Takasaki is Gunma’s largest city, conveniently located in the centre of Honshu, and served by a number of expressways and shinkansen lines. Popular Takasaki tourist destinations include Shorinzan Daruma-ji temple, Kannonyama with its Byakui statue, and Mount Haruna with its nearby shrine.
Takasaki sightseeing brochure:
http://www.takasaki-kankoukyoukai.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/en_pamphlet01-28.pdf
Le POMPON serves bistro style food and drinks. Their sweets are also delicious. It is a 15 minute walk from Takasaki Station.
Opening hours: 18:00-22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Due to the limited number of seats, reservation is recommended.
https://www.instagram.com/lepompon2019/
CARO offers a wide range of italian dishes and has won many prizes at the “King of Pasta” competition in Takasaki City. It is an 8-minute walk from Takasaki Station.
Opening hours: 【Lunch】Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri : 11:30-14:30 (L.O. 14:00)
【Dinner】Mon, Wed – Sun : 18:00–22:00 (L.O. 21:00)
Closed on Tuesdays
Pricing: ¥1,100 Lunch Plate
https://www.restaurant-cafe-caro.com/en/
The name of the cafe “NIHONICHI” means Japan No. 1. This popular, long-running cafe serves an extensive menu of shaved ice. It takes 17 minutes by foot from Takasaki Station.
Opening hours: 13:00-17:30 (depending on season and weather) / additional hours 18:30-21:30 during summer
Closed from November to March
Pricing: ¥100 – ¥1,300
Take Out is available.
LINDEMBAUM serves delicious French and German cuisine at reasonable prices. It has three branches, in Fujioka-shi, Takasaki-shi, and Karuizawa.
Opening hours: 11:00-15:30(L.O.15:00) / 17:00-22:30(L.O.21:30)
Open every day
Pricing: from ¥1,300 Lunch
AORAKI CAFE is known for its wide variety of fluffy shaved ice dishes with many original flavored syrups and toppings. It is near Takasaki Arena stadium, 5 minutes from Takasaki Station.
Opening hours: irregular opening days and hours. Check the website.
Pricing: ¥700 – ¥1,600 per shaved ice dish
Take Out is available.
https://www.instagram.com/aorakicafe/
Miho Takahashi was born in 1985 in Higashi-Agatsuma, north Gunma. After she graduated from Gunma University, Miho settled on copperplate etching as her medium. Soon after, she enrolled at the famous Doumu art workshop in Tokyo, where she studied under renowned artist, Kamachi Seiji.
Miho creates fantasy worlds in which individual nubile women live alongside mythical beasts or abundant foliage, roots and flowers. Her 2022 work “Town of the Centennial Trees” features the eponymous trees uprooting and flying off in search of new lands.
https://www.instagram.com/miho.momocolon/
THE BLACK BULL CLUB is located within walking distance of Takasaki Station. It is a stylish yakiniku restaurant, popular with the younger generation. Originally from Korea, yakiniku is a dish in which beef, pork, other meats and offal are dipped in sauce and eaten after being grilled or stir-fried over an open flame.
Opening hours: 16:00-22:00 weekdays/ 12:00-22:00 on Sat. Sun (Food L.O. 21:00, Drink L.O. 21:30)
Open every day
Pricing: from about ¥4,000 / person
https://the-black-bull-club.com/
Kissa Coffee is a shop/cafe which offers a carefully curated selection of green coffee beans from around the world. You can enjoy different tastes and flavors of the same beans roasted according to your preference (approx. 30 minutes). Customers waiting for roasting will receive a complimentary cup of coffee. Coffee is of course available in the cafe.
Opening hours: 11:00-18:00
Closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays
Pricing: from ¥1,100 / 200g green beans, ¥500 a cup of coffee
BISTRO QUEUX is a small, casual French restaurant operated solely by its chef. Even if the service is not the swiftest, the taste is good and prices are reasonable. It takes about 10 minutes by car from the east side of Takasaki Station.
Opening hours: 11:30-14:00 (L.O. 13:30) / 17:30-22:00 (L.O. 21:30)
Closed on Wednesdays and every third Thursday
Due to the limited number of seats, reservation is recommended.
Pricing: from ¥1,450 Lunch Course
https://bistro-queux.jimdofree.com/
Kanaizawa-hi is one of the Three Stelae of Kozuke, registered in the Memory of the World Program by UNESCO. It is the oldest group among the ancient (7th-11th century) stone monuments, of which only 18 examples exist in Japan, and has been carefully protected.
The Kanaizawa-hi is a stone monument erected in 726 (in the first half of the Nara Period) by a powerful family, in memory of their ancestors and for the prosperity of the family. It tells of the spread of Buddhism in the ancient East, family relations, and facts about the administrative system.
It is 110 cm high, 70 cm wide, and 65 cm thick. It is made of hard andesite, a natural stone, and has 112 characters written vertically in nine lines on the flat front surface. Due to weathering, some of the characters are illegible. It is stored in the building now for preservation.
https://www.city.takasaki.gunma.jp/info/sanpi/en/04.html
