Watarase Keikoku Railway Kamikanbai Station Building and Platform

A Country Station of 1912

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Kamikanbai Station Building and Platform (わたらせ渓谷鐵道上神梅駅本屋及びプラットホーム) is a single-storey timber station building and platform of Kamikanbai Station opened in 1912 at Kamikanbai, Omama-cho, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 8, 2008 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey timber building with a sheet-metal roof and a building area of 56 square metres, and a concrete platform 108 metres long, owned by Watarase Keikoku Railway Co., Ltd., registration number 10-0264.

The Ashio Copper Railway

According to Watarase Keikoku Railway, the Ashio copper mine, bought by Furukawa Ichibei in 1877, grew to produce half of Japan's copper, more than horses and a horse tramway could carry, so a railway was built from Kiryu to Ashio. The Ashio Railway opened to Omama in 1911, reached Ashio in December 1912 and was completed to Ashio Honzan in 1914. Nationalised in 1918 as the Ashio Line, it has been run by Watarase Keikoku Railway since 1989.

According to Watarase Keikoku Railway, Kamikanbai Station opened with the Omamacho to Godo section in September 1912. The Watarase Keikoku Railway Kamikanbai Station Building and Platform is a station of the old Ashio Railway linking Ashio and Kiryu (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Kamikanbai Station Building and Platform was registered as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it conveys the days when the line prospered with mining. According to Watarase Keikoku Railway, it was registered on July 8, 2008, ahead of the line's other structures.

What to Look For

The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a building seven bays long, with an office three bays deep in the south half and a waiting room two bays deep in the north half, and a one-bay canopy on the east, west and north sides. The platform, with coursed stone sides, adjoins to the east.

Watarase Keikoku Railway's pamphlet says that, with Godo, it is one of the few stations to have stood since the Ashio Railway opened; an extension of 1930 gave it its present form. It has a rare wooden ticket barrier, and the platform's split-stone walls keep their original appearance.

Visiting

The Watarase Keikoku Railway Kamikanbai Station Building and Platform can be seen when using Kamikanbai Station. Watarase Keikoku Railway notes that all of its registered structures can be seen from the train.

Do not enter the tracks; view it from the train, the station or nearby roads. It is located at 193-2 Kamikanbai, Omama-cho, Midori City, Gunma Prefecture, and other lots. Of the line's 38 registered structures, the 26 in Gunma and 11 in Tochigi are gathered on the group pages Watarase Keikoku Railway (Gunma Section) and Watarase Keikoku Railway (Tochigi Section).