A flexible combination of activities that lets you enjoy a trip of your very own, without being swayed by trends. Let the time pass by as you relax on a Minakami trip!

Dive into the princess experience at this old castle—a beloved setting for movies and anime

Originally built in Scotland in 1829, the building was dismantled and reconstructed in Gunma Prefecture’s Takayama Village in 1993. It’s thought to be the only historic European castle to have been moved to Japan and restored in this manner. The castle is now located at the heart of a 100,000 square-meter site that reproduces the streets of medieval Europe, filled with attractions such as gardens and a church.

Lock Heart Castle appears in TV dramas and movies, and offers a variety of experiences to enjoy. For this visit, why not try on an elegant dress and experience what it’s like to be a princess for yourself? Choose your favorite from more than 500 dresses, add a wig or tiara, and you too can be a princess for a day!

Visit the different sites on the castle grounds and take pictures to remember the experience by. Look through the heart-shaped artwork, and you can see Lock Hart Castle on the other side.

The grand marble staircase is the most popular photo spot. I feel just like Cinderella holding up the train of my dress!

Make a one-of-a-kind natural stone bracelet!

Drop by the stone shop on the castle grounds and try your hand at making your very own natural stone bracelet. The box contains more than a hundred different kinds of sparkling stones and bracelet parts.

The stone charms each have their own meanings and effects—just ask the staff to find out more. Match them with other parts, and when you’ve settled on how you want to arrange your bracelet, slip them through the rubber loop one by one.

You've successfully crafted a bracelet with a transparent feel. The stones range in price from 50 to 1000 yen per piece, and the experience fee varies depending on the combination. The process is straightforward, making it enjoyable even for young children.

How’s my fortune looking? Rune fortune-telling at the Lovers’ Sanctuary

Rossa Maria, the “hill of wind and light,” is a spiritual hot spot at Lock Heart Castle. Angel Fortunes are a popular attraction at the fortune-telling square. Close your eyes, take one of the rune stones, and open the heart-shaped paper to which it guides you to learn your fortune.

William’s Garden is a British garden with a focus on the history of labyrinth gardens and the natural beauty of its flowers and trees. It's full of photogenic spots.

The romantic historic castle is selected as the Lovers’ Sanctuary in Japan by the Lover’s Sanctuary project. There are a lot of heart-shaped messages left by couples visiting the castle grounds! To date, roughly 3,000 happy couples have been wed at the castle.

And there are many more places to visit on the grounds, including a museum of the world’s Santas, a teddy bear museum, restaurants full of exotic atmosphere, and shops selling goods directly imported from foreign countries. Spend the day immersed in European-style atmosphere with a twist.

Experience the traditions of old Japan at workshops in the mountains

Here, you’ll find more than 20 different workshops scattered over a vast area the size of 70 Tokyo Domes and experience traditional crafts including woodworking, bamboo-working, and Japanese paper. At the Hourakukan hands-on experience center that serves as Takumi no Sato’s entrance, you can learn about the food culture of Gunma by making soba noodles, konnyaku, and more.

Minakami is one of the most famous soba (buckwheat) production areas in Gunma Prefecture. There are soba fields spread all around the area of Takumi no Sato, and local buckwheat flour is used in the soba-noodle-making experience. Learn the basics from kneading and stretching to cutting under the careful guidance of an instructor.

During the hands-on experience, you’ll make “nihachi soba,” which are made from a blend of 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour. Add water to the fine buckwheat flour and wheat flour, then mix. Once the dough comes together, keep kneading it until it has a firm texture similar to that of an earlobe.

Transfer the dumpling-like dough to a soba-making surface, then push down on it with your palm and press it into a disk shape.

Can you cut it the same width? Taking on the biggest challenge: cutting the soba!

Using a rolling pin, stretch the dough evenly until it is about 2 millimeters thick.

Dust it with flour, fold the dough, then press and cut the soba. Slice straight through with a knife using the guide board, then shift and make the next cut. The ideal thickness is about 2 millimeters.

That was tense, but we managed to cut the soba!

Once the craftsman boils the soba, it’s done! There’s some variety in how thick the noodles are, but it’s a pretty good job for a first-timer. Soba noodles have a wonderful aroma, and they go down great! It’s also nice to have them with homemade konnyaku.

Aside from the handmade crafts experiences, there are also various other facilities at Takumi no Sato, such as orchards where you can experience harvesting, and old houses where you can experience what it’s like to live in the countryside. See the seasonal plants and flowers, visit temples and shrines, and look back on how people lived in the past. It’s almost like a theme park of the traditional Japanese countryside!

Fruity fun every day of the year!

Minakami Fruits Land Mogitore grows a variety of fruits on a large site of about 65,000 square meters where you can enjoy the fruit harvest experience in any season. There are eight varieties of fruit, including strawberries in winter and spring, blueberries in early summer, and plums and grapes in midsummer. We visited in September, when the large grapes were ready to pick.

During the Large Grape Hunt, there were lots of different varieties of grapes like Aki Queen and Pione. Apparently, the grapes grow to be sweet and large because of Minakami’s water and the varying temperatures of its climate.

The basic fruit picking session is the 30-minutes all-you-can-eat course. The fruits you can pick will vary depending on the season, so check to see what’s available before you go!

Wait just a moment before you eat them! Why not take a photo of those juicy grapes before they’re gone forever?

At the plaza, you’ll find the World Apple Walkway, which has 150 different kinds of apple tree.

Sparkling fruity cakes, totally packed with fruit

Homemade farm treats are part of the fun here. At the restaurant, a cake, drink, and mini-gelato set goes for 1,000 yen. Choose from a cake or a parfait, both packed with fruit.

A seasonal fruit parfait. It’s made with fresh, seasonal fruits, so the ingredients vary depending on the day. This photo shows Shine Muscat grapes.

Mogitore offers a colorful variety of meal plans, including a Cake Set and a BBQ Set, in which you can enjoy a meal at the restaurant or a stay at the cafe after the fruit-picking experience. Pick your favorites in a fresh-fruit paradise, eat your fill, and enjoy fruit heaven.

Live the slow life at a hotel where you can relax with the great outdoors

Hotel Familio Minakami is a place where you can enjoy nature in Minakami, surrounded by the peaceful countryside and mountain scenery throughout the four seasons. It’s a stone’s throw from Takumi no Sato, with handmade crafts and fruit-picking experiences nearby. The hotel also has great access to mountain-stream rafting and ski resorts! There's no shortage of activities to get involved with.

The twin room is a spacious Western-style room of 30 square meters. Including the sofa bed, there’s room for up to 3 people to stay. The hotel also offers family rooms combining Japanese and Western decor that can accommodate up to 6 people, and a “pet room” (pictured) where you can stay with your pet.

Hearty helpings of vegetables harvested from the nearby fields and the mountains

Dinner is served at Kuromatsu, a Japanese-cuisine restaurant in the hotel, where you can enjoy kaiseki-style cuisine made from local Minakami ingredients. The Takumi no Sato special kaiseki set offers sashimi, tempura, hot pot and many other dishes for a bargain price.

The restaurant also incorporates konnyaku from Gunma and vegetables harvested from their own vegetable garden, and all of them are gently seasoned for a relaxing meal. For those of you with a hankering with Gunma-brand meat, we recommend the Akagi Kaiseki Joshu Barley Pork Course and Joshu Beef Course.

After your meal, refresh yourself at the large hot-spring bath. The washing area has a relaxed atmosphere, and the large bath is a bright and open space. The bath is served with water from Okudaira Onsen, an alkaline simple spring known for beautifying effects on the skin.

You can also rent bicycles at the front desk of the hotel. Why not leave your luggage behind and go to explore Takumi no Sato or other places in the area?

Seasonal vegetable harvesting experiences are popular, too

The Familio Farm stands outside the hotel. There, they grow a variety of vegetables, such as corn and tomatoes in summer, and daikon radishes in fall and winter.

These daikon are looking great. The harvesting experience is available to hotel guests, and kids just love getting involved. And it’s free to take part, of course! You can even take home the vegetables you harvest as souvenirs (corn and tomato available in summer, daikon in mid-October to November).

Breakfast includes classic Japanese small dishes such as hot tofu, omelets, and natto, as well as seasonal flavors of the Japanese countryside such as mushrooms and wild vegetables. Start the day with rice and bowl of hot miso soup.

Outside the restaurant, you’ll see green trees and an invigorating morning view!

There is also a shop in the building that sells specialties from Minakami and the wider Gunma Prefecture. The blueberry jam is made from at the blueberry garden in Takumi no Sato, and it’s not too sweet—perfect for pancakes and ice cream.

A walk through nature and literature by the water

Suwakyo Gorge was created by the flow of the clear waters of the Tone River, which flows through the Minakami hot spring village. Take a stroll down this promenade alongside the river’s course, and enjoy the natural sights of the seasons, such as fresh spring greenery and autumnal leaves in fall.

There’s also a “literature walk” on the promenade. Many figures of Japanese literature, including Bokusui Wakayama, Akiko Yosano, and Osamu Dazai, visited Minakami and composed poetry. This monument is inscribed with one such poem, composed by Akiko Yosano.

Sasabue Bridge is a 32-meter-long suspension bridge over a 20-meter-high rock wall. It's a great place to see Mt. Tanigawa.

We visited the Akiko Yosano Memorial Park at the foot of Sasabue Bridge. There, you’ll find 11 monuments inscribed with poems composed by Akiko Yosano and Tekkan Yosano when they visited the area. It takes about 50 minutes to walk around the path. There are also monuments inscribed with poems by Bokusui Wakayama, Isamu Yoshii, and Kazuo Hara, so you could try to see them all!

Fall is a must-visit season, with colorful leaves along the gorge.

It even has the only aquarium in the prefecture! A Roadside Station that’s filled with the charms of Minakami

Japan’s Roadside Stations are great places to stop off on the road. At the Minakami Mizukikokan Roadside Station, you’ll find a restaurant and a farmer’s market, and even Gunma Prefecture’s only aquarium, foot baths, a climbing wall, and other fun experiences!

The Fisheries Study Museum breeds freshwater life that lives in the Tone River, such as char and yamame. Freshwater fish swim through the tunnel tank overhead, making you feel like you’re underwater. There are also small fish tanks with minnows and bitterlings, and a doctor fish corner too.

The footbath is open from April to November only. Soothe your feet in a hollowed-out log bath filled with hot-spring water, and gaze at the view of the Tone River. Do remember to bring a towel, though!

At Baiten Manten Yokocho, you’ll find shops selling fresh produce, local crafts, sweets, and other local specialties.

Lots of juicy vegetables! We recommend trying the cucumbers and tomatoes with the Minakami dressing.

The popular sweet potato paste buns sell in 9-piece sets for 800 yen. Their sweet, warm flavor comes from a syrupy paste that’s made from Anno Imo sweet potatoes produced in Kawaba. They taste just like daigaku imo—or glazed sweet potatoes, a classic Japanese treat!

Dam Curry, with a spectacular reproduction of an arched dam

This is the Dam Curry (1,200 yen), which you can try at the snack corner. Made in the image of the town’s Yagisawa Dam, it features an arch made of rice, while the curry has carrots cut into the shape of autumn leaves and konnyaku shaped like fish. Salad and dessert are included.

If you’re feeling adventurous, try the slow-simmered motsu-ni stew (500 yen), with motsu (innards), konnyaku, and vegetables that melt in the mouth. For hearty eaters, we recommend the motsu-ni set meal (900 yen), which adds rice, miso soup, and simmered dishes.

There’s also okkirikomi to try—a traditional Gunma noodle dish. It’s a gourmet meal that’s just packed with ingredients from Minakami!

Stone oven Naples-style pizza with the flavors of Minakami

La Biere is proud of its authentic Neapolitan pizza, which is cooked in a special stone oven. Shown in the photo is their Margherita (1463 yen), a simple pizza of tomato sauce, basil and mozzarella cheese that relies on the stand-out quality of its ingredients.

La Biere’s dough is made from flour, salt, fresh yeast, and the cool waters of Minakami. After letting the dough rise twice, they bake it at 450 degrees for about one minute, making the base soft and the edges crispy.

The star of this pizza is quality maitake mushrooms from Minakami!

The La Biere (1683 yen), the restaurant’s namesake, is a mushroom pizza made with a Minakami brand of maitake mushroom called Sukuyoka. The Adults’ La Biere pizza is also popular, made with peperoncino chili oil and garlic.

Each pizza is served piping hot and fresh from the oven. Share them with your friends and try them all!

The restaurant is located in a standalone building in the hot spring district. Designed by craftsmen local to Minakami, it’s a warm, wooden space that’s perfect for enjoying a meal. There are also terrace seats for diners with pets.

Mr. Yamada, the owner and chef, greeted us with a gentle smile. By focusing on local ingredients in his pizza, he hopes to keep Minakami lively. We also recommend trying the pudding and homemade cakes from Almond Poodle, La Biere’s sister store.

A local treat with a whole new texture, neither pudding nor shake

Otoro Milk is a new kind of sweet that’s made from milk and collagen. The milk is produced in Gunma, and pasteurized to make it mild and flavorful. Each Otoro Milk sweet is handmade in a small workshop in Minakami.This photo shows the Organic Chocolate Crush (800 yen) on the left and Engi Anko (700 yen) on the right.

You’ll know the place by the handwritten sign outside. Fans who heard the rumors visit every day, and sometimes, the most popular products sell out in the morning!

We lined up and managed to pick up the Engi Anko (700), a Japanese-style sweet that’s made with sweet bean jam and wafer cakes from Fukasawa Seianjo in Tomioka. The Chocolate Crush is topped with coconut and couverture chocolate that’s rich in organic cocoa.

We also spotted this cat nearby, who apparently is a regular. Otoro Milk... Meow we’re talking!

With a shelf life of 9 minutes, seize the moment to enjoy its creamy texture!

Otoro Milk is slightly frozen, and like a shake or a smoothie, you eat it using a thick straw or a spoon. You’ve got 9 minutes before it melts and loses its texture! (Though the exact number depends on the season.)

There are also season-exclusive options with seasonal fruits, such as blueberries, Shine Muscat grapes, and strawberries. Hopefully, next time we visit we’ll get to try out some more of those toppings!