October 7, 2025
Day 35 — Yamagata to Yonezawa
Marilee here.
It was time to say goodbye to the comforts of the Yamagata Comfort Hotel, its air conditioning, tiny coffees, the slow elevator to the 10th floor that gave us opportunities to meet our fellow guests. We had a great day off and now we were looking forward to several days of camping, if the weather cooperated. Also ahead of us were a few days of significant climbing as we threaded our way southwest through the Japanese alps.
But this first day promised to be relatively gentle — not too far, not too high, just a few hours of pedaling to get us into position for the following day’s heroic up and over effort on a big switchbacking mountain pass (which Tom will be describing — wait for it!).
This meant that we had plenty of time to stop along the way and investigate things that caught our attention. And of course, plenty of things did.
First on the sightseeing list: Kaminoyama Castle. A reconstruction, like almost all castles in Japan, but just so imposing and elegant that we felt compelled to go in.
Inside was the local museum — a bit of a miscellany, but the exhibits were very polished and professional, and the collection was interesting. It included more Jomon era pots (we’re now concluding that if you dig deep enough, anywhere in Japan, you’ll hit a layer of Jomon artifacts), and a life-sized statue of a famous early 20th century sumo wrestler from the district, which was astoundingly huge. I’m sorry we don’t have a photo to share of it, I stood next to it and I think my head came to about his bicep.
Continuing on after the castle, we passed through a few hamlets with abandoned and derelict old buildings (a sad and common sight in rural Japan), before going up and over a pass and down the other side through a beautiful, thickly wooded, narrow valley. All along this road we were passed by maybe half a dozen cars over a two-hour or more timespan.
Eventually we made it to the interesting town of Takahata, filled with temples and shrines and various photogenic curiosities.
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We ended the day at a free municipal campground in the town of Yonezawa. We were the only campers — not surprising really as the campground was hidden in an industrial area. Still, you can’t complain— the price was right! We were in bed by 7, resting up for what promised to be a strenuous next day.
Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,762 km (1,094 miles)
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