Nikko City

Stone Buddhas remain 500 m by a gorge.

Kanmangafuchi, Bake-jizo

Photo by Miyuki Meinaka (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Bridge

Parts made in a factory,joined on site with bolts alone.

Furukawa Bridge in Ashio is a steel single-truss girder bridge 48.6 m long and 5.2 m wide, spanning the Watarase River. Its truss is by the German firm Harkort, and parts made in a factory were assembled on site by bolting alone. It was completed in December 1890, and the prefecture describes it as the oldest surviving example of a Harkort bridge of this kind still in its original place.

Completed December 1890
48.6 m long, 5.2 m wide
Important Cultural Property, 2014

02 ／ Genpuku

With someone chosen from distant kin,a young man forms a parent-like bond.

This coming-of-age rite has long been handed down in the Kawamata district, and has been held in late January. When a boy reaches 20 (formerly 15), he chooses a suitable person from among his now-distant relatives and forms a parent-like bond with him. This oyabun-kobun relationship lasts for life, and the villagers accept him as a full adult.

Age 20 (formerly 15)
Oyabun-kobun bond for life
Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, 1987

03 ／ Insectivorous plant

A plant on a sheer rock wallturns its fruit toward the rock as it ripens.

Koshinso is an insectivorous plant that Dr. Miyoshi Manabu found on Mount Koshin on 9 August 1890, and it was named after the mountain. A perennial only 5 to 6 cm tall, it grows on sheer rock walls; as its fruit ripens it turns toward the rock, so that its seeds seem to scatter into cracks above.

Found in 1890
5 to 6 cm tall
Special Natural Monument, 1952

Living here

99 minutes from Asakusa, by limited express to Shimo-Imaichi.

about 80,000 people
2 hours to a city centre

The city covers 1,449.83 km², about a quarter of the prefecture by the city's own account. Its gateway is Shimo-Imaichi Station on the Tobu Nikko and Kinugawa lines: 99 minutes to Asakusa, 87 to Kita-Senju and 106 from JR Shinjuku. Tobu limited express trains run to each of them without a change.

People living here: 77,661people
Area: 1,449.83km²
Households: 32,308households
Rent (average for rentals): 34,259yen
Healthcare: 8 hospitals ／ 54 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).2006-03-20 に新設合併（今市市・日光市・藤原町・足尾町・栗山村）。2010年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —16 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Nikko City in Japan36.720°N 139.698°E

to AsakusaTobu Nikko Line ltd. exp.99min
to ShinjukuJR and Tobu Nikko Line ltd. exp.106min
to Kita-SenjuTobu Nikko Line ltd. exp.87min

Travel times follow 東武鉄道公式の特急列車時刻表（2026.3.14改正。下り・浅草/JR新宿〜東武日光・鬼怒川温泉ほか）で、下今市駅に停まる乗り換えなしの列車の浅草・北千住・JR新宿の発と下今市の着を読んだ（運転日欄に印のない列車＝毎日運転）。JR東日本の時刻表（2610版・東武鉄道日光線下り平日／土曜・休日）で、特急スペーシア日光1号・きぬがわ3号が『全日』で、下今市着が11:22・12:17であることを確かめた（東武の時刻表の値と一致） (checked 2026-10-08). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 9 municipalities across 2 prefectures.

Territory of Nikko City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)Lakes: National Land Numerical Information (Lake Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari. Prepared with the approval of the Director-General of the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan, using its Digital Map 25000 (Spatial Data Framework) and Digital Map 25000 (Place Names and Public Facilities). (承認番号平27情使、第585号)

North to south

54.5km

Tochigi Prefecture: 鹿沼市, 塩谷町, 那須塩原市, 宇都宮市
Gunma Prefecture: 片品村, 沼田市, みどり市
Fukushima Prefecture: 南会津町, 檜枝岐村

Nikko City isthis kind of town.

01On the south bank of Kanmangafuchi, a gorge made by lava from Mount Nantai, a group of stone Buddhas remains along 500 m, and according to the Nikko City Tourism Association the Jizo are said to differ in number each time they are counted, hence the name Bake-jizo
02Furukawa Bridge in Ashio, an Important Cultural Property, was assembled with bolts alone; in Kawamata a genpuku rite forming oyabun-kobun bonds has been held; and Koshinso grows on the rock walls of Mount Koshin
03Nikko's two shrines and one temple were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1999, and Tobu limited express trains reach the city's gateway, Shimo-Imaichi, from Asakusa without a change

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Nikko City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗