Tsuruoka Getting there & around

Getting there & away

From JR Tsuruoka station, the JR Uetsu Main line runs north to Sakata (tokkyū, ¥480, 38 minutes) for connections to Kisakata, and to Akita (tokkyū, ¥4020, 1½ hours); it takes a scenic route south to Niigata (tokkyū, ¥4330, 1¾ hours) across a backdrop of crashing waves. Taking the train to Yamagata usually requires three changes, one at the very least. Despite the extension of the Yamagata shinkansen line to Shinjō, it’s still more convenient to take the bus.

A series of scenic local trains along the JR Rikuu-sai and Rikuu-tō lines connects Tsuruoka to Naruko Onsen (Miyagi-ken; ¥1890, two hours20 minutes) via a change at Shinjō.

Night buses to Tokyo (Ikebukuro, Shibuya) depart from in front of the Tokyo Dai-ichi Hotel in Tsuruoka (¥7540, eight hours). Regular buses between Tsuruoka and Yamagata (¥2400, 1¾ hours) run via the Yudono-san Hotel (¥1370, 50 minutes), which provides access to Yudono-san. Services are often cut back during the winter months due to snowdrifts. Between July and early November, there are also up to four direct buses between Tsuruoka and Yudono-san that stop by the hotel on the way up to the Sennin-zawa trailhead (¥1480, 80 minutes).