Niigata, Japan · Asia
Arai is worth a stop: 5 minutes from Myoko, 36km from Jigokudani Monkey Park.
Arai is in Niigata, Japan, with about 27,000 people. You drive on the left here. The nearest town is Myoko, about 4 km away.
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Discover famous landmarks, scenic roads, and more near Arai.
Within an hour or so of Arai: Nozawa Onsen (22 km), Shibu Onsen (35 km), Jigokudani Monkey Park (36 km), Shibu Pass (46 km).
The nearest famous roads are Shibu Pass, Mount Haruna Touge and Usui Pass.
Arai is in Niigata, Japan, about 4 km from Myoko.
Road trip
Add it as a stop and the planner works out the driving, the nights and what's worth seeing on the way.
Start planningSwipe through places to go
Places within a drive of Arai. Keep the ones you like and add them to your trip.
Essential numbers in Japan
Japan Helpline (24h English assistance): 0570-000-911. An International Driving Permit (1949 convention) is required to drive.
Full driving guide for Japan5 notable places within an hour's drive.
landmark
A steep village of thirteen free communal bathhouses maintained by residents, plus an open hot-spring cooking pool where locals blanch vegetables. The Oyu bathhouse is a wooden temple-roofed landmark at the centre.
22 km · about 25 min drive
landmark
A cobbled onsen village of wooden inns where guests in yukata and geta make a circuit of nine small public bathhouses. It is the road-end village below the snow monkey valley.
35 km · about 40 min drive
natural wonder
A unique hot spring area where wild Japanese macaques famously bathe in steaming thermal pools surrounded by snow.
36 km · about 40 min drive
mountain pass
At 2,172 m this is the highest point on any Japanese national highway, on Route 292 between Nagano and Gunma. In spring the road is cut through snow walls several metres high.
46 km · about 55 min drive
photogenic
The steaming timber sluice at the centre of Kusatsu, where 4,000 litres a minute of highly acidic spring water is cooled across wooden channels before reaching the baths. Floodlit and clouded in steam after dark.
53 km · about 60 min drive
3 named roads, passes and coastal drives within 100km.
Other places to explore near Arai.
Your trip starts here
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