Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line

The Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line

The Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line (東武鉄道鬼怒川線) is a Tobu Railway line between Shimo-Imaichi and Shin-Fujiwara stations in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture, on which 7 structures built around 1929, station platforms, a footbridge and a bridge, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on October 27, 2017 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). All 7 belong to Tobu Railway Co., Ltd. and lie along the section from Shimo-Imaichi to Kosagoe.

When the Agency announced the recommendation for registration, it presented the 7 together as the bridge and station facilities of the Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line.

Shimotsuke Electric Railway to Tobu Railway

Most of the registered structures on the Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line date from the years when the line belonged to a company called the Shimotsuke Electric Railway. Tobu Railway's station guide gives January 2, 1917 as the opening of Okuwa Station and November 1 of the same year for Shin-Takatoku, so the route goes back to the Taisho era.

Improvements followed in the early Showa years. According to the Agency, the Shimotsuke Electric Railway changed the gauge between Shimo-Imaichi and Shin-Takatoku and on its Yaita Line, moved the track at Daiyamuko off a shared roadway to the present alignment, and rebuilt the stations. The cobble-faced platforms belong to this period. At Shimo-Imaichi a footbridge went up in 1929 with the extension of the Tobu Nikko Line.

Tobu Railway bought the Shimotsuke Electric Railway on May 1, 1943 (Tobu Railway). Soon after the war, in 1946, the Togawa Bridge was built by reusing a truss first erected on another line in 1897 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The 7 Registered Structures

The 7 structures on the Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line are listed here in order from Shimo-Imaichi. Dates and dimensions follow the records of the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

• Tobu Railway Shimo-Imaichi Station Former Footbridge: 1929. A steel through Pratt truss under a gabled slate roof
• Tobu Railway Daiyamuko Station Outbound Platform: 1931. Length 67 metres
• Tobu Railway Daiyamuko Station Inbound Platform: 1931. Length 61 metres
• Tobu Railway Okuwa Station Platform: about 1929. Length 85 metres
• Tobu Railway Togawa Bridge: 1946. Length 90 metres
• Tobu Railway Shin-Takatoku Station Platform and Canopy: 1929. A platform 125 metres long with a canopy of old rails
• Tobu Railway Kosagoe Station Platform: 1930. Length 98 metres

The Togawa Bridge was registered as a model of design, and the other 6 for their contribution to the historic landscape of the country. The construction and points of interest of each are covered on its own page.

Cobble Platforms and a Meiji Truss

What the 5 platforms on the Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line share is a method called tamaishi-zumi earth-fill construction: a bank of earth whose sides are faced with rounded river cobbles. The stones at Daiyamuko are thought to have come from the Kinugawa and Daiya river basins (Agency for Cultural Affairs). A railway that follows the river built its stations out of the river's own stone.

The Togawa Bridge is a different kind of survivor. Its through Pratt truss was moved from the Abukuma River Bridge of the Nippon Railway Iwaki Line, now the JR Joban Line, and the Agency values it as a rare truss bridge going back to the Meiji era. In fiscal 2017 the Japan Society of Civil Engineers selected it, with the Watarase River Bridge between Sano and Tatebayashi, as a Civil Engineering Heritage site.

Visiting and Access

Every registered structure on the Tobu Railway Kinugawa Line is still in railway use. The platforms are seen when boarding or leaving a train and the Togawa Bridge from a train window or from nearby; there is no fee or booking for visitors. The old footbridge at Shimo-Imaichi has been fitted out as the Former Footbridge Retro Gallery, where the registration plaques of the Kinugawa Line structures are shown (Tobu Railway).

Shimo-Imaichi is about 1 hour 30 minutes from Asakusa Station in Tokyo by limited express (Tobu Railway). On the Kinugawa Line the stations follow in the order Shimo-Imaichi, Daiyamuko, Okuwa, Shin-Takatoku and Kosagoe. The Togawa Bridge lies between Okuwa and Shin-Takatoku, about 10 minutes on foot from Shin-Takatoku Station (Tobu Railway).

The SL Taiju steam train covers the 12.4 kilometres between Shimo-Imaichi and Kinugawa-Onsen in about 35 minutes (Tobu Railway). Operating days and times vary, so check the official SL Taiju site. The stations served by SL Taiju have no dedicated parking, and Tobu Railway asks visitors to come by public transport.

No official Tobu Railway guidance on photography was found. Near platforms and track, take care not to interfere with train operations.