We spent the weekend in lovely Minakami, jumping off of waterfalls, swimming in crystal blue rivers, and having an awesome time with great friends. Minakami is only about an hour away by train, but the natural beauty is something straight out of a tourism brochure.

In fact, Minakami is pictured in many tourism brochures about Gunma, and is even the destination of a recent campaign that has 4 restored steam locomotives traveling across the prefecture.

You can always tell when a steam locomotive is about to roll through a station because the platform will be jam-packed with train otaku with their families, their friends, and their enormous cameras. Lots of people seem to be really excited about this promotion!

It’s pretty neat to see one of these trains in action, but I’ll admit that I was even more excited to see this guy. I swear, I’m like a 5 year old at Disneyland when it comes to these things–just look at his little hat! And his fancy white JR Uniform! Isn’t he handsome?