Mount Haruna (榛名山)

Mount Haruna is a volcano in Gunma with Lake Haruna in the caldera at its summit, and the road up its eastern side from Ikaho Onsen is the Akina of Initial D. Shuichi Shigeno renamed it Akina for the manga, the only mountain in the series to get a new name. The road is Gunma Prefectural Route 33, the Shibukawa Matsuida Line, and JAF Mate puts the section from Ikaho Onsen toward the summit at about 15 km of hairpins through forest.

In Initial D this is home to the Akina SpeedStars and to Bunta and Takumi Fujiwara, whose tofu deliveries go over the pass. Takumi's first battle, for the SpeedStars against Keisuke Takahashi of the Akagi RedSuns, is run here, and the course is known for its five consecutive hairpins. Akina is in every Initial D Arcade Stage from the first one, and Lake Akina, the loop around the lake at the top, has been its own arcade course since Arcade Stage 4.

Haruna is one of Gunma's Three Mountains of Jomo, with Akagi and Myogi. Shibukawa City runs an Initial D tourism programme with seven official manhole covers, and the Anime Tourism Association has named Gunma the sacred site of Initial D in its list of 88 anime spots.

• The series downhill starts at the old Yaseone Pass toll gate, where only a water tower is left, half hidden in the trees. Initial D manhole cover No. 7 is set into the ground here, part of a trail of official covers that carries on through Ikaho Onsen below.
• From Ikaho the road climbs through forest in a long run of hairpins. The Takane Observatory on the way up looks over Ikaho, east to Mount Akagi and north to Mount Tanigawa. The first page of volume 1 looks down on a hairpin from here, though trees now block that view.
• Near the top the forest opens into a long straight across marshland with the cone of Haruna-Fuji on the right, then the road follows the lakeshore.
• A stretch of the road toward the lake is a melody road, where grooves cut into the surface play a tune as cars roll over them.
• The downhill finish in the manga is near the Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park in Ikaho. The third bend above it is where several of Takumi's battles reach their climax in volumes 5 and 9.
• Weekends bring a lot more drivers and riders who come for the road.
• Best way to experience it: in your own car or a hire car, or on one of the guided driving tours that run on it.
• Bringing friends or family? Lake Haruna sits at 1,084 m with boat hire, a ropeway up Haruna-Fuji and the lakeside path that appears in volume 3 as Takumi's date. In winter people fish for smelt through holes in the frozen lake.
• Two Initial D stops sit at the foot of the mountain: D'z Racing Cafe Garage, an Initial D themed cafe in Shibukawa, and the Ikaho Toy Doll and Car Museum, which has a Fujiwara Tofu Shop display.

• Snow and ice are common on the mountain from December to March, when winter tyres are needed. Gunma Prefecture warns that snow can fall at altitude from October.
• Heavy rain closes parts of Route 33, including the stretch from Lake Haruna down to Haruna Shrine. Current closures are listed on the Gunma road regulation page: https://www.kendobousai-gunma.jp/kisei/RegulationList.htm
• Racing, drifting and speeding on these roads are illegal. Route 33 carries residents, hotel traffic, buses and cyclists.
• The roadside shoulders are narrow and there is no room to stop at most of the famous corners. The Tokutomi Roka Memorial Literature Museum car park sits near the downhill finish in Ikaho, and the Haruna Park Visitor Centre car park is a short way past the old toll gate by the lake. Parking within 10 m of a bus stop is banned.
• Weekday mornings are the quietest time on the road.
• Getting there: the Kan-Etsu Expressway runs to Shibukawa-Ikaho IC, then the road climbs through Ikaho Onsen. JR limited express trains from Ueno stop at Shibukawa Station, with buses to Ikaho Onsen and on up to Lake Haruna.

• Last verified: 3 November 2026
• Official link: https://initiald-shibukawa.com/eg/