kyaller 0 Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Hi there, new here Great place! Been lurking for a bit. I have a question. If we rent a car and decide we wanted to get from Nozawa in Nagano to Zao in Yamagata, what sort of journey time should we expect for that? Keen to know if anyone has done that. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Hi kyaller and welcome. OK, the drive from where I am in Muikamachi (Minamiuonuma), using the Kanetsu expressway from here to near Shibata in Niigata and then cutting across into Yamagata using Route 113 and then on to Zao takes the best part of 4 hours including a few brief stops. I would imagine the best way from Nozawa is to take Route 117 from Nozawa up to join the Kanetsu Expressway at Kawaguchi. From that point the journey up to Zao would be the same. So the difference in time would be for just that part of the journey, and I reckon it would take you perhaps up to an hour more considering you'd be on a normal road and my journey to Kawaguch is using the expressway. So my best guess would be about 5 hours. Link to post Share on other sites
kyaller 0 Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 That's brilliant, thanks so much muikabochi. Looked on the map - got it! Link to post Share on other sites
BagOfCrisps 24 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Is there a decent realistic way to get there without using expressways? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 You could take the normal roads up through Niigata on about the same kind of route as the expressway. Other roads cutting across are closed in winter. Anything else is taking you on a ridiculous detour and would take an age. Link to post Share on other sites
desu 1 Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Anyone driven up there from near Nerima? Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 The Route shows that as 386km, almost all of it apart from the last bit on expressway. Link to post Share on other sites
ILoveZao 8 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Depends on how fast you drive of course. And conditions. But it can be done in just over 3 hours. But you should probably think more like 4. Link to post Share on other sites
Gunma Boarder 14 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I got 307 km and a time of 5 hours 34 minutes skijo to skijo using the expressway through Niigata when searching on google maps. Might be able to make better time if the weather is good, but winter in Niigata is not always the best for driving in. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 The road from Nozawa to the Kanetsu Expressway, is a main one and only in the worst weather conditions is it bad. The biggest frustration of the road from the expressway to the north of Shibata over into Yamagata is that if you get behind a slow moving truck or two, it's hard to overtake. But the few times I have done that as well, it has been very clear - they don't get as much snow up there. Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Conditions in parts of Niigata, especuially in that southern band from Myoko to Yuzawa, can be bad but I would say on the whole they are rather smooth apart from the big snow days. Perhaps surprisingly so. It doesn't get as cold as other places and the snow is often moved quickly and out of the way. Link to post Share on other sites
gnarly-dude 1 Posted May 14, 2013 Share Posted May 14, 2013 The Nerima north Tokyo bit can be a bitch though. Link to post Share on other sites
ILoveZao 8 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Getting up and starting out extremely early is a good solution! And you get there for a full day as well, bonus. Link to post Share on other sites
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