A rail town of brick arches and clay-pot bento
Yokokawa, in the mountains of Gunma, is where trains once stopped to add extra locomotives before climbing the steep Usui Pass, and where kamameshi, a bento of rice cooked and served in a small clay pot, was first sold on the platform. Eat one, see the retired locomotives at a railway park next to the station, then walk the old track, now a trail through brick tunnels to a four-arch brick bridge. It is about 30 minutes by local train from Takasaki, which is under an hour from Tokyo by shinkansen.
The shop in front of Yokokawa Station where kamameshi began: rice with chicken, chestnut, quail egg and mountain vegetables, cooked in a Mashiko-ware clay pot that you can keep. Take one away, or sit down at the tables for a set meal. It is closed on Tuesdays.
A small free museum next to the shop, from the days when every train stopped here and vendors sold kamameshi to passengers through the train windows. It takes only a few minutes, and the old photos need no Japanese.
A railway park beside the station, where the heavy electric locomotives that once pushed trains up the pass stand with other retired trains, close enough to walk around. A miniature train runs around the grounds. It is closed on Tuesdays.
Two brick buildings in the woods that once powered the electric trains on the climb, now an Important Cultural Property. They stand beside the old rail bed, about 30 minutes on foot from the station along the trail.
A brick railway bridge of four arches, about 31 meters high, the largest of its kind in Japan. Climb the steps to walk across the top on the old rail bed, then look up at the arches from the road below. It is about an hour and a half on foot from the station, or five minutes' walk from the parking lot if you come by taxi or car.