Kiryu
Introduction
Kiryū is a city in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, set within a total area of roughly 274 square kilometres. It is organised into many households across a wide, moderately dense expanse, so expect a spread-out feel rather than a tightly packed urban core.
Before you go
Kiryū sits roughly 90 km northwest of Tokyo as the crow flies, just across the Tochigi prefectural boundary from Ashikaga. It made its name in fine silks during the Edo Era — an eastern counterpart to Kyoto in the west — and later became a textile centre of Japan's industrial revolution; today it manufactures automotive parts and pachinko machines. Its sister cities, Biella in Piemonte and Columbus, Georgia, are textile and manufacturing towns too, and Columbus Street is planted with pink and white dogwood trees and azalea bushes in honour of the American one. The Kiryū School of Textiles, founded in 1915, has grown into Gunma University's School of Science and Technology, and the international engineering students there give the city a more cosmopolitan flavour than many places its size.
Bear in mind that in 2005 Kiryū doubled in size by absorbing a largely rural region across the upper Watarase River valley — but the most scenic gorges and valleys of the upper Watarase lie in Midori, a separate jurisdiction, while the headwaters and the Ashio copper mine fall within Nikko city. Before setting out, check the local tourist association's multilingual guide site for orientation and practical details.
Getting there
Kiryū sits roughly halfway between Oyama and Takasaki on the JR Ryōmō line, with local trains taking about an hour from either end and around thirty services a day in each direction. If you're coming from Tokyo, the Tōbu Isesaki line's limited express Ryōmō runs between Asakusa and Akagi and stops at Tōbu Shin-Kiryū; it requires a seat reservation, leaves Asakusa at 40 minutes past the hour, and takes about ninety minutes. The short local Tōbu Kiryū line also calls at Shin-Kiryū on its run between Ōta and Akagi, and if you're already in Maebashi, the tiny Jōmō Dentetsu line connects Chūō Maebashi with Nishi-Kiryū.
From JR Kiryū station, the Watarase Keikoku (Valley) railway heads up through scenic mountains and gorges toward the headwaters of the Watarase River valley, crossing the Tōbu Kiryū line at Aioi; most trains run as far as Ōmama in Midori City, with fewer continuing the full distance to Ashio and Matō. By bus, Nihon Chuo Bus runs directly between Haneda airport and Kiryū twice each way daily, a trip of two to three hours depending on Tokyo traffic, and also operates the overnight Sendai Liner from JR Kiryū station's South Exit to Sendai station.
Getting around
Kiryu's transport is built around a handful of train stations — JR Kiryū, Tōbu Shin-Kiryu and Nishi Kiryū — with buses, bicycles and taxis filling in the rest. The city's public bus system is the Orihime Bus, which runs the local routes with their own schedules and fares and is the main way to reach parts of the city the rail lines do not serve. For sightseeing, the Mayu electric bus is free of charge and runs two routes: the Amusement Park – Yurinkan Route and the Silk Heritage Route. It is worth checking whether either passes near where you are staying or what you plan to see. If you want to explore at your own pace, bicycles can be rented at the Yui Office inside JR Kiryū Station, so you can pick one up as soon as you arrive by train.
Taxis are easy to flag: a red sign lit on the dashboard means the taxi is free, while a green light means it already has a passenger and will not stop. The left-side rear door opens automatically, so stand clear of it when getting in. Stations have taxi stands, and you can also call a taxi by telephone; tipping is not expected. Because Japan's laws on drinking and driving are extremely strict, "daiko service" — a taxi with two drivers — is popular: a driver is provided to drive your own car while the daiko taxi accompanies you to your destination, where your car is parked, and the driver then returns with the daiko taxi. Practically speaking, expect to combine walking around the areas near the stations with a bus or bicycle for anything further out.
Where to stay
Most of Kiryu's hotels cluster around JR Kiryu Station, so you can pick a place within a short walk of the platforms. On the South Exit side, Toyoko Inn Kiryu-eki Minamiguchi and Park Inn Kiryu are both about a minute away, and Ace Hotel sits nearby. The North Exit gives you another compact group: Toseikan and Silver Hotel are roughly three minutes on foot, Pearl Hotel about five, and Business Hotel Nishi Kiryu around eight.
Further out, Kiryu Grand Hotel is a short walk from Tobu Aioi Station and a drive from JR Kiryu Station, while Hotel City is a five-minute walk from Tobu Shin Kiryu Station. For a quieter stay, Seifuen lies in Umedacho, a drive from the station, and Nashigi Hot Springs Nashigikan is out in Kurohonecho.
Food & drink
Kiryu is a wheat town, and you will notice it first in the noodles. Udon here comes in many forms, from extremely wide, flat himokawa noodles to thinner flat noodles vaguely reminiscent of fettuccine, and it is eaten hot or cold at shops all over the city, from very cheap to gourmet-range. Furukawa, on the first floor of the Park Inn Kiryu a minute from the South Exit of JR Kiryu Station, is considered the home of the extra-wide himokawa, which some say recall the kimono obi produced in Kiryu over the years; there is a second branch in Aioicho. The other dish to seek out is sauce katsudon, a fried pork cutlet seasoned with a secret sauce and served on a bed of hot rice. Shitamiya Honten, a fifteen-minute walk from the South Exit, is generally recognised as its originator, and Fujiya Shokudo near Kiryu Commercial High School serves its own version.
Beyond the signature dishes, look for kororin shumai, steamed dumplings seasoned with a Worcestershire-like sauce and topped with nori flakes, and yakisoba fried with Worcestershire sauce, potatoes, dried seaweed and fried egg. Yaki manju, wheat cakes roasted over charcoal and basted with sweet soy sauce, are best eaten at fairs and festivals but also turn up in gift and souvenir shops. Sweet options include hanapan, soft cookie-like treats with a history of over a century in Kiryu and made in each shop's own shape and size; ice manju, red bean-filled milk icicles sold in convenience stores and supermarkets as a summer refreshment; bisuroll, a slightly sweet croissant-biscuit hybrid good with jam; and chestnut-shaped kuri manju filled with red bean paste at Fujikakeya in Nishikicho. For a change from Japanese food, the city has pasta and pizza places, a French restaurant near the South Exit, and Thai and Indian restaurants. Umeda Furusato Center, north of the Kiryu River Dam, serves handmade soba and udon in a small dining area and sells harvested-that-morning produce and local crafts. In the evening, izakaya cluster around Honcho and the station's north and south exits, among them the large chain Uotami on Honcho-dori, with seafood snacks and regional sakes, alongside local chains and smaller taverns.
What to see and do
Kiryū's old urban core is compact and easy to explore on foot, and because the city was largely spared from wartime bombing it holds one of Japan's densest concentrations of prewar urban architecture — wooden-sided warehouses, sawtooth-roofed textile mills, merchant storehouses and Meiji-era adaptations of Western buildings. Start around the stations: the 1928 Mansard-roofed Nishi Kiryu Station building retains its original early-Showa interior, and the 1919 Kiryu Club, with its early 20th-century furnishings, is a fine piece of architecture in its own right. Near the north exit of JR Kiryū Station you'll find the Kiryu Textile Memorial Hall, built for the textile workers' union in the industry's heyday and now exhibiting local textiles with a shop selling them, and the Kiryu Meijikan, a pseudo-Western building from 1878 with exhibition rooms and a tea shop featuring a gramophone and music of the era. The Yūrinkan, a set of former warehouses turned art galleries, houses the Kiryu Karakuri Ningyo theatre, whose elaborately made mechanical dolls were performed at the Tenmangu Shrine Festival from the Meiji through the Showa era. Farther out, the Textile Museum 'Yukari' occupies a former sawtooth-roofed mill and demonstrates textile production from silkworm cocoons to looms and dyes, while the hillside Okawa Museum of Art, built in stages, holds a rich collection including the largest grouping of works by Shunsuke Matsumoto and Hideo Noda in Japan. Several sights reward a short trip beyond the centre. The Hikobe Manor is a fully restored samurai residence over 400 years old, one of the oldest private homes in the Kantō region, with direct descendants of the Hikobe family still living on the property. The Kennen Kinenkan, one of the prefecture's oldest Western-style buildings, displays local antiquities, and the Aizawa Tadahiro Kinenkan commemorates the man who first found artefacts proving paleolithic settlement in Japan, with material from the Iwajuku Site on exhibit. Gunma Insect World, set in a traditional Japanese landscape, keeps a large collection of living insects and a heated observatory where butterflies fly among visitors year-round, and the Kurohone History & Folkculture Museum covers local life and the story of Kurohone's silk-yarn exporters. For a break, the Bakery Cafe Renga occupies a former sawtooth-roofed lace mill with its office, dormitory and warehouse, and Yanoen, a merchant store and warehouse, now serves as a shop and coffee house. Kiryu Tenmangu Shrine, a Prefectural Cultural Treasure, is a classic example of early modern gongen construction.Three days in Kiryu
Day one: Start in Kiryū itself, a city in Gunma Prefecture with an Edo Era textile heritage that still shapes its streets. Wander the centre to get your bearings, then follow the Watarase River, which runs through the city and links it toward Midori and Ashio. In the evening, settle in and plan the rest of your stay around the rail lines that connect Kiryū to the wider region.
Day two: Use the JR Ryōmō and Tōbu Isesaki lines to explore neighbouring towns. Head to Ashikaga in Tochigi, or continue toward Tatebayashi and Ōta along the Ryōmō line. If you prefer a slower day, stay close and learn about the Kiryū School of textiles, a local tradition tied to the city's craft history and to Gunma University's science and technology work.
Day three: Take the Tōbu Kiryū line toward Ōta and connect onward, or ride toward Asakusa if you're returning to Tokyo. Before you leave, revisit the Watarase River for a final walk and consider a side trip toward Akagi or Nikkō if time allows. The rail network makes Kiryū an easy base for exploring Gunma and the Kantō region.