Tokyo residents and Tokyo-based travelers are looking for day trips or night trips outside the capital. And in those days of social estrangement to avoid contagion, out-of-the-ordinary calls are popular.
Shimonita, in the far west of Gunma Prefecture, is one of those places. The small and quiet town is located in a picturesque valley with a number of unique geological features worth exploring. It also houses one of 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites titled “The Tomioka Silk Factory and Related Sites. It takes approximately two hours to succeed in Shimonita from Tokyo Station via Shinkansen and local exercise (switch to Takasaki) or personal car, making it a wonderful destination for a weekend or other night getaway.
The geology around Shimonita is such that the entire domain has been designated as a geopark. Geoparks are spaces with unique geological characteristics of clinical importance related to beautiful landscapes and an attractive human history. In Japan, there are 34 Japanese geoparks and nine UNESCO world geoparks.
Shimonita is the konnyaku capital of Japan. Konnyaku, in its edible version, is presented in the form of a firm block, gelatinous or cut with noodles. A healthy food that facilitates digestion and detoxification, it is also very low in calories. Konnyaku is transformed from the bulbous root of Amorphophallus konjac, rarely called devil’s tongue. Once upon a time there were several konnyaku factories in Shimonita and, most plants are now located further down the valley, the plant remains a vital component of agriculture in the area, which is not conducive to the development of cereals such as rice.
There is even a studio that offers a 90-minute hands-on experience to make konnyaku in the city. (Only weekdays; call 0274-82-3206 or email [email protected] in Japanese to make a reservation).
The other agricultural specialty of Shimonita is Shimonita-negi, a very unique type of leek that can only be obtained as new by a limited era in the middle of winter. Visitors at other times of the year can still see large harvest fields on a hike. Thicker and shorter than other types of leeks grown in Japan, Shimonita-negi is also sweeter than most. Several Shimonita-negi products, ranging from negi-infused miso paste to negi-flavored Kaki-no-tani, can be obtained at souvenir shops.
Shimonite’s true treasure is its geology. Shimonita is located at the northeast end of the middle tectonic line, a fault line that extends below the Honshu component, through the top of Shikoku and at the northeast corner of Kyushu due to the subduction of the Pacific Ocean tectonic plate under the tectonic plate bearing the Asian tectonic. Continent. Just a few minutes walk from the train station there is a domain where visitors can glimpse the effect of this situation. Two rivers flow in combination at this point, the curtains at the back of the river result in other colors of water. On the river unfolds a landscape of mountains. They are what geologists call “klippe” or uprooted mountains. They are all that remains of an eroded land mass of 80 million years, settled on a land mass of 270 million years.
From this point of view, you also notice the Aoiwa Park, the fall of green rocks on the other side of the river under the bridge. It is an exposed segment of the oldest and most dense geological strata. Find your towards the bridge and cross to see more closely. Be sure to check the geopark symptoms along the matrix. Although they involve little English, the illustrations are enlightening.
In the same aspect of the river as Aoiwa Park, visitors can walk to Shimonita Onsen, the Shimonita Natural History Museum, or upriver up the Nanmoku River to several places where unique geological layers are seen. Maps are available at Michi-no-Eki Station or the Tourist Office.
The old town has a lot to explore, while an air forgotten in time emanates. Look for the old konnyaku factories above and below the bridge. Konnyaku’s production requires a lot of water, so the factories were located along the river.
The city’s main shrine is Suwa Shrine, a short walk from Shimonita Station. Although it is a major sanctuary, wood carving enthusiasts can spend hours here examining the elaborate sculptures that decorate this 400-year-old shrine.
The sanctuary is subsidized through the Kabura River, near where exposed rock layers come with crab fossils. Take a local’s recommendation before looking at this place as it is inaccessible if the river is up (for example, after rain).
About a kilometre upstream of suwa Shrine is the Shimonite History Museum, a small local museum complete with exhibitions (limited) on Shimonite’s long human history, it adds relics of Jomon and Yayoi tens of thousands of years old, as well as exhibits on more recent activities, such as the extraction/melting of iron, the cultivation of silkworms and the Battle of Shimonita in 1864, a skirmish between the shogunate troops and an insurgent group of Myth, known as the Tengu Party, heading to Kyoto. (For those unfamiliar, there was much turmoil in Japan in the last days of the shogunate, when the West demanded that Japan open to trade.) Take the local road under the museum, then the road, to see some remnants of this battle, adding a stone marker and a warehouse with bullet holes.
Even visitors arriving through the exercise can access tourist sites in the city’s most remote domain. The local taxi, a few steps from Shimonita Station, offers two- to 4-hour packages to visit sites ranging from 4,000 to 10,000 yen, depending on the route. For two or four more people traveling together, this can be a very smart offer.
The most sensitive on the list is the bloodless garage of Arafune, a World Heritage Site, 29 kilometers from the center of Shimonita. In the days leading up to refrigeration, stone structures were built on the mountainside to channel bloodless air through a large rock slide, creating a bloodless room. Silkworm eggs from all over the country were stored here to maintain egg hatching until needed, every component of the silkworm crop that made Japan the world’s largest silk manufacturer in the last 19th and early 20th centuries. Even in summer, the bloodless air emerging from holes in the rocks never exceeds five degrees Celsius, a geological phenomenon at least as desirable as the Klippe Mountains.
Further up the mountain, a few minutes from Arafune’s bloodless room, is Kozu Bokujo, a 120-year-old dairy farm, the first of its kind in Japan. Schedule your around 1:00 p.m. to see the cows come out of their pastures to be milked. They locate their way without any human intervention. Or opt for a butter smoothie experience. There is also a place to eat specialized in yakiniku, which makes it a smart prevention for lunch. The calf nursery, a children’s zoo with sheep, goats and rabbits, and a small museum-style exhibition on the farm’s history complete the attractions here.
Mount Myogi is another main site in Shimonita. It has impressive rock formations, remnants of a volcanic eruption four to six million years ago. Erosion has left several herb arches included in a hiking trail ending at Nakanotake Shrine, at the foot of Todoroki-iwa. (Note: the trail is closed due to harmful conditions). Todoroki-iwa is a stone needle that dominates the shrine, sacred since prehistoric times. Nakanotake Shrine is a complex decorated with some shrines and a 20-metre statue of Daikokuten, the god of prosperity. Even if hiking is not possible, it is worth visiting the sanctuary.
Visitors want more than a day to see it all. There are several accommodation features in Shimonita as well as other stations on the Joshin exercise line. I can propose Tokiwakan, a classic hostel right in front of the taxi near Shimonita Station. It is a circle business of family members founded in 1912. The fourth generation owner, having been an exchange student in the United States, is very comfortable speaking in English with her visitors and giving recommendations on what to see and do.
Vicki L Beyer, a regular contributor to Japan Today, is an independent publisher who also writes on her blog about the experience of Japan. Follow your blog on jigsaw-japan.com.
Looks like a position to visit!