【Path to the Secret Realm】An expedition towards the Inukawa Forest Railroad, where remnants of the Showa-era abandoned railway still exist

Heading towards the secret realm in Otaki Village, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture. I will drive my Jimny to reach the forest road where the abandoned railway remains. After that, it will be an exploration on foot into the Inukawa Forest Railroad.

The gradually narrowing road to the anxiety-inducing secret place

This time, I came to aim for the secret place, the Nishiyama Forest Trail, in Otaki, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture. That secret place is beyond this forest road that diverges from National Route 140, so first, I aim for the parking lot. However, right from the start, the difficult dirt road continues, making me a bit anxious.

After a while, I arrived at the parking lot of the managed fishing area. Even if you're not a customer of the fishing area, you can park for 500 yen.

Trout On! Entering the river
Location / 5712-3 Otaki, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture
TEL / 0494-55-0809
Business Hours / 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

I got out of the car and continued walking on foot through the cool mountains.

From here, we will move on foot. This entire area is a practice forest owned by the University of Tokyo, and here and there are signs indicating this fact. On this day, I also passed by several groups of hikers who seemed to be students.

The forest trail surrounded by trees is cool, making it comfortable to walk even on this day when the temperature exceeded 30 degrees. The stream flowing below is beautiful and a very attractive place.

As I continued walking, a junction leading to the Nikawa Forest Railway (also known as the University of Tokyo Practice Forest Railway) appeared. It seems that the route ahead follows along the stream. By the way, this Nikawa Forest Railway is known for frequent landslides, so I walked carefully, paying attention to my surroundings.

At this time, there was also a sign indicating a landslide 2.2 km ahead. The road is narrow, so it feels a bit scary.

Finally, I arrived at the hidden spot, the Niyama Forest Railway.

After walking a bit from the fork, the rails suddenly appear. This is the entry point of the Inugawa Forest Railway. These rails were used exclusively for transporting timber from Showa 23 to Showa 45. Such paths are generally called forest railways and seem to have existed all over the country, but most of them have disappeared. The Inugawa Forest Railway is a precious place where remnants of that era can still be seen.

One can imagine the hardships faced by the workers who built such facilities in such a limited space. Below the rails is a valley about 10 meters deep, making it difficult to simply descend. I was also confirming the area below the cliff as a preliminary check for stream fishing, but the environment turned out to be more rugged than I expected.

On this occasion, there were landslides, and since I could already confirm the rails, I decided to turn back once I found a point for entry into the stream. Ahead lies a place where a confluence point called Akazawa-deai and a monument marking the source of the Arakawa River are located. The forest road has places that evoke a 'hidden realm' that are not normally seen, making this trip an adventure that stirred my sense of exploration.

On the way back, I stopped at the roadside station Ashigakubo, where I had eaten before, to enjoy some chilled udon before heading home. It was a hot day, and finishing with pleasantly smooth udon made for a joyful day. I would like to embark on more adventures aiming for captivating hidden realms again.

Reporting and text by Kazuma Tanaka.

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