The Sakura Railway is only two hours away from Tokyo
The Watarase Keikoku Railway connects Kiryu City in Gunma Prefecture and Nikko City in Tochigi Prefecture. The total length is 44.1 kilometers, along the Watase Gorge, and the journey takes about 80 minutes.
This is a very typical private railway route in rural Japan. It can be said to be a railway designed for transportation for residents in the mountains and has a history of about one hundred years. As you can imagine, it once faced the risk of being abandoned in the 1990s, but was later successfully transformed into a tourist destination and preserved.
The Watarase Valley Railway is picturesque, with peach and cherry blossoms in full bloom in spring, deep green in summer, colorful in autumn, and heavy snow in winter. These days, cherry blossoms and peach blossoms are in full bloom at the stations along the line, dotted with yellow rapeseed flowers and purple flowers, making the scene as colorful as an oil painting.
Many small rural train stations in Japan plant cherry blossoms. There are many famous "Sakurami Stations" from north to south, but there are very few stations like the Watarase Keikoku Railway where cherry blossoms and peach blossoms are so large-scale. It is a blooming scene that is like an explosion of colors, and it becomes a must-visit place for tram photography enthusiasts every spring.
Transportation: Take the Tobu Railway train bound for Ota from Kita-Senju Station in Tokyo, then transfer to the Watarase Keikoku Railway at Kiryu or Soro Station. Please download various Japanese transfer apps for details