I enjoyed a refreshing weekend trip to a tiny rural village called Niiharu in Takumi no Sato, Gunma prefecture. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, this one-hour journey by shinkansen took me completely out of the city and plunged me into the countryside.
On the way from the station to Takumi no Sato there are many whitewashed traditional houses, some with separate storage buildings complete with the family crest. Niiharu itself is a village with traditional, old houses that have been converted into different workshops and seem to be popular with all age groups. Anyone can walk into a workshop and learn to do a traditional craft, from pottery and indigo tie dying, to bamboo weaving and paper-making to making soba and konyaku. I counted 27 different activities in all. I tried my luck at the indigo tie dying and was informed by one of the Sensei’s assistants that the plants growing in front of the shop produced the indigo. I enjoyed the fact that I was involved in the whole process from start to finish (pinning, twisting, aprons, rubber gloves and wrist-deep in cold dye) and was pleasantly surprised with the results of my efforts. The fee for this lesson and the handkerchief I produced at the end was 1,000 yen ($9), which seemed to be the standard price for many of the activities.
The next day I hired a bicycle for 500 yen ($4.50) (to be back at the rental shed by 4pm). For a little shopper, it made a pretty good mountain bike for the day, taking me up and down what certainly felt like mountains. I passed through small villages in search of onsen, noting from all the guide maps that there were plenty in the area. I passed by a large lake and took in the breathtaking view of the mountains. After many questions to passers-by and more cycling I found a tiny village where an old and very cheap hot spring was supposed to be. I did indeed find that tiny hot spring, a little wooden shed at the side of a field, and paid my 300 yen ($2.70) for the soak, my ticket taken on trust, as there was no one there to check it.
On the way back from my relaxing soak, it was mainly downhill so I got quite a rush from trying to keep up with, but not quite, the hundreds of motorcyclists that passed by. Toward the end of the cycle, I sat by a small river and contemplated the many different kinds of flowers growing around me, the only one I was able to identify being Cosmos. From that break it was back into Niiharu and a cycle around the fields, all bursting with at that time with different kinds of food. October was apple season and also time for the rice harvest, but there were plenty of other fruits and vegetables to be seen. After that it was time to get back on the bus to Jomokogen Station and onwards to Tokyo, thinking of wonderful photos and a pretty handkerchief as mementos.
Getting there: Shinkansen from Ueno station to Jomokogen station. Take the bus from stand 3 to Takumi no Sato/Niiharu village. Route also accessible by car.
Hotel: Familio (basic food but very clean) http://hotel.eki-net.com/familio/niiharu.html (Japanese only) Website: http://www.ame.ne.jp/niiharu/takumi/index.htm (Japanese only)