Michi-no-Eki Yoka Tajimagura

Michi-no-Eki Yoka Tajimagura is a roadside station on National Route 9 in Yoka, Yabu, in the Tajima region of northern Hyogo. Its farm shop sells local produce and Tajima specialties, and the restaurant serves regional dishes including Tajima beef. Among road-trippers the station is best known for its Asakura sansho soft serve, an ice cream flavored with the local Asakura variety of sansho (Japanese pepper), a large, fragrant, fruity pepper grown around Yabu; the cone pairs the citrusy, faintly numbing tingle of sansho with vanilla and a scatter of crunchy chocolate flakes. Admission is free and there is ample parking, and the station sits on the main road toward Takeda Castle and the rest of the Tajima highlands, so it makes a natural stop on a drive through northern Hyogo. Reaching it really needs a car; the nearest train is JR Yoka Station on the San'in Main Line, a short taxi ride away.