Maebashi

Maebashi (前橋) is the capital city of Gunma prefecture in Japan's Kanto region.

Tourist information site
The city has a Japanese-only guide site with limited English support.

By plane
From Narita Airport, Maebashi is served by Azalea Limousine Buses operated by Chiba Kotsu (3 1/2 hours to/from Maebashi Station, ¥4500). By train, the easiest (and most expensive) way to reach Maebashi is to take the Narita Express to Tokyo Station, the Joetsu Shinkansen to Takasaki, and the Ryomo Line to Maebashi (Approx. 2 1/2 hours, ¥7800, no charge with the Japan Rail Pass or JR East Pass). Reservations for the Narita Express and Shinkansen can all be made from Narita Airport.

From Haneda Airport, Limousine buses operate to/from Maebashi Station (3 1/2 hours, ¥3500). Going by train is much faster, but more expensive and requires more transfers: The Keikyu Line to Shinagawa, the Yamanote Line to Tokyo, the Shinkansen to Takasaki and the Ryomo Line to Maebashi (Approx. 2 hours, ¥5200; cheaper with unreserved shinkansen seat). You can purchase tickets for the JR portion of the journey upon reaching Shinagawa.

By train
Maebashi is located on the JR Ryomo Line, between Takasaki and Isesaki.

From Tokyo, the fastest way to reach Maebashi is to take a Joetsu Shinkansen train to Takasaki and change to the Ryomo Line (75-90 minutes, ¥4800; no charge with the Japan Rail Pass).

Local trains from Tokyo depart from Ueno station. With a transfer at Takasaki, Maebashi can be reached in 2 1/2 hours (¥1890 from Tokyo Station). Some trains continue to Maebashi station.

By bus
Long-distance buses to/from Maebashi stop outside of the Maebashi train station's south exit, as well as the Maebashi Bus Terminal some 15-20 minutes further away.

Nippon Chuo Bus operates several daytime bus services from the Tokyo area to Maebashi. All buses stop at the Hilton Tokyo in Shinjuku, with some buses also stopping in Ikebukuro and Akihabara (3 hours to/from Shinjuku, ¥1500).

Other long-distance buses include the Tokai Liner daytime runs from Shizuoka and Nagoya, Sendai Liner overnight runs from Sendai, and Silk Liner overnight runs from Nara, Kyoto and Osaka. All of these buses are operated by Nippon Chuo Bus.

Eat
Yakimanjyu has been popular since the Edo period, with the cradle being in Maebashi city. Yakimanjyu is a fried manjyu, which is a ball made of flour. It is served on a bamboo skewer with soybean paste and sugar sauce. In Gunma, people have a yakimanjyu festival each summer and New Years. The shop's name is “Saiwaisenbei”(幸煎餅), located in the middle of Chiyoda-cho. It has seven flavors: curry, cheese, beefsteak plant, wasabi, shrimp, laver, and salt. These days, a new flavor is cocoa.
 * The Seven Gods of Good Fortune rice cracker (七福神あられ, Shichifukujin-arare) is a famous rice cracker in Maebashi.

Go next

 * Takasaki
 * Shibukawa
 * Kusatsu
 * Tomioka
 * Isesaki
 * Kiryu
 * Kumagaya
 * Gyoda
 * Ashikaga