Ikaho Onsen

Ikaho is built on a steep slope and its spine is the ishidan, a stone stairway of 365 steps running up through the town, with inns, shops and bathhouses opening off it on both sides. The arrangement is old and deliberate: the water was piped from the source at the top and distributed downhill to the inns, and the channel runs under the steps with glass panels set in at intervals so you can see it flowing. The step count was set at 365 in a 1980s reconstruction as a wish for a full year of prosperity. Two waters are drawn - the iron-rich brown kogane no yu, which oxidises to a rust colour on contact with air, and the clear shirogane no yu found later. At the top are a shrine and a ropeway. The town has a long association with writers and a museum to the illustrator Takehisa Yumeji.

What you actually see

• A 365-step spine - the stone stairway with the town built off both sides of it.
• Water under the steps - the distribution channel visible through glass panels.
• Two springs - iron-brown kogane no yu and the clear shirogane no yu.
• A shrine at the top - with a ropeway continuing above the town.

When to go

Late October for colour; all year for the baths. Two days.

Honest expectations

The stairway is steep and long - climbing it with luggage is hard work. Many shops on the steps close early. Weekend and autumn accommodation books out. Buses from Shibukawa are the only public access.

Nearby

Kusatsu Onsen is north-west; Lake Haruna sits on the mountain above the town.