Initial D Manhole Cover 5, Ikaho Stone Steps

Initial D Manhole Cover 5 is set in Ishidan-shita Square, the plaza at the foot of the Ikaho stone steps also known as Dandan Hiroba, in Ikaho Onsen, Shibukawa, Gunma. It is one of seven official Initial D manhole covers Shibukawa City has placed around town, and one of five in Ikaho Onsen.

Ai Yokoyama, animation director of the New Initial D film series, drew all seven covers in full colour. Cover 5 shows Takumi Fujiwara and Natsuki Mogi walking up the stone steps, drawn from their date in Ikaho, at the bottom of the same steps.

The square is where the 365 stone steps begin, with large IKAHO letters, a bus stop and the climb to Ikaho Shrine at the top. Ikaho Onsen is on the slopes of Mount Haruna, the mountain the series calls Akina.

• The cover shows Takumi and Natsuki walking up the stone steps, so the picture and the real steps behind it line up.

• The square turns up in the manga as a place Takumi visits with his friends.

• The Akina downhill in the manga finishes near the Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park, a short walk from the square.

• Best way to experience it: cover 5 is at the bottom of the steps and cover 4 is at the top below Ikaho Shrine, so one climb covers both, with cover 6 in Alwin Park north car park just off the square.

• The cover is in Ishidan-shita Square (Dandan Hiroba) at the foot of the Ikaho stone steps, Ikaho, Ikaho-machi.

• The Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park (P1) is a staffed municipal car park with 70 spaces, ¥300 for the first 2 hours and ¥100 for each hour after, open 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM from April to November and 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM from December to March. It is under 5 minutes' walk from the square. The roadside on Prefectural Route 33 near it is narrow, so there is little room to walk beside traffic.

• Buses run from JR Shibukawa Station up to Ikaho Onsen, and covers 2 to 6 are all in and around the town. Ishidangai-guchi, the stop at the bottom of the steps, is beside the square.

• The free Initial D manhole card is not handed out here. It is given out one per person at Shibusan in Shibukawa Ekimae Plaza, in front of JR Shibukawa Station, 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM every day except New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Last verified: 3 November 2026

Official link: https://initiald-shibukawa.com/eg/manhole.html