The idea for the Japanese Romantic Road was developed by the famous landscape painter Kaii Higashiyama. Based on the Romantic Road in Germany, the route was officially founded by the mayors of the towns along the road in April 1982.

The name 'Japanese Romantic Road' was chosen because the route in Japan has certain similarities with the German Romantic Road. The main features of the Japanese and German Romantic Roads are the beauty of their countryside and their special atmosphere.

The Japanese Romantic Road starts in Ueda in the prefecture of Nagano, runs through the prefecture of Gunma, and ends in Utsunomiya in the prefecture of Tochigi. It is 350 kilometres long and links 27 member communities together.

A journey along the route, which links the Joshin Highlands National Park with the Nikko National Park, offers the visitor a feast of impressive natural beauty in changing landscapes with volcanoes, waterfalls, lakes and moors, to mention but a few features. Thermal spas, temples from the Edo Period and settlements with old castles are also strung along the Japanese Romantic Road.

The climate is very similar to the climate in the Frankfurt am Main region, particularly in the Asama, Shirane and Nikko-Shirane plateau regions, and the vegetation also includes pines, larches, birch trees, fir trees, ash trees, rhododendrons and araragis, etc.