The hiking trail from Yabuhara to Narai via Torii Pass
This article shows you the way from Yabuhara Station to Narai Station via Torii Pass with the pictures. The way is a representative hiking trail of Kisoji that is also popular among foreign tourists. The distance is about 6.4 km. It takes about 1 hour 45 minutes on foot without stopping on the way.
Note
- "Intersection", "Crossroad", "T in the road", and "Fork in the road" are all called "Juncture" in this article.
- The time it takes to get to each point is just a reference.
- Go straight at all the junctures that aren't described below.
- Reproducing all or any part of the contents is prohibited.
Yabuhara Station
Walk a little southward on the road in front of Yabuhara Station. Then you'll find a downhill. Go down the hill. (FYI: Deviating from Nakasendo Way, you can take a shortcut as follows： Walk 2 minutes 30 seconds northward on the road in front of Yabuhara Station. Then, you'll find a underpass. Go through the underpass and turn right and walk 1 minutes 30 seconds. After that, you'll come to Yabuhara Juncture 6 described below.)
Yabuhara Station
Yabuhara Juncture 2
2-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn right and go under the railroad bridge.
Yabuhara Juncture 2
Yabuhara Juncture 3
It's close to the railroad bridge.
Turn right.
Yabuhara Juncture 3
Yabuhara Juncture 4
4-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn right. (FYI: Turn left and walk a little. Then, you'll find Yabuhara Milestone in front of a stream locomotive.)
Yabuhara Juncture 4
Yabuhara Milestone
Yabuhara Juncture 5
5-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Cross the bridge and turn left and turn right immediately. Then, you'll find a cemetery on your left. Go along the way in front of the cemetery.
Yabuhara Juncture 5
Yabuhara Juncture 6
8-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn left.There is a site of Kosatsuba (former site of public notice display) on the left of the following picture.
Yabuhara Juncture 6
Yabuhara Juncture 7
13-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Go straight. (FYI: Deviating from Nakasendo Way, you can take a shortcut as follows: Turn right at the corner close to the crosswalk and walk a little. Then, you'll find a railroad bridge. Go under the railroad bridge and turn left and walk 2 minutes. After that, you'll come to Yabuhara Juncture 8 described below.)
After walking 1 minutes from here, you'll find the site of Yabuhara-juku Honjin. (Only a signboard is there.)
Yabuhara Juncture 7
Yabuhara Overpass
16-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Cross the overpass and go along the way.
Yabuhara Overpass
Yabuhara Juncture 8
17-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn left and go up the hill.
After walking a little from here, you'll find the site of Falconer's Office. (Only a signboard is there, but the view from there is wonderful.)
Yabuhara Juncture 8
Yabuhara Torii Gate
21-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Go straight at the juncture a little ahead.
Yabuhara Torii Gate
Torii Pass Juncture 1
24-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Go straight and go up the hill next to the fire station.
Torii Pass Juncture 1
Torii Pass Juncture 2
28-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Bear left.
Torii Pass Juncture 2
The stone pavement
30-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
The stone pavement
Torii Pass Juncture 3
32-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Go along the way in the middle of the following picture.
Torii Pass Juncture 3
Torii Pass Juncture 4
39-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn left and head for the site of Woodland Weather Station.
Torii Pass Juncture 4
The vicinity of the site of Woodland Weather Station
42-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Walk rightward in the site of Woodland Weather Station.
The vicinity of the site of Woodland Weather Station
The rest station in the site of Woodland Weather Station
Walk next to the rest station.
The rest station has a restroom.
The rest station in the site of Woodland Weather Station
Torii Pass Juncture 5
It's close to the rest station in the site of Woodland Weather Station.
Go straight.
Torii Pass Juncture 5
Torii Pass Juncture 6
45-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Go straight. (FYI: Make a V-shaped turn and walk a little. Then, you'll find a observatory. From there, you can see Yabuhara-juku.)
Torii Pass Juncture 6
Torii Pass Juncture 6 (from a diffrent angle)
Yabuhara-juku
Maruyama Park Juncture
46-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Go up the stairs next to the signpost. (FYI: The stairs are quite steep. If you would like to avoid the steep stairs, take the way on the right of the following picture and head for the vicinity of Reijin Monument described below.)
"Yoshinaka Suzurimizu" is a little above Ontake Washbasin on the left of the following picture.
Maruyama Park Juncture
Maruyama Park is near here.
Maruyama Park Juncture (from a diffrent angle）
Maruyama Park
Yoshinaka Suzurimizu
It's close to Maruyama Park Juncture.
Yoshinaka Suzurimizu
The vicinity of Ontake Shrine
48-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Walk next to the shrine and pass through the torii gate.
There is a view point of Mt.Ontake on the left of the following picture. From the view point, you can see Mt.Ontake if it's not hidding in the clouds.
The vicinity of Ontake Shrine
Mt.Ontake
The stone buddhas of Ontake Shrine
Ontake Shrine
The torii gate and Reijin Monument
The vicinity of Reijin Monument
It's close to Ontake Shrine.
Go along the way at the top left of the following picture.
The vicinity of Reijin Monument
Japanese Horse Chestnut Trees
52-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
"Japanese Horse Chestnut Trees" is a Constituent Cultural Property of Japanese Heritage.
Japanese Horse Chestnut Trees
Torii Pass Juncture 7
54-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Make a V-shaped turn and go up the paved hill.
Torii Pass Juncture 7
Torii Pass Juncture 7 (from a diffrent angle)
Torii Pass Juncture 8
56-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn off the paved hill onto the left way next to the signboard.
Torii Pass Juncture 8
The monument to Emperor Meiji's visit
It's close to Torii Pass Juncture 8.
The monument to Emperor Meiji's visit
The monument to the Ontake-ko
58-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
The monument to the Ontake-ko
The vicinity of Mine-no-Chaya
60-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn into the roadway and go straight.
Mine-no-Chaya has a restroom.
The vicinity of Mine-no-Chaya
Torii Pass Juncture 9
61-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn off the roadway onto the right downhill and go down the hill.
Torii Pass Juncture 9
Torii Pass Milestone
65-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Torii Pass Milestone
Naka-no-Chaya
75-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Naka-no-Chaya
Torii Pass Juncture 10
79-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Go straight. (Don't go up the right hill)
Torii Pass Juncture 10
Torii Pass Juncture 11
87-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn into the roadway and turn left.
Torii Pass Juncture 11
Torii Pass Juncture 12
It's close to Torii Pass Juncture 11.
Go straight. (The roadway curves sharply southward.)
Torii Pass Juncture 12
Torii Pass Juncture 13
88-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn off the roadway onto the downhill in the middle of following picture and go down the hill.
Torii Pass Juncture 13
Torii Pass Juncture 14
91-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Turn into the roadway and go straight.
Torii Pass Juncture 14
Shizume Shrine
92-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Shizume Shrine
Nakamura House
94-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
The house on the left of the following picture is called "Nakamura House". The house is a cultural property.
Nakamura House
Kamidonya Museum
96-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Kamidonya Museum
The entrance to Taiho-ji Temple
98-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
The entrance to Taiho-ji Temple
Narai station
105-minute walk from Yabuhara Station.
Narai station