Oyama

Oyama (小山) is the second most populous city in southern Tochigi prefecture, Japan. Oyama is above all a major train junction, and most visitors won't stop much longer than it takes to change trains.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site.

Get in
One of the minor thrills of Oyama is to stand on the Shinkansen platform and watch the through-trains barrel past at full throttle and full volume on the middle tracks away from either platform.

By train
Oyama is on the Tōhoku Shinkansen between Tokyo and Aomori, and is served by the Nasuno and Yamabiko all-stations services. There is one train per hour from Tokyo to Oyama, with more frequent trains for the peak-direction rush (42 minutes, ¥3440 for an unreserved seat).

Oyama also lies at the intersection of the JR Tohoku Line, which runs north-south between Utsunomiya and Ueno; the JR Mito Line, which runs east to the historic city of Mito; and the JR Ryōmō Line, which runs west to Takasaki, where the Jōetsu Shinkansen (toward Niigata) splits off from the Nagano Shinkansen.

Local trains from Ueno to Oyama on the Tohoku Line, the section of which is also referred to as the Utsunomiya Line, take 75 minutes at a cost of ¥1280. Some rapid services during rush hours cut this time down to as little as 60 minutes.

There is no cost to use JR train services with the Japan Rail Pass.

By car
Oyama also lies at the intersection of two major national highways: National Route 50, which runs east-west between Mito and Takasaki, and National Route 4, which runs north-south between Tokyo and Aomori.

Buy
Oyama station is a decent place to do some quick shopping while waiting for train connections to smaller cities or towns. There are two fairly big, midrange shopping malls, Val and Roble.

The local post office (36.309232, 139.814939) ATM allows you to withdraw cash by credit and debit cards issued outside of Japan, including Visa, Plus, Mastercard, Maestro, Cirrus, American Express and JCB cards and provide an English user menu.

Eat
If you want to grab a quick meal between trains, try the ground floor food court below the Val department store at the West Exit. The ramen shop doesn't stint on the pepper or garlic, and the soba shop provides fresh wasabi that you grate yourself (and little bags to take away the leftover stubs). For those with a little more time to kill, here are a few options outside the station.
 * Bistro de Princess, Shiroyama-cho 2-6-49 (a few blocks west of JR Oyama Station West Exit, on the right just before you reach a pedestrian overpass), tel. +81 285-24-1424. Open daily 12:00-14:00, 18:00-20:00. An omakase French-style bistro owned and operated by an eccentric chef who trained at the Akasaka Prince Hotel. Prix fixe lunch ¥980. For dinner, just tell the chef how many people are in your party and how much you are willing to pay per person and leave it up to him. (He may ask about the age, sex, or eating restrictions of people in the party.) Recommended budget per person, ¥1500-2500; more if you ask him to choose the wine.
 * Cafe Colorado (across the street from Roble department store out JR Oyama Station West Exit). Open Th-Tu (closed W) 09:00-20:00. Sandwich plates ¥720-840.

Drink
If you want to grab a quick coffee between trains, Beck's is inside JR Oyama station, Starbucks is just outside the West Exit wickets at the entrance to Val department store, a quieter Tully's is on the second floor at the outside edge of Roble department store adjacent to Val, and a more traditional Cafe Colorado is just across the street from Roble.

Go next

 * Utsunomiya
 * Mito, capital of Ibaraki and home of Kairaku-en Park.
 * Tochigi
 * Ashikaga
 * Shimotsuke
 * Ninomiya
 * Satte
 * Sugito
 * Kasama (Ibaraki)