夜行列車と山開き＠谷川/Midnight Train Trip and "Yamabiraki" at Tanigawa

今年、上越線清水トンネル開通80周年記念と、JRからの群馬県デスティネーションキャンペーンと、3月に日本記念日協会が7月2日を「谷川岳の日」として記念日認定されたのを機会に、谷川岳ウィークが開催されました。その記念に7月2日から3日の深夜にかけて、26年ぶりに一夜限り復活運転された登山夜行列車、快速「谷川岳山開き号」が上野から土合まで運転されました。私もその列車に乗車し、土合へと向かいました。

In the months of July, August, and September, a lot of things are happening at Tanigawatake, Gumma Prefecture, Japan.  They are celebrating the 80th anniversary of the full completion of Joetsu Line and Shimizu tunnel. The first national observance of "Tanigawadake no hi" (which means The Day of Mount Tanigawa) was held on July 2, 2011. Lastly, Japan Railways (JR) is launching a nationwide advertising campaign  called "Destination Campaign" to attract tourists from all over Japan. Gumma is one of the host cities. JR brought back for one night, the "Midnight Mountain Train" that discontinued in 1985. The train is called "Kaisoku Tanigawadake Yamabiraki." (Kaisoku= Rapid train; Yamabiraki=The mountain is open to climbers) It ran from "Ueno" Terminal in downtown Tokyo to "Doai" in Northern Gumma. Since I'm a train geek, I decided to ride that train as well. 





 



  快速谷川岳山開き号　上野にて　183系で運転されました。

"Rapid Tanigawadake Yamabiraki" @ Ueno Station　The JNR 183 series was used that night.

上野発23:33  途中大宮、熊谷と、高崎に停車しました。

Departing Ueno: 23:33 (11:33pm)
This train stopped at: Omiya, Kumagaya, and Takasaki before arriving at Doai

   



   
     土合到着2:50
    Arrival time at Doai Station: 2:50am

土合駅の地下ホームは地下にもかかわらず海抜583.41Mです。

Even the underground platform for Doai Station is 583.41meters above sea level. 

 市民の挨拶

Welcoming locals

土合駅下り地下ホーム (上野向き）深さ70ｍ.
 昭和42年に開通した新清水トンネルの途中にあります（13,500ｍ）

Doai Station: North-bound platform (facing Ueno direction) This platform lies 70 meters underground. It actually lies in the middle of the Shin-Shimizu Tunnel (New Shimizu Tunnel) about 13,500 meters long. The tunnel was completed in 1967.

 



ハイキングの参加者が大勢集まってます。Many hikers gather before starting their hike.

土合駅地下ホームから地上を見上げます。ホームから地上の駅舎まで462段もあり（深さ７０ｍ）、普通の人なら出口まで10分以上かかります。途中に休憩用のベンチがあります。ここからがハイキングの始まりだそうです。

This is the stairway that leads to the ground level of the station. It takes an average person at least 10 minutes to walk 462 steps to the top. About half way, there is a bench so passengers can rest before exiting the station. I guess this is where the hike begins.  

地上から地下を見下ろします。（ブレテすみません）

View from ground level to the bottom. (Sorry, it's a little blurry...)

 やっと地上へと脱出。でも改札への通路は提灯の明かりのみで、とても暗い。

Finally reached ground level. But it's really dark out, even with the lanterns along the passway.

 地上駅舎。駅の周りは人が多く、提灯と焚き火があり、すごくにぎやかでした。ついでに改札口でキャンペーン担当者から「谷川山開き号」の乗車記念品（木札）をプレゼントされました。駅から数十メートル離れると真っ暗です。山開きのセレモニーが行われる土合霊園は駅から約一キロ位離れていて真っ暗の中で小さいLED性懐中電灯を使って向かいました。

Station Building: The station had a festive atmosphere. The locals were very welcoming (I even got a gift, which was really neat) and hundreds of people were getting ready to hike. There were many lanterns on the staircase outside of the station building and there was a huge bonfire (I should have taken a picture :/). Once you walk a few meters away from the station, it's extremely dark. The site of the "Yamabiraki" Ceremony is at the Doai Cemetery, about a kilometer away from Doai Station. So I took out my small LED flashlight and walked in the darkness.

これは何でしょう。きれいでしたので撮りました。土合霊園地にて

I wonder what this is. It looked really pretty so I decided to take it. Location: Doai Cemetery

谷川岳山開き神事、土合霊園地にて 時刻4:00

Tanigawatake Yamabiraki Ceremony at Doai Cemetery Time: 4am

 谷川岳ロープウェー土合口駅　時刻4:35
ロープウェイ営業まで25分

Tanigawatake Ropeway Doai-guchi Station- Time: 4:35am, 25 minutes until opening .





その日(7/3)は特別に営業時間を3時間早め、5時にロープウェイが観客を山頂まで運びました。

私も乗ろうと思ったけど、片道1200円往復2000円はさすがに高く、外から撮影し、近場でハイキングをすることにしました。

On that day (July 3), the ropeway opened at 5am instead of the usual 8am start. I was originally planning to ride it to the top of Mt. Tanigawa but 1200 Yen ($15 USD) one way, 2000 Yen ($24 USD) was a bit pricy for me. Instead, I decided to take a few pictures a take a short hike around the area.

ロープウェイ1番列車（？）でも、観客ゼロ。たぶん試運転？時刻4:59

First Train(?), but no passengers. Maybe a test run?　Time: 4:59am

谷。霧がすごくて遠くは見られなかった。

This is supposed to be a valley. But since it was very misty, I couldn't really see much.

その後土合駅に戻り、上り地上ホームへ向かいます。

Doai Station South Bound Ground Level Platform

駅構内の踏切。列車は新潟方面の清水トンネル(上り専用）から土合駅へと到着します。指が写ってすいません。

Railroad crossing near Doai Station. The train will exit from this Shimizu Tunnel （Southbound only)  and arrive at Doai Station. My finger got caught in the picture. My apologies. 

赤いトンネルみたいなのは土合駅改札口から地下ホームへの連絡通路です。

The red tunnel looking structure ahead is a passway that connects from Doai station building to the underground platform. 

土合駅に戻りました。朝になっても焚き火は燃え続けていました。時刻：6:20

So I'm back at Doai station. The flame continues to light the bonfire. Time: 6:20am

帰る前にもう一枚。今回はそんなにぶれてません。
I just wanted to take one more picture before I leave. This time, it's not as blurry. 

Note: 足元にご注意ください=Watch your step; i.e. it's 70m deep, you don't want to fall.

もうこれで谷川での旅は終わりです。上越線6時40分始発列車（普通1720M水上行き）に乗って東京方面へ戻ります。水上から高崎行き普通列車に乗車し、渋川から特急あかぎ4号に乗り換えました。（途中大宮－赤羽間湘南新宿ライン普通に追い越されました。。。笑）

So this is where my trip ends. I headed home by taking the Joetsu Line First Train Local bound for Minakami. (Departure time: 6:40am) I transferred once at Minakami Station to take another local train and Shibukawa Station to take the Akagi Limited Express #4.
 (Shinkansen>Limited Express >Express>Special-Rapid>Rapid>Local---- the hierarchy of JR)
I think that concludes my trip to Tanigawa.



初めてのブログとしては結構長い記事でした。今度は短くします。

Wow, my first post turned out pretty long. I'll try to make it shorter for my next one.