Local Bus Adventure To Nagano Prefecture - Part 1

This week, we embark on a two-day bus journey across four prefectures. We will start from Mount Takao in Tokyo and travel through Kanagawa and Yamanashi to reach Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture. We will travel on route buses and must reach the goal by 7pm on the second day. We are also given 10,000 yen, which can be used to ride on taxis to places which are not accessible by bus. 

Located in Hachioji City, Mount Takao is 599m high. It is a popular mountain climbing spot visited by 3 million people each year. Our strategy is to take the 10.15am bus to Lake Sagami from Takaosanguchi Station and then head west along National Route 20. The bus crosses the prefectural border and arrives at Sagamiko Station in Kanagawa Prefecture after 40 minutes. It is close to Lake Sagami, which was the venue for the canoeing competition during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. We head to the information centre at Lake Sagami and ask about the best way to go to Otsuki by bus. We find out that to head west from Sagamiko Station, we can only go as far as Fujino, the neighbouring station. After that, we will have to head west via Uenohara Station in Yamanashi Prefecture. We are however told there are no buses that cross the prefectural border into Yamanashi, only trains.  

We have an hour till the bus leaves for Fujino at 11.55am. We drop by Kadoya Shokudo near Sagamiko Station and try its popular deep-fried Japanese pond smelt and soft serve ice cream. We then hop on the Fujino-bound bus and head to Fujino Station, 10 minutes away from Sagamiko Station. As there are no buses to Uenohara Station, we take a taxi, which crosses the prefectural border and enters Yamanashi Prefecture. We reach Uenohara in about 10 minutes and the taxi ride costs us around 2,000 yen. 

It is 12.35pm by now and we visit the information centre to find out how to head towards Kofu. The staff tells us to catch the 12.55pm bus from Uenohara Station and get off at Honmachi Sanchome. We arrive at 1.10pm and have until 2.55pm to transfer to a bus bound for Inume, from where we can take a bus to Shiotsu Station. However, from Shiotsu, we need to walk for about 2km to a bus stop called Arakura. The last bus from there will depart at 5pm and only goes as far as Saruhashi Station, one station before Otsuki Station. 

While waiting for the bus to Inume from Honmachi Sanchome, we eat at Sharuman, an izakaya which is also open during the day. We order the Korean barbecue set meal, which includes fried shumai and fried shrimp. After lunch, we take the Inume-bound bus at 2.55pm. The bus heads west on National Route 20. We ask the driver if we could walk from Inume Station to Torisawa instead, as we do not want to wait for the 5pm bus to Saruhashi. We find out it will take us two hours to walk along the mountain path. 

So we alight at Shiotsu Station about 25 minutes after leaving Honmachi Sanchome. We then end up taking a taxi to Torisawa Station, which costs us more than 3,000 yen. We are thus left with less than 5,000 yen to spend on taxis for the rest of the trip. By the time we reach Torisawa, it is 3.45pm and we make our way to Saruhashi Station on foot in order to take a bus to Otsuki. It takes us nearly an hour to walk to Saruhashi. 

At 4.55pm, the bus leaves Saruhashi Station for Otsuki, which is about eight minutes away. The plan is to take the bus to Tsuru from here. We are shocked when we realise there is only one bus a day to the city and it had left in the morning. We ask someone who works for Fuji Kyuko Railway about bus routes and are told there are no buses after Tsuru City. He suggests we take the 5.55pm bus from Otsuki Station to Shinden. The bus stops along a deserted road in the mountain, near the Sasago Tunnel. The tunnel is only accessible by car, so we call for a taxi so that we can pass the tunnel to reach the other side, where there are buses. 

Tips:

1)    Always check the schedule and frequency of buses to plan your time accordingly
2)    Some bus companies only operate along certain routes within a particular area