Autumn leaves at Yunoyama, Mie, Japan

[winjeel]

This is a great day trip that you can take by train. All you need is a good camera, good footware (no heels or flip-flops / thongs), some money (of course), and some mates. You'll be 1,212m above sea level, so expect it to be a little cool and breezy.

In Japanese
Yunoyama: 湯の山　Gozaisho dake: 御在所岳　Yunoyama-Onsen: 湯の山温泉

What you can see and do there
The autumn leaves there are spectacular. Before this, I never understood the Japanese love of autumn leaves, and especially thought it odd that men got excited about these. For me, it was a good Japanese experience, and a great photographic one, too.

In the off season, it'll be great mountain hiking, skiing in winter, and just great views of unusual rock formations (see photos below)

How to get there
From Nagoya, take the Kintetsu express to Yokkaichi, then change to a branch line to the Yunoyama-Onsen station. There is a bus available from spring to late autumn, but not in winter. If you drive, be warned, that it's really popular and you'll have to wait hours for one of the 300 or so car parking spaces available. So, try to get there before 9am to have a hope. Car parking for us was 800yen for the day.

From the Yunoyama bus stop or car park, it's a 5-10min walk to the cable car (or ropeway / ロープウエイ). Then take the 'ropeway' up to the top of the mountain. The mountain top is called Gozaisho-dake. It cost us 1,890 for a return ticket.

Suggested things to do:
1. Take the cable car up, take pictures on the way up, and from up there. Have lunch at the restaurant. Lunch there is mostly ramen
2. Cable car up, then walk / scramble over rocks and around trees for that real mountain hiking adventure. You'll see more fantastic views than just from the top of the mountain.
3. In winter, from the mountain top, take the ski lift (with ski gear or snowboard) to the ski slope and have a ball over there



It's a great place to go with a few friends, and it'll be a great experience that you can write home about, and have some great pictures to brag about, too.

[winjeel]

Answering some questions asked of me:

Train cost:
Go by Kintetsu from Nagoya to Yunoyama-Onsen is Y830, plus bus fare to Gozaisho-Dake (ropeway station) (maybe about Y200 or so, I'm not sure, sorry)

Hot Springs / Onsen cost:
Most places there are about Y800 to Y1,000 per person (no time limit), though you'd stay there for about two hours maximum, anyway

Flowers:
From late March, through April and most of May there are flowers of various varieties in bloom; though no Plum or Cherry Blossoms (Sakura).

Updated info:
See this site (which is updated almost daily) for the lastest conditions. It usually includes photos taken that very morning or during the previous day: http://www.gozaisho.co.jp/   At time of writing, the ski conditions there look fantastic!

[winjeel]

November 2009

Here's my batch from Saturday taken at the foot of the mountain. A friend and I wanted to go to the mountain top, but the gondola lifts weren't operating due to high winds. So, we decided to hang about and see what would happen, but in the meantime, we kept ourselves busy:

(Many more photos can be found at Asia Photo Connection)

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Then the winds quietened down enough for the gondola lift service to resume. We got up there... just find a white out. We had lunch and then stepped out into the cold. Since it's cooler in higher altitudes, and we weren't used to it, 7 degrees C seems like arctic temperatures!
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Just below cloud base.
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8. The Godola lift station at Gozaisho (1200 meters)