On the platform at Shinjuku Station, the next train happened to be bound for Takasaki.
It was boarded on a whim.
That was how the start of Silver Week unfolded — no plan, no destination decided in advance.
A pilgrimage needs no reason. Leaving things undecided is, in itself, part of the practice.
Stepping out of Takasaki Station’s east exit, an advertisement for Softball City Takasaki comes into view.
A glimpse of local sports culture, greeting visitors within moments of arrival.
The Yamada Denki headquarters building rises just beyond the station.
This is what a true landmark looks like.
Past the crowds near the station, a glass-fronted building appears.
The Takasaki Geigekijo — a concert hall where the city’s cultural life quietly breathes.
Passing it by, the route continues toward Egi-cho.
The destination: the second floor of a two-story building.
A single-floor gym, quiet and unassuming, in the suburbs.
Store details are as follows.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Address | 2F, 30-1 Egi-cho, Takasaki, Gunma |
| Nearest Station | Takasaki Station (JR Takasaki Line), 19 minutes on foot |
| Hours | Open 24 hours, every day |
| Monthly Fee | ¥7,480 (tax included; ¥6,800 before tax) |
| Phone | 0273-95-5066 |
| Equipment Brand | Life Fitness / TORQUE |
Equipment
- Free water server
- Private changing room (simple shower available, no private shower)
- Wi-Fi
- Bicycle and car parking (roadside and rear of building)
- AED
- Contracted lockers (availability confirmed)
- Free membership for high school students (available)
- 4 Smith machines / power racks (one with a deadlift platform)
- 2 adjustable benches
Access
19 minutes on foot from Takasaki Station. That is, frankly, a considerable distance. This gym seems built for those arriving by car. Anyone walking here is likely the exception, not the rule.
Atmosphere and Facilities
Lockers and showers sit to the left of the entrance. The powder space beyond them is unusually spacious.
A free water server stands nearby, exactly where one would expect it.
The training floor is more spacious than expected.
The layout bears some resemblance to Anytime Fitness Branch Chigasaki.
The selectorized machines cover a full range, spaced generously enough to leave room to breathe.
More space on the floor tends to mean more ease of mind.
The free-weight area is equally roomy, with plate-loaded machines focused mainly on upper-body work.
The cardio area faces the windows, open and bright.
The ANYTIME sign is visible from outside, through the glass.
How Crowded Is It?
Despite being the first day of a long holiday, the gym was quiet. There was room to train entirely at one’s own pace. This unhurried atmosphere is one of the clear advantages of a suburban location. No rush. Everyone here moves at their own speed.
Surroundings
A path leads off the main road toward the shrine approach. Old shops line the way, and the air here feels entirely different from the station. A signboard notes the Byakue Kannon statue is roughly 300 meters ahead.
Following the path leads at last to the foot of the Byakue Kannon.
Standing beneath it, the sheer scale is overwhelming.
Watching over the city, the statue reads entirely differently up close than it does from a distance.
Some things only reveal their true size once you stand right beneath them.
The walk continues on to Kannonyama Park.
Wide lawns and benches meant simply for sitting.
Here, time spent doing nothing at all feels entirely permitted.
While the afternoon stretched on at Kannonyama, the sky slowly turned toward sunset.
Watching the orange light spread beyond the trees, it became clear this day had turned into something more than a gym visit — a slow, deliberate taste of the city of Takasaki itself.
Note: this visit happened to coincide with Mantoue, a nighttime lantern event. It is not a permanent feature of Kannonyama, but a seasonal occasion — readers visiting at other times should not expect to see it.
As the sun went down, small lights began to appear along the road through Kannonyama.
Candlelight quietly guided the way into the forest.
The mood was entirely different from daytime — the same place, transformed by nothing more than light.
Looking up at the Byakue Kannon by night, rows of dedication lanterns glowed at its base — a lively, illuminated atmosphere quite unlike the calm of daytime.
One of the Mantoue displays took the shape of a heart, lit in soft pink.
Even a place of worship can hold this kind of gentleness.
Solemnity and warmth, sharing the same space without contradiction.
Looking down over Takasaki from Kannonyama at night, the city’s lights spread out for miles.
A different kind of light from the candles on the approach path — the glow of everyday life instead of the glow of prayer.
Both, somehow, sharing the same night sky.
On the way back, a shop along the approach path displayed rows of daruma dolls.
The shop owner mentioned that pink daruma are especially popular with foreign visitors, and that during a period when so-called “yami baito” (illegal gig-work scams) were widely in the news, more people began choosing black daruma for their association with warding off misfortune. When the Hanshin Tigers won the championship, daruma painted in the team’s yellow-and-black colors reportedly sold particularly well.
Takasaki daruma, it seems, remain a traditional good-luck charm — while also reflecting whatever is on people’s minds at any given moment.
Wishes, it turns out, keep changing shape in the palm of someone’s hand, no matter the era.
Overall Assessment
Anytime Fitness Takasaki-Egi sits far from the station, in a location clearly built with cars in mind. On paper, it could pass for an unremarkable suburban gym.
And yet a train boarded on a whim led, by chance, to the foot of a giant statue, and then to an evening lantern festival that had nothing to do with the workout at all.
A pilgrimage needs no reason, as noted at the start.
Meaning, it turns out, tends to arrive after the fact, not before it.
The training, the statue, the daruma dolls — on this particular day, all of it belonged to the same single road.
To walk without deciding in advance.
That, perhaps, is a pilgrimage in its own right.
Rating
| Item | Rating |
|---|---|
| Access | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Equipment | ★★★★☆ |
| How Uncrowded | ★★★★★ |
| Value for Money | ★★★☆☆ |
| Would Visit Again | ★★★★☆ |
| Overall Score | 9 |
| Pilgrimage Class Rated from a pilgrim’s perspective — if you love Anytime Fitness, this is a store worth visiting even from far away. | − |
📖 Japanese Review → エニタイムフィットネス高崎江木店レビュー
The pilgrimage continues.
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