486 Steps to Daylight: Inside Japan’s Deepest Railway Station

Doai Station, the deepest railway station in Japan, lies around 70 metres below ground. After stepping off the train, passengers face nearly 500 stairs leading through a concrete shaft to the surface—with no elevators or escalators.

A Railway Curiosity Hidden Beneath the Mountains

Doai Station, located in the mountainous region of Gunma Prefecture, has become a popular destination for railway enthusiasts and fans of unusual infrastructure. More tourists arrive here than local passengers, and the atmosphere of the station is unlike almost anywhere else in Japan.

After travelling roughly 140 kilometres by train from Tokyo to the north-western Kanto region, passengers arrive at Doai Station and immediately find themselves in a completely different environment. The platform is cold, dimly lit by fluorescent lights, and surrounded by raw concrete walls deep underground.

Today's adventure takes me three hours north of Tokyo to Doai station - famed for being "Japan's deepest railway station." There's almost 500 steps up and it takes 10 minutes to walk from the platform to the ticket barrier. One to tick off from the JR bucket list! pic.twitter.com/6pFzOHbFG3

— Declan Martin (@declanmartin75) April 28, 2025

The only way back to daylight is to climb 486 stairs. It is no surprise that Japanese visitors often nickname Doai "Japan’s best station for moles," although whether an actual mole would appreciate the enormous man-made concrete shaft is another question entirely.

The climb to the surface usually takes around ten minutes. Along the way, exhausted visitors can stop at benches placed on several landing platforms to catch their breath before continuing upward. The stairs are individually numbered, which some travellers find encouraging and others deeply discouraging. Either way, everyone always knows exactly how many steps they have already climbed—and how many still remain. As passengers continue ascending, the cold underground air gradually mixes with warmer air from above. The constant climb slowly gets the blood flowing again after the eerie stillness of the platform below.

From Underground Corridor to Forest Landscape

After all 486 steps, passengers finally emerge outside. Most immediately notice the sharp contrast between the dark underground corridor and the wild forested landscape surrounding the station. There is very little nearby apart from a few hiking trails, but the station building itself is worth seeing. Thanks to its unusual triangular shape, it was included among the "Top 100 Railway Stations in Kanto."

Despite its fame, the station feels almost abandoned. There is no staff waiting to sell tickets to the handful of passengers passing through each day. Doai is an unmanned station, adding to its isolated atmosphere. Tickets can still be purchased from vending machines, but otherwise the station remains silent.

Because of its emptiness and underground setting, Doai is often described as one of the eeriest railway stations in Japan. Travellers returning towards Tokyo must use the outdoor platform, as the underground tunnel platform only serves northbound trains.

_{Sources: offbeatjapan.com, GoodLuckTrip}