How Do You Get to the Yatsugatake Mountains and Kiyosato by Train and Bus?
This guide is for visitors who want to reach the Yatsugatake Mountains on the border of Nagano and Yamanashi prefectures by public transport. It uses two pages of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), two pages of the Yamanashi Tourism Organization and the English site of the Chino Tourism Organization. All pages were read on 2026-10-04.
The pages give directions but no timetables or fares. One of the Yamanashi pages dates from 2019, and we mark what may have changed.
The short answer
JNTO says you can reach the Yatsugatake Mountains most easily from Chino Station in the Suwa region of Nagano. The mountains also have a southern foot in Yamanashi, where Kiyosato Station on the Koumi Line is the usual gateway. Which side you choose depends on the trailhead or the town you want.
The Chino side
From Shinjuku, JNTO says to catch the JR Azusa Chuo Line limited express for Matsumoto and get off at Chino Station. From there, buses run to various Yatsugatake trailheads, Lake Shirakaba and the Kirigamine Highlands. The Chino Tourism Organization says Chino is about 2 hours from Tokyo and 30 minutes from Matsumoto.
JNTO also warns that while infrequent buses connect certain sites in the foothills, a rental car expands the possibilities for exploration.
The Kiyosato side
The Yamanashi Tourism Organization says Kiyosato is a resort town in the Kiyosato Highlands at the southern foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains. Kiyosato Station is served by the Koumi Line, which connects northern Yamanashi to Nagano. A second Yamanashi page says the line also operates a highway bus that connects to Kiyosato, and points to a bus operator's site for details.
The two Yamanashi pages disagree on the height of the station. One says Kiyosato Station is 1,276 metres above sea level and the second highest station on the JR network. The other says 1,274 metres, just behind Nobeyama Station in Nagano at 1,345 metres. The difference is small, and both agree it is the second highest.
Getting around Kiyosato
The Yamanashi pages describe several options once you arrive at the station. The wooden tourist information centre offers electric bicycle rentals and a two-hour tour of the town by motorised rickshaw. A bus leaves from the front of the station and travels to the best picnic spots in the area. The 2019 page calls it the Picnic Bus and says it is the best option for travel within Kiyosato.
The same page says Kiyosato has many slopes, but that electric bicycles make it easy to get around. It says bikes can be rented and returned at the Kiyosato Ekimae General Tourist Information Center, which it calls Aozora, and can be reserved online. It also says a rental car shop is a 7 minute walk from the station. We did not check prices or opening hours, which may have changed since 2019.
To a southern trailhead
JNTO's hiking page describes a two-day loop from the Kannon-daira Trailhead to Mt. Amigasa and Mt. Gongen. For access it says to take a bus for 15 minutes from JR Kiyosato Station to the Yatsugatake Club, and then walk for about 10 minutes to the Tenjozan parking lot.
A little history of the station
The Yamanashi Tourism Organization says Kiyosato Station first opened in 1933, and that the current building, with sharp modernist angles and a brilliant white colour scheme, was added in 1976. Outside the station is a preserved steam train that ran on the Koumi Line until 1972.
How the areas are laid out
The Chino Tourism Organization says Chino is made up of four areas. The first is the quasi-national park formed by the many peaks of the Yatsugatake. The others are the highland thermal retreat in Tateshina, the mountain resorts of Lake Shirakaba and Kurumayama, and the town and rural villages scattered in the foothills. Its site has a page for access and a page for trekking, which are worth reading before you choose a base.
JNTO's hiking page suggests stopping by the nearby town of Suwa to enjoy a relaxing soak in one of its many natural hot springs. So a trip from Chino Station can combine a trailhead with a hot spring in the same day.
What we could not verify, and therefore left out
- Train and bus timetables, fares, and the highway bus operator.
- Whether the Picnic Bus, the e-bike rental and the rental car shop still run as described in 2019.
- The correct height of Kiyosato Station, since the two pages differ.
- Bus services to Lake Shirakaba and the Kirigamine Highlands, whose frequency the pages do not give.
Related guides
- What Is Yatsugatake? Peaks, Highland Lakes and Villages on the Nagano and Yamanashi Border
- How Do Mountain Lodges and Hiking Work in the Yatsugatake Mountains?
Sources
All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.
- Yatsugatake Mountains (JNTO) — (Chino Station, Azusa line, buses, rental car)
- Chino Travel (Chino Tourism Organization) — (2 hours from Tokyo, 30 minutes from Matsumoto)
- Kiyosato (Yamanashi Tourism Organization) — (station 1,276 m, 1933, 1976, steam train, bus)
- Transportation in Kiyosato (Yamanashi Tourism Organization, 2019) — (1,274 m, highway bus, Picnic Bus, e-bikes)
- Yatsugatake Mountains hiking page (JNTO) — (Kiyosato Station to the Yatsugatake Club)