Route 18 · Japan
Usui Pass
Local name: 碓氷峠
The old road over the Usui Pass climbs from Gunma to the resort town of Karuizawa in Nagano. Since the bypass opened, the old route has been left to the curious: a quiet, narrow road with 184 numbered curves through the forest.
Counts are from Turini’s pace-note engine on this route. Heights come from terrain data and can differ from signposted figures by a few tens of metres.
Where is the Usui Pass?
The Usui Pass is in Japan, on Route 18. Also known as 碓氷峠, Usui Touge, Old Route 18 or Usui-tōge. The route on this page: Sakamoto to Karuizawa on the old road over the pass, 15.1 km.
Why the Usui Pass is famous
Every curve on the old road has a numbered sign, up to 184 at the top, and the road passes the Megane-bashi, a brick railway viaduct from the early 1890s. In Initial D it is the home pass of the Impact Blue team, which is why fans come to drive it.
Usui Pass hairpins
Over 15.1 km Turini calls 28 hairpins and 119 corners graded 1 to 6, plus 2 dips. That is 151 calls in all, one every 100 metres on average. Grade 1 is the tightest, 6 is nearly straight (how to read pace notes). On Turini’s ranking of the twistiest famous roads it comes 8th of 61.
Usui Pass elevation profile
From 393 m at the start to 941 m at the finish, with a highest point of about 960 m. Red marks are the hairpins.
Usui Pass pace notes, first few km
The first 25 calls, exactly as Turini reads them, with the distance from the start.
Right 1 longRight 4 longLeft 3Right 6Right 2 longLeft 2Left 2 very longRight 2 very longLeft 2Right 3Left 1Right 1 long opensLeft 1 longRight 3 tightensLeft 2Right 2Left 2Right 2Left 3Right 2Left 2 tightensRight 4Left 4BridgeRight 1That takes you to 4.03 km. 126 more calls follow over the remaining 11.0 km.
Before you drive the Usui Pass
Open all year, but snow and ice are common near the top in winter.
The old road is narrow and often in the shade, with leaves and gravel in the corners, so take it gently. Most traffic uses the Usui Bypass, so the old road is quiet; watch for cyclists and for visitors parked at the Megane-bashi.
How to drive the Usui Pass with Turini
Set the route before you leave and Turini saves its notes on the phone, so it works with the screen off and no signal. On the road it reads each call about 4.5 seconds before the corner, timed to your speed, and you never touch the phone. It plays through the phone or the car speakers. If pace notes are new to you, start in Simple mode (Easy, Medium, Hard) and switch to the 1–6 scale once it feels natural.
Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.
The Usui Pass: questions
Is the Usui Pass open all year?
Open all year, but snow and ice are common near the top in winter.
Where is the Usui Pass?
The Usui Pass is in Japan, on Route 18. Also known as 碓氷峠, Usui Touge, Old Route 18 or Usui-tōge. The route on this page: Sakamoto to Karuizawa on the old road over the pass, 15.1 km.
How long is the Usui Pass?
The route on this page, Sakamoto to Karuizawa on the old road over the pass, is 15.1 km (9.4 miles) long, with about 560 m (1,840 ft) of climbing.
How many hairpins does the Usui Pass have?
On this route Turini calls 28 hairpins and 119 corners graded 1 to 6: 151 pace-note calls in all, about 9.8 corners a kilometre. Signposted counts can differ, since Turini only calls a hairpin where the road really doubles back.
How high does the Usui Pass go?
The highest point on this route is about 960 m (3,150 ft), from terrain data, so it can differ from the signposted height by a few tens of metres. It starts at 393 m and finishes at 941 m.
More roads like the Usui Pass
Touge roads in Japan · The twistiest famous roads, ranked · All famous roads · How to read pace notes · How to find twisty roads near you
Sources: Wikipedia: Usui Pass, Wikipedia (ja): 碓氷峠.
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