Arriving Yamadera at 1PM - enough time?

Hello,

I am arriving at Yamadera Station at around 1PM. Do I have enough time to go all the way to Godaido and come down to exit before closing time?

I'll be there on 11/23. Is it accurate that sunset in Yamagata is around 4:20PM? That is a lot sooner than I was expecting. I'm a bit worry it might get very dark quick.

You will definitely have enough time. If you want to take it slow, then it'll take about 2 hours. Much less if you're fast(er).

However, I bet there will be A LOT of tourists on November 23rd as it's not only a Saturday, but also a national holiday, so things might take a little longer than usually.

You might even have time to check out more like the Basho Memorial Hall.

Here's all about my visit of Yamadera: http://zoomingjapan.com/travel/yamadera/

Without crowds it only takes about 45 mins to climb to the top of Yamadera from the entrance at the base. It will take longer if it is crowded, but you should have plenty of time to see the temple before it gets too dark.

Thank you for the heads up and info.

On that 11/23, I will be taking Narita Express at 7:44 from Narita to Tokyo Station, then Shinkansen Tsubasa at 9:24 to Yamagata Station. Do you think I'll have any problem reserving a seat during this National holiday? I'll reserving Green Seat.

Why Yamadera?

Late Nov autumn colors overed and if snow clouds coming just steps wet(slippy/no snow) and cold no busy.
Already first fall snow this week monday "Winter" starts.

Green cars maybe no problem one or two seats but not recommend Shinkansen Tsubasa.
dep 9:36 Shinkansen Hayabusa via Sendai stn better.
Hayabusa Green a lot of seats than Tsubasa and fastest shinkansen in Japan 320km/h operate after Utsunomiya(non stop) until Sendai.

Thank you very very much for warning!!! You saved my valuable time in Japan. After I read your reply, I got worried so I went online to check vacancies of Tsubasa. OMG you were right. It was already nearly fully booked. I was able to reserve my green seats online. If I went on without reserving my seats now, I would have definitely lost good portion of sightseeing time.

I considered via Sendai, but due to my tight schedules, Tsubasa was the most convenient for me.