Gunma Prefecture is Japan's hot spring capital, mountain playground, and silk heritage land — a landlocked prefecture north of Tokyo where volcanic peaks, therapeutic onsen, pristine highland forests, and the UNESCO World Heritage Tomioka Silk Mill define a destination unlike anywhere else in Japan.
Top attractions
The most popular and significant attractions in Gunma.
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1
Kusatsu Onsen Yubatake (Hot Water Field)
Yubatake means 'hot water field,' and it is the literal and symbolic center of Kusatsu, one of Japan's most celebrated hot spring towns. Wooden channels called yuage-oke funnel scalding, sulfur-rich water down from the source, cooling it as it flows while releasing clouds of steam and a strong sulfur smell over the surrounding square. At night the wooden troughs and the gyokusendo channel are lit up, and the area is ringed by ryokan, footbaths, and souvenir shops that make it the natural starting point for exploring the town on foot.
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2
Tomioka Silk Mill
Tomioka Silk Mill was Japan's first modern, mechanized silk-reeling factory, built by the Meiji government in 1872 with French engineer Paul Brunat overseeing the design and imported French machinery. It became a model for industrializing Japan's raw silk production and training a national workforce of female mill operatives, which is why UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2014. Visitors walk through the brick cocoon warehouses and the reeling plant itself, seeing preserved Meiji-era industrial architecture that blends French building techniques with Japanese materials.
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3
Oze National Park
Oze is a high-altitude wetland plateau straddling Gunma, Fukushima, and Niigata, protected as a national park for its expansive marshland ringed by beech and birch forest. Visitors move through the marsh on raised wooden boardwalks that protect the fragile peat bog beneath, passing ponds and open grassland with Mount Hiuchigatake and Mount Shibutsu visible on clear days. The best-known sight is the early-summer bloom of mizubasho (skunk cabbage), which draws hikers from across the country to the boardwalk trails.
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4
Netsu-no-Yu Ritual Bathing
Netsu-no-Yu is a staged demonstration of yumomi, the traditional Kusatsu technique of stirring the naturally very hot spring water with long wooden paddles to cool it without diluting its mineral content. Performers in traditional dress rhythmically paddle the water in a large wooden bath while singing the Kusatsu bushi folk song that historically set the pace of the work. The show preserves a practice that was once a practical necessity for making the town's scalding water bathable, and it runs multiple short sessions a day at the Netsu-no-Yu hall next to Yubatake.
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5
Ikaho Onsen Ishidan-dori (Stone Step Street)
Ishidan-dori is the stone staircase street that forms the spine of Ikaho Onsen, lined on both sides with ryokan, souvenir shops, and small eateries as it climbs the hillside. The street is built directly over the course of the hot spring water source, and its stepped layout dates back centuries as the town's organizing feature, culminating at Ikaho Shrine at the top. Walking the full run of stairs gives a sense of the town's layered, sloped geography that flat hot spring towns don't have.
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6
Mount Akagi (Akagi-san)
Akagi is a large stratovolcano and one of Japan's designated 100 Famous Mountains, with a broad caldera at its summit area containing Lake Onuma. The Akagi Shrine sits on the lakeshore, connected to a small island by a footbridge, and is a popular destination in its own right separate from hiking the surrounding peaks. The mountain's outer slopes are also known for the Akagi toll road's hairpin turns, which draw driving and motorcycling visitors in addition to hikers heading to the crater lake area.
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7
Takaragawa Onsen Osenkaku
Takaragawa Onsen is known for having some of the largest open-air baths in Japan, set directly along the banks of the Takaragawa river deep in the mountains near Minakami. Several rotenburo of different sizes are arranged along the riverside, including baths large enough to hold dozens of bathers at once, surrounded by rock and forest rather than built-up town scenery. The inn traditionally allowed mixed bathing in its largest bath, though many visitors now use the separate-sex baths, and staying overnight with the included kaiseki-style meals is the fuller way to experience it beyond a day visit.
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8
Mount Myogi (Myogi-san)
Myogi is a jagged range of eroded volcanic rock pinnacles, ranked alongside Mount Unzen and Mount Katsuragi among Japan's traditionally cited scenic mountain groups for their unusual rock formations. Trails at Myogi Shrine's trailhead lead up steep, narrow ridgelines where sections require pulling yourself along fixed chains bolted into the rock rather than ordinary hiking paths. The dramatic spires are especially popular in autumn, when the maple foliage on the lower slopes contrasts with the bare grey rock above.
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9
Haruna Lake
Haruna Lake fills the caldera of Mt. Haruna, one of Gunma's three sacred volcanic peaks, its still water ringed by jagged crater rim peaks like Sōmen-yama. Rowboats and pedal boats are the main way to get out on the water, and in winter the lake has been known to freeze thick enough for ice-fishing for smelt. A small red-torii shrine sits on a rocky outcrop near the shore, a favorite photo spot against the crater walls.
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10
Fukiware Falls
Fukiware Falls isn't a single tall drop but a wide, churning cascade where the Katashina River has carved a jagged trench through volcanic rock, spreading into multiple channels and pools. It's sometimes nicknamed Gunma's version of a mini-Niagara for that broad, fractured shape rather than its height. Walkways along the rock let you look almost straight down into the gorge the river has cut.
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Practical information
What you need to know before you go.
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Tips for visiting attractions
Make the most of your sightseeing time.
Visit popular attractions early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid crowds and harsh midday light.
Book tickets online in advance for major attractions to skip long queues and sometimes save money.
Many cities offer multi-attraction passes that include public transport. Calculate whether they save you money based on your itinerary.
Frequently asked questions
Can non-guests use onsen at ryokan?
Many ryokan offer 'higaeri nyuyoku' (day-use onsen). Takaragawa Onsen (¥1,500) and Hoshi Onsen (¥1,500) both allow day-use visits. Book ahead by calling or checking the property website.
Is Tomioka Silk Mill worth visiting?
Yes — it is Japan's best-preserved example of early modern industrial architecture and tells an important story about how Japan transformed after the Meiji Restoration. Allow at least 2 hours.
Can visitors do the Netsu-no-Yu bathing ritual?
Yes — visitors can participate in the yumomi (water stirring) experience at the Netsu-no-Yu hall in Kusatsu. Sessions run approximately every hour; tickets (¥600 adult) are purchased at the door.