Kōshū Kaidō · Stage 8
Closed at times: Prefectural road 212 over the Sasago pass, which this stage follows, is closed every winter to all traffic, walkers included, for 6.3 km between Hikage and the road above the Yatate cedar: in 2025/26 from 10:00 on 15 December 2025 to mid-April 2026 (Kōshū city). Ōtsuki's tourism association says neither cars nor walkers may pass. The 2026/27 dates are not yet published. During the closure, take the JR Chūō Line from Sasago to Kai-Yamato instead. Source, read 29 September 2026
Over the Sasago pass (1,096 m) on the old road and path, down to Hikage and Kai-Yamato: 11 km, +487 m, over the highest pass of the walk. Yamanashi's historic-roads course from Sasago station to Kai-Yamato station is about 17 km and 6 to 7 hours: its own legs add up to about 3 h 20 of walking (Kuronoda to the Yatate cedar 1 h, on to the tunnel 30 min, down to Komakai 1 h 20), so the rest is breaks and sights. Its listed legs come to about 15.7 km (the course says about 17): 0.75 km from Sasago station to Kuronoda, 4.1 km to the Yatate cedar, 1.8 km to the tunnel, 0.2 km to the pass, 6.4 km down to Komakai and about 2.4 km on to Kai-Yamato station. Our line takes the old path where the course keeps to more of the road, and stops about 800 m before Kai-Yamato station. The road over the pass is closed to walkers too every winter (see the closure notice), and bear-caution signs stand at the start of the old road: carry a bell and cross in daylight.
Best season: Spring and autumn; the Sasago pass road closes in winter. No body manages the old road or publishes a walking season: the month table below is from climate normals. Most of the road is on town streets and main roads; in winter the Sasago pass holds snow and its road is closed to traffic. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 29 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
Sasago (笹子) station on the JR Chūō Line, at the foot of the Sasago pass. No place to stay is mapped within 1 km: stay in Ōtsuki and take the train to start the pass day here.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end
Town
Kai-Yamato (甲斐大和) station on the JR Chūō Line, about 800 m from where our line ends after the descent from the Sasago pass (not counted in the day's distance). No place to stay is mapped within 1 km: take the train on to Kōfu or back to Ōtsuki.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
No walking time is published for this leg. Our estimate for the stage is 3 h 25, computed from the mapped line and its climbing.
Make it your trip
Every day ends at or near a railway station, but from Saruhashi to Fujimi most of them have no place to stay nearby: base yourself in Ōtsuki for the passes, in Kōfu for the basin, and in Kobuchizawa or Kami-Suwa for the last days, and ride the JR Chūō Line to and from each day's ends. In Tokyo, Fuchū and Hachiōji have hotels by their stations.
The whole road in 14 days, station to station.
Plan this journeyThrough Tokyo and its western suburbs: three flat city days.
Plan this journeyOver the Kobotoke and Sasago passes: the mountain section, with few places to stay; base in Ōtsuki.
Plan this journeyThrough the Kōfu basin: stay in Kōfu and ride the train.
Plan this journeyUp into Nagano and down to Lake Suwa and Shimosuwa.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (596 m) and high point (1,109 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (596 m) and the highest point (1,109 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Mixed |
| High point, day / night | 6°/-3° | 7°/-3° | 10°/-1° | 15°/3° | 19°/8° | 22°/13° | 25°/17° | 27°/18° | 23°/14° | 17°/8° | 13°/3° | 8°/-2° |
| Low point, day / night | 8°/-2° | 9°/-1° | 12°/1° | 17°/5° | 22°/10° | 24°/15° | 28°/19° | 29°/20° | 25°/16° | 20°/10° | 15°/4° | 11°/-1° |
| Rain, mm | 39 | 52 | 91 | 115 | 129 | 172 | 182 | 206 | 217 | 207 | 70 | 40 |
| Snow at high point | Possible | Possible | Possible | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Possible |
| Daylight | 10 h | 10 h 53 | 11 h 54 | 13 h 03 | 14 h 01 | 14 h 33 | 14 h 22 | 13 h 33 | 12 h 27 | 11 h 21 | 10 h 19 | 9 h 46 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Most of the road is urban or follows main roads with traffic: keep to the pavements, and where a road has none, walk facing the traffic. Through Hachiōji the old road is the national highway.
The old road on OpenStreetMapBlack bears live in the mountains along the road: Hachiōji city lists its western mountains, where the Kobotoke pass is, as bear habitat, and Hokuto city recorded a bear 1.3 km from Hinoharu station on 9 September 2026, with sightings from late June to late November. On the pass and hill days carry a bell or radio, walk in company where you can, stay off the paths at dawn, dusk and after dark, and check the cities' sighting pages before you go.
Hachiōji city: bears and hikersMost of the road is asphalt with little shade, and the Kōfu basin (days 9 to 11) is among the hottest places in Japan in July and August. In summer start at first light, carry more water than you think, and rest through midday.
Kōfu (climate table, Wikipedia)The Kobotoke pass (day 4, 548 m) and the Sasago pass (day 8, 1,096 m) are mountain paths and old roads, with no shops between the stations. The prefectural road over the Sasago pass closes every winter to walkers as well as cars (in 2025/26 from 15 December to mid-April): in that season take the train from Sasago to Kai-Yamato.
Kōshū city: winter closure of road 212Getting there
Travel around Sasago to Kai-Yamato.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
The walk starts at the Nihonbashi bridge in central Tokyo, by Nihombashi and Mitsukoshimae subway stations and a short walk from Tokyo station.
Kōshū Kaidō (Japanese Wikipedia)The JR Chūō Line follows the road from Hachiōji to Shimosuwa, and the Keiō Line in the Tokyo suburbs: every day of this guide ends at or within about 1 km of one of their stations. At the smaller mountain stations, check the timetable before you set out.
The old road on OpenStreetMapTake your trip with you
Prepare every day while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
The line is the old road as mapped on OpenStreetMap (relation 9561988, 甲州道中, planet of 27 September 2026), 215.9 km from Nihonbashi to Shimosuwa, mostly on town streets and main roads; through Hachiōji the old road is the main road, walked on its pavements. The days end at railway stations on or near the road, most in its old post towns: TrailSplits chose them, not an authority, and the walking times are our estimates.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 29 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Kōshū Kaidō and its post towns (Japanese Wikipedia)Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation