Gunma N · IkahoNo.436★★Open in map →
Mizusawa Udon
— A noodle street at the Mizusawa Kannon gate
A row of udon houses stands at the gate of Mizusawa Kannon, a temple on the hillside above Ikaho Onsen. The noodles are counted among Japan's three great udon, and the street exists because pilgrims and hot-spring guests had to be fed.
Mizusawa Udon takes its name from the spring water of Mizusawa, in the Ikaho district of Shibukawa. Local wheat, that water and salt are the only ingredients. The finished noodle is thick, firm to the bite, and faintly translucent when held to the light. Shibukawa City and the prefecture's official travel guide both place it beside Sanuki udon of Kagawa and Inaniwa udon of Akita as one of Japan's three great udon. The shops stand along the road at the gate of Mizusawa Kannon rather than in a town centre, so eating here means arriving at a temple first. Most serve the noodles cold on a bamboo tray with a dipping sauce.
Why it stays quiet
This is a well-documented regional food, not a hidden one. What is easy to miss is that the shops sit at a temple gate rather than in a town, so the visit works best in one order: grounds first, lunch second.
Background & history
Temple tradition dates the founding of Mizusawa Kannon to the Asuka period and credits a monk from the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo with bringing both the temple and the making of udon. Shibukawa City and the Ikaho tourism association both date the serving of udon at the gate to around 1576, when the stone-stair town of Ikaho Onsen was taking shape and visitors needed a meal. The temple is the sixteenth station on the Bando circuit of thirty-three Kannon halls, which kept a steady flow of walkers arriving at the gate.
What to look for — in walking order
- Nio gate
- the guardian gate below the stairs, the entrance to the Mizusawa Kannon grounds
- Kannon hall
- the main hall of the temple, rebuilt in the late Edo period
- Hexagonal hall
- a two-storey six-sided pagoda in the precinct, a rare shape in Japanese temple building
- Mizusawa Udon Kaido
- the road at the gate, where about thirteen shops of the udon trademark association stand in a line
How to enjoy it
Take the temple first and eat afterwards. The grounds open from 9:00 on weekdays and from 8:00 at weekends and holidays, while the udon houses fill around midday, so arriving before 11:30 puts you ahead of the lunch run. Cold zaru udon shows the texture best, and a hot bowl suits the wind that comes down off the hills in winter.
How to actually get there
- Tokyo Station → Takasaki Station (Joetsu or Hokuriku Shinkansen, about 50 minutes).
- Takasaki Station west exit → Mizusawa Kannon (Gunma Bus bound for Ikaho Onsen).
- Mizusawa Kannon stop → Nio gate and the temple grounds (a minute or two on foot).
- Temple grounds → the udon houses on the road at the gate.
- Gunma Bus toward Ikaho Onsen, from Takasaki Station
- From the west exit of Takasaki Station, take the Gunma Bus service bound for Ikaho Onsen and get off at Mizusawa Kannon. The same line runs on to the Ikaho Onsen terminus, which it reaches in about an hour and a half, so the temple stop comes earlier than that. Takasaki is a Shinkansen stop, so this connects straight off a bullet train.
- Return from Mizusawa Kannon
- Board on the opposite side of the road for Takasaki Station. The alternative is to ride on to Ikaho Onsen and come back through Shibukawa Station on the JR Joetsu Line. Services thin out in the evening, so read the posted timetable at the stop before you sit down to eat.
Before you go
- Cash
- The udon houses are separate businesses and bill separately, so carry cash as well as a card. Check the current bus fare on the operator's site before setting out, and the temple posts its opening hours at the gate.
- Closing days
- The temple's own notice says the Shakado hall is closed to visitors for the time being. The grounds shut in the late afternoon, at 16:00 on weekdays and 17:00 at weekends and holidays. The site is on a slope above Ikaho, so winter mornings are cold and the approach can be icy.
- Another way
- From Shibukawa Station on the JR Joetsu Line, Gunma Bus also runs toward Ikaho by way of Mizusawa. Shibukawa is about 25 minutes from Takasaki on a local train.
- After you get off
- The Mizusawa Kannon stop is at the temple approach itself. The gate is a minute or two on foot, and the udon houses line the same road.