The Ikaho Ropeway (伊香保ロープウェイ, Ikaho Rōpuwei) is Japanese aerial lift line in Shibukawa, Gunma. The ropeway connects the onsen group of the Shibukawa Ikahomachi district to the summit of Mount Monokiki and park facilities of Mount Kaminoyama.
The Ikaho Ropeway is owned and operated by City of Shibukawa. The ropeway operates between 8:40 am and 5:15 pm, and runs every day of the year, with the exception of days for maintenance and inspection.
System: Aerial tramway, 3 cables
Cable length: 499 m (1,637 ft)
Vertical interval: 182 m (597 ft)
Passenger capacity per cabin: officially listed as 21 passengers, frequently listed as 20 passengers
Stations: 2
Frequency: Every ten minutes (8:40 am - 10 am), every 15 minutes (10 am - 5:15 pm)
Final ascent: 5 pm, final descent: 5:15 pm
Time required for single ride: 4 minutes
Address (base station): 588-2 Ikahochō, Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture 〒377-0102
Telephone: 0279-72-2418 (base station), 0279-72-4656 (summit station)
Hototogisu Station (不如帰駅, Hototogisu-eki). Base station. The first floor of the station serves a tourism information center, and the ropeway begins on the fourth floor. A visitor center, Michi no Eki Furusato Kōtsūkan, is adjacent to Hototogisu Station and sells vegetables and locally made soba buckwheat noodles, a noted product of the Shibukawa area. The station is named after the lesser cuckoo, which appears frequently in classical Japanese poems, prose, and visual works, notably the Pillow Book (1102 AD) of Sei Shonagon.
Miharashi Station (見晴駅, Miharashi-eki). Summit station. Miharashi Station is at the summit of Mount Monokiki, (900 meters (3,000 ft)), 182 m (597 ft) above sea level. The station allows access to skating center, Mount Kaminoyama, Mount Kaminoyama Park. The Mihara Observation Deck (見晴展望台, Mihara Tenbō-dai) at Kaminoyama Park provides broad views of nearby mountains and the Kantō Plain.
