Explore Gunma by Steam Train
Gunma-Haramachi
©By Bakkai at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39829559
Explore the countryside west of Tokyo by vintage steam train! Read more about all the things you can do by Japan train here.
Steam Train exploration
Gunma Prefecture, to the west of Tokyo, has a very special train running these days. If you take the Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Takasaki Station (just under an hour’s ride), a special steam train is waiting to take you back in time to the quaint Japanese countryside.
There are two different routes with this train: You can go from Takasaki to Minakami Station, or ride the Shinetsu line to Yokogawa Station.
This train mainly runs on weekends and holidays.
The steam train stops at Shibugawa station, where you can access the famous Ikaho Onsen hot springs.
Wear a yukata and stroll between the hot springs for a trip back in time in this village with a relaxing feel of the Edo Era.
Ikaho
©lin73833000, pixabay
Even the cuisine will transport you back into another era! The local cuisine in this area dates back to 600 CE, as described in the Manyoshu poetry from this time.
Another place to visit is “Oni Oshidashi Park”, which roughly translates to devil’s push: these rock formations, caused by a volcanic eruption centuries ago, were said to look like an angry demon had squeezed the rocks to the surface.
Oni-oshidashi
©By Ans -Own work,CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=107173890
