West Fukushima · Azuma MountainsNo.1101★★Open in map →
Bandai-Azuma Skyline
— A volcanic mountain road above Fukushima
A high road across the eastern flank of the Azuma volcanoes, open only from spring to late autumn. Halfway along it, Jododaira is a bare grey plateau with a car park, a visitor centre and a crater rim reachable on foot.
- FromFukushima Station
- ~1 hrSeasonal shuttle from Fukushima
- Get off atJododaira (Bandai-Azuma Skyline)
- From there
- Bandai-Azuma Skyline
The sweet spot
This is a signature drive of northern Honshu and the Jododaira car park fills on autumn weekends, so it is not a quiet place. What is missed is simpler than a secret viewpoint: almost everyone stays in the car. The plateau at the top is walkable in ordinary shoes, and the short climbs from the car park are what turn a photo stop into a day.
Where it is
20 more notes in Fukushima · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Jododaira Visitor Centerthe national park centre at the car park, carrying the day's trail and volcanic-gas notices
- Jododaira Observatorythe highest public astronomical observatory in Japan, on the plateau beside the same car park
- The Jododaira marsh boardwalka short raised walkway with interpretive panels across the wet ground beside the centre
- Azuma-Kofuji crater rima stepped path from the car park straight up the side of a bare, symmetrical cone
- Mount Issaikyothe 1,949-metre summit north of the plateau, reached on a longer marked trail
How to actually get there
- Fukushima Station (west exit) → Jododaira on the seasonal Sky Access shuttle, booked in advance rather than boarded on the day (about an hour).
- Start at the Jododaira Visitor Center for the day's trail and volcanic-gas notices.
- Cross the road from the car park and take the steps up to the crater rim of Azuma-Kofuji.
- Walk the marsh boardwalk beside the centre before you leave the plateau.
- Seasonal shuttle from Fukushima Station
- In the open season a direct shuttle, the Jododaira Sky Access, runs from the west exit of Fukushima Station by way of Takayu Onsen and takes about an hour. It is reserved in advance rather than flagged down on the day, and it runs only while the road is open. By car the same run from Fukushima Station takes about an hour as well.
- Back down to Fukushima, or south to Tsuchiyu
- Return the way you came to Fukushima Station, or carry on south over the Tsuchiyu pass and drop into Tsuchiyu Onsen at the far end of the road. There is no walking option off this plateau and nothing moves once the road closes for the night, so settle the return before you leave the car park.
About the place
The Skyline crosses the eastern flank of the Azuma range for 28.7 kilometres, from above Takayu Onsen on the Fukushima City side to the Tsuchiyu pass in the south. It reaches 1,622 metres at its highest point, near Jododaira, and holds an average of about 1,350 metres along much of its length. The ground changes as it climbs: birch and beech low down, then grey ash slopes, bare rock and steaming vents near the top. The road runs inside Bandai-Asahi National Park and sits on the national list of a hundred notable roads.
How to enjoy it
From the car park the crater rim of Azuma-Kofuji is about ten minutes up the steps, and a full lap of the rim takes roughly an hour. Mount Issaikyo is a different scale — about ninety minutes each way — so start it early in the day rather than fitting it in. Read the gas and trail board at the visitor centre before committing to either.
Background & history
The road opened in 1959, one of the first mountain roads in Tohoku built for sightseeing rather than for getting anywhere. It began as a prefectural project and was handed to a national road corporation partway through construction, and drivers paid a toll on it for more than half a century. The toll was lifted in 2013 and the route became an ordinary prefectural road, free to use whenever it is open.
Before you go
- Cash
- The road itself carries no toll. The car park at Jododaira is charged, and the visitor centre, the observatory and the rest house each keep their own season and their own admission — worth confirming on the day rather than assuming.
- Before you go
- The road is open from around early April to mid-November and shut by snow for the rest of the year; at the start and end of the season it also closes overnight. Azuma is an active volcano, and gas readings can put the plateau trails out of bounds at short notice — the prefectural road notices and the visitor centre carry the current position.
- Another way
- Come at it from the south instead: up from the Inawashiro side to the Tsuchiyu pass, and onto the road from its quieter end. Heading down toward Fukushima, stop at Tsubakuro-dani, where the Fudosawa Bridge spans a gorge — one of the eight named viewpoints strung along the route.
- After you get off
- The shuttle and the car park share the same ground at Jododaira. The visitor centre, the observatory and the marsh boardwalk are all a few minutes on foot from the parking area, and the steps up Azuma-Kofuji begin on the far side of the road.