Roadside Station Oze Katashina, run by Katashina Village Promotion Corporation (Tone District, Gunma Prefecture; President: Kenji Kaneko), is turning 8. To mark the occasion, the station is holding its "8th Anniversary Thanksgiving Festival" over two days, from Saturday, July 25 to Sunday, July 26.
This year's festival brings a grilled corn experience, along with daily taiko drum performances and dance shows by local children that will help liven up the grounds.
Details are available on the Roadside Station Oze Katashina website.
This Year's Main Attraction: A Grilled Corn Experience
Katashina Village is home to "Corn Road," a stretch lined with stalls selling grilled corn that has a history spanning more than 50 years.
For this festival, Roadside Station Oze Katashina will sell corn for grilling, letting visitors husk it themselves and cook it over a prepared grill to their preferred doneness — a hands-on "grilled corn experience."
Day One Features a Performance by the Village's Own Taiko Drum Team
A performance by the Oze Taiko Appreciation Society, a taiko drum team made up of Katashina Village residents ranging from elementary schoolers to adults, will take place on the festival's first day.
The group will perform a spirited program centered on pieces composed to evoke Oze's four seasons.
Oze Taiko Performance Schedule (Saturday, July 25)
- 1st performance: 11 AM
- 2nd performance: 1 PM
Discounted Morning-Picked Vegetables and a Special Katashina Tomato Dish
Cool morning and evening temperatures in Katashina Village allow for richly flavored vegetables, which are sold at "Katashinaya," the roadside station's farm-produce direct-sales shop.
During the festival, Katashinaya will offer a limited-quantity special sale on Katashina-grown lettuce along with a fill-your-own-bag event, while the on-site restaurant, Katashina Shokudo, will serve "Cold Tomato Dipping Udon," a dish made with Katashina-grown tomatoes and perfectly suited to the hot summer months, at a special price.
Prize Draws and a Display of Working Vehicles Round Out the Festival
Visitors can also see vehicles that keep Katashina Village running, including snowplows and fire trucks, along with rotating displays of unusual vehicles such as Self-Defense Force trucks and mountain patrol cars. Anyone who spends 1,000 yen or more at the facility's registers can pick up an entry ticket for a prize drawing that includes 10,000 yen worth of "Ozedappe Pay," the village's local currency.
More to Enjoy Beyond the Roadside Station: Summer in Katashina Village and the Surrounding Area
About two hours by car from central Tokyo, the Tone-Numata area of Gunma Prefecture offers plenty for visitors beyond the festival. Katashina Village is known nationwide for hiking in Oze National Park, Japan's largest wetland. In 2023, a glampsite opened at the 1,500-meter Hotaka Plateau — "OZE-HOSHISORA CAMP & GLAMPING RESORT" is popular for its views of a sky full of stars, as its name suggests.
The day-use hot spring facility "Hana no Eki Katashina Hanasaku no Yu" offers sweeping views from its open-air bath, and its hot stone bath, lined with "Kiyoseki," a rare natural stone mined in Katashina Village, is also popular.
Along the Konsei Pass road connecting Katashina Village to Nikko sits Lake Suganuma, said to be the clearest lake in Honshu, where tours offer stand-up paddleboarding and canoeing on the water.
Fukiwareno-taki Falls in the Tone area of Numata City, nicknamed "the Niagara of the Orient," draws many visitors who come to see its powerful, up-close scale.
A Message from Station Manager Shigeo Hoshino
"Roadside Station Oze Katashina has been fortunate to reach its 8th anniversary. We are deeply grateful to everyone in the local community who has supported us, as well as the many visitors who travel from afar and everyone else involved.
Katashina Village is blessed with the grand nature of Oze and Mt. Nikko-Shirane, fresh vegetables such as highland-grown corn and tomatoes, a rich food culture, and charms that change with each season. We have valued our role as a gateway connecting visitors with the region, sharing its appeal as the 'front door to the village.'
For this 8th Anniversary Thanksgiving Festival, we've put together a lineup that lets guests fully experience the charm of Katashina Village as a way of expressing our thanks for everyone's continued patronage. We hope families and friends will spend a joyful time together and leave wanting to visit Katashina Village again.
We will continue walking alongside the local community, sharing new charms, and working to become a roadside station loved by many. Our whole staff looks forward to welcoming you."
