is a passenger

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in the town of

Minakami, Gunma is a town located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 18,383 in 7938 households, and a population density of 24 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Much of the town is within the borders of Jōshin ...

, Japan, operated by the

East Japan Railway Company The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...

(JR East). It is jokingly known as Japan's Number One Mole Station (日本一のモグラ駅, Nippon ichi no mogura eki) due to the fact that passengers must make a 10 minute descent down a tunnel in order to reach the northbound platform. It is the deepest train station in Japan.

Lines

Doai Station is served by the Joetsu Line, and lies from the starting point of the line at .

Station layout

Doai Station is unusual in that it has two single

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s, one of which is elevated, and the other is located underground within the Shin-Shimizu Tunnel. The station is unattended. The underground platform for the northbound trains (to and ) is located underground, in the middle of the long Shin-Shimizu Tunnel. It is only reachable by stairs, as there are no elevators or escalators. It takes ten minutes to walk the 486 steps from the ticket gate to the platform. The above-ground platform for the southbound trains (to ) is at ground level.

Platforms

JR Joetsu Line Doai Station Inbound Ground Platform・Station building Connecting Passage.jpg, Station platform seen from the ground-level platform, July 2021 JR Joetsu Line Doai Station Inbound Ground Platform.jpg, Ground platform, July 2021 JR Joetsu Line Doai Station Outbound Underground Platform.jpg, Underground platform, July 2021 JR Joetsu Line Doai Station Outbound Underground Platform Waiting room.jpg, Platform waiting room, July 2021 JR Joetsu Line Doai Station Connecting Passage Windbreak.jpg, Windbreaking structure in the connecting passageway, July 2021 JR Joetsu Line Doai Station Outbound Underground Platform Stairs.jpg, Stairs from the underground platform, July 2021 Doai-Station-Platform for Nagaoka.jpg, The underground platform The steps at Doai Station, Gunma, Japan.jpg, The bottom of the steps at the underground platform Doai-Station-2005-11-15 1.jpg, The ground-level platform

History

The station opened on 19 December 1936. With the privatization of

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) on 1 April 1987, the station came under the control of JR East.

In popular media

The climb up the steps from the underground platform features at the start of the novel,

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

dramatization and movie versions of ''

Climber's High is a 2008 Japanese film directed by Masato Harada. The film is about a newspaper editor (played by Shin'ichi Tsutsumi) who deals with the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123. Accolades 51st Blue Ribbon Awards * Best Film * Best Supporting Actor ...

'' by

Hideo Yokoyama is a Japanese novelist. Yokoyama specializes in mystery novels. He repeated his Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! No. 1 ranking in 2013 with '' Six Four'' (64). The English edition of ''Six Four'', translated by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, was shortlisted ...

. It also makes an appearance in the manga and anime series ''

Encouragement of Climb is a slice-of-life manga series written and illustrated by Shiro, which began serialization in Earth Star Entertainment's ''Comic Earth Star'' magazine in 2011. An anime television series by Eight Bit aired in Japan between January and Marc ...

'' as a destination prior to climbing

Mount Tanigawa is a mountain on the border of Gunma Prefecture and Niigata Prefecture in Japan. It is one of the List of the 100 famous mountains in Japan, 100 famous mountains in Japan. Routes The mountain trail leading to the summit of Mount Tanigawa from ...

, west of the site. Online sources state it is haunted, and as such has become a local ghost hunting spot.

Surrounding area

(one of the " 100 famous mountains in Japan") *

References

External links

Station information (JR East)
{{Jōetsu Line Railway stations in Gunma Prefecture Railway stations in Japan opened in 1936 Stations of East Japan Railway Company Jōetsu Line Minakami, Gunma