booking: reserve every night before you commit to these day lengths.
Loading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (1,205 m)…
Typical weather on this trail: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (1,205 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor | Poor | Mixed | Good | Good | Mixed |
| Stages rated good on typical weather | 1/10 | 1/10 | 8/10 | 10/10 | 10/10 | 1/10 | 0/10 | 0/10 | 1/10 | 7/10 | 9/10 | 3/10 |
| 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 | 10°/1° | 11°/2° | 14°/5° | 19°/10° | 24°/15° | 26°/19° | 30°/23° | 32°/24° | 28°/20° | 22°/15° | 17°/9° | 12°/3° |
| Rain, mm | 48 | 53 | 95 | 111 | 134 | 165 | 179 | 161 | 190 | 211 | 77 | 53 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible | Possible |
| Daylight | 9 h 57 | 10 h 51 | 11 h 54 | 13 h 04 | 14 h 03 | 14 h 36 | 14 h 24 | 13 h 34 | 12 h 28 | 11 h 20 | 10 h 17 | 9 h 44 |
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.
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 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
Choose a stage or journey above to narrow the travel searches.
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.
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).
The Nakasendō and its post towns (Japanese Wikipedia)
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