If you are stationed in the Kanto Plain and looking for a day trip to enjoy a Japanese historical site with your family and friends, I strongly recommend Tomioka Silk Mill in Gunma Prefecture.

In the 1930s, Japan produced 80% of the world’s raw silk and Tomioka, built in 1872, contributed a portion of that. In 2014, the mill was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Today, the site annually welcomes around 370,000 visitors looking to learn more about  the sericulture heritage of the area and also enjoy the surrounding city.

From Tokyo Station, my friend and I hopped on the bullet train bound for JR Takasaki Station. After a 50-minute ride, we transferred to the Joshin Electric Railway Line for another 40 minutes to Joshu-Tomioka Station.

At Takasaki Station, don’t forget to buy a round-trip train ticket to Joshu-Tomioka Station which includes an admission ticket to the mill for 2,200 yen. Purchasing the special ticket will save you 420 yen.

Sekaito, Gunma Prefectural World Heritage Center

When we arrived at Joshu-Tomioka Station, our first stop was the small tourist center nearby. Here an elderly woman manning the desk recommended Sekaito, which is the Gunma Prefectural World Heritage Center only a one-minute-walk away.

A beautiful flower made from the silk cocoon greeted us at the entrance. Theater screens displayed videos about the mill and related sites with English subtitles. Some of the exhibitions have English subtitles so non-native can also enjoy the center.

The center also features fun exhibits for kids, including a sensory one where you can touch a cocoon, raw and thrown silk. Another display shows the lifecycle of silkworms through a display featuring 10 preserved silkworms demonstrating each developmental stage.

This introduction to silkworms and silk making was a great place to start before our visit to the mill.

Tomioka Silk Mill

To reach the Tomioka Silk Mill, we took a 10-minute walk. Through the entrance gate, one of the large warehouses caught our attention. The building’s excellent state of preservation despite being over 100 years old was a surprise.

Inside the East Cocoon Warehouse, we made a reservation for a 40-minute guided tour in Japanese. Guided tours in English are also available but require advance reservation via phone or email. Alternatively, you can also download an app on your smartphone to use a free English audio guide.

Our tour was mostly on the outside of the buildings, so I suggest you dress accordingly.

The mill is home to over 100 buildings. Inside the East Cocoon Warehouse, visitors can check out the information center, a silk gallery and souvenir shop. The brick building with its timber frame construction and the keystone with the founding year engraved in the center of the entrance, are the most popular photo spots.

Next, the guide showed us the Silk-Reeling Plant. Visitors are allowed inside this 140-meter-long building containing 300 metal reeling machines. There is a 90-minute demonstration of the French-style silk reeling device in the morning and in the afternoon, so we returned after our tour to catch it.

During the tour, we learned that originally the mill was government-owned, but over the years was sold to different private companies up its closure in 1987. When it opened in 1872, the government hired French instructors, engineers and silk workers to work in the mill and teach the trade to locals.

Tomioka was selected as the place for the mill because of its established sericulture tradition, land availability, proximity to Kabura River and access to brown coal mines as the coal was necessary for powering the mill. Additionally, locals saw the value of the mill.

Workers from other parts of Japan came to Tomioka to learn the trade and return home to spread the silk-making techniques.

Other buildings we saw on our tour included the inspector’s house, dormitories for the French female instructors and mill workers, and the director’s house. The West Cocoon Warehouse is not part of the tour, but visitors can enter this national treasure.

What to eat in Tomioka City

Though Tomioka City is a small city with a population of around 45,000 people, there are some delicious local foods worth eating. Wheat is a widely cultivated export on the rolling hills of Gunma, so the tourist center recommended some great spots to try local specialties.

Okkirikomi

Okkirikomi is a miso-based wide noodle and vegetable dish created as a quick meal for busy silk workers. The dish was even designated as an intangible folk-culture asset of the prefecture.

When I asked the tourist center employee for her restaurant recommendations to try the dish, she burst out laughing, explaining that Okkirikomi is a local dish cooked at home, not something she tries at restaurants.

At Minosuke Chaya, the restaurant she recommended, we were able to try this elusive noodle dish. The noodles were served in a boiling iron pot of miso broth and leeks and mushrooms, giving us a boost of energy and some warmth in the cool winter weather.

Yaki Manjyu toasted dumplings

Next, we stepped into Ohtsukaya, a delicatessen inside a renovated house built over a century ago. Here, dumplings are toasted to order, so expect a short five-minute wait. The dumplings, glazed with sweet miso-based sauce, were light and fluffy. When I received my order, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish them because I thought they were made with sticky rice. But, like other places in the prefecture, Ohtsukaya uses wheat for their dumplings. They were delicious.

Fried ‘hormone’

Another popular snack in Tomioka is what the locals call “fried hormone.” Hormone usually refers to pig, chicken or beef entrails, but in this land-locked town, at some point the fried entrails were replaced with chikuwa, a tubular fish paste, skewered, battered then fried.

At first glance, the skewers still look like actual hormone, so they kept the name.

Once you get past the name, the crisp fried hormone is an ideal treat. At Okaju Butcher Shop, which was founded over 80 years ago, you can order a variety of fried snacks including the “hormone.”

I selected an order of three hormone skewers for 150 yen. They were crisp, light and I probably should have ordered more because they were so good. The shop also sells croquettes, curry doughnuts and more fried treats, which draw in students wanting an inexpensive after-school snack.

If you’re stationed in the Kanto Plain, Tomioka City is a great option for a day trip. My friend and I enjoyed learning about sericulture and the history of this quaint town. Best of all, we enjoyed the local treats. You should give it a try yourself.

THINGS TO KNOW

Joshin Electric Railway

• Website (Japanese)

• Discount ticket (Japanese)

Sekaito

• Address: 1450-1 Tomioka, Tomioka City, Gunma

• Hours: 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

• Closed on the last Wed. of the month (Mar. - Nov.), every Wed. (Dec.- Feb.), Thu. when Wed. is a Japanese holiday, and Dec. 29 - 31

• Tel: 0274-67-7821

• Admission: Free

• Website

Tomioka Silk Mill

• Address: 1-1 Tomioka, Tomioka City, Gunma

• Hours: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. closed on Dec. 29 – 31

• Tel: 0274-67-0075

• Admission: 1,000 yen for adults; 250 yen for high school/college students; 150 yen for elementary school / junior high school students, free for children below elementary school age

• Website

• Reservation for guided tour in English: 0274-67-0088 or yoyaku@matidukuri-t.com

Minosuke Chaya

• Address: 1038 Tomioka, Tomioka City, Gunma

• Hours: 11:30 a.m. – 3 p.m., closed on Wed.

• Tel: 0274-62-3829

• Website

Ohtsukaya

• Address: 1169 Tomioka, Tomioka City, Gunma

• Hours: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., closed on Wed.

• Tel: 0274-62-1237

• Website

Okaju Butcher Shop

• Address: 1051-3 Tomioka, Tomioka City, Gunma

• Hours: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., closed on Wed.

• Tel: 0274-62-0278

• Website

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