Visit to Korankei

I will be visiting the Kansai area in November and will be staying in Otsu during the week of 24th to 30th Nov. During that time I would very much like to visit Korankei to enjoy its famous autumn leaves.

My task now is to find the best way to get there. One way is to take a bus from HigashiOkazaki and another is a bus from ToyotaShi. From what I can see on my map is that Korankei is closer to ToyotaShi than to HigashiOkazaki. I would be grateful for advice on the best way to get there. All the english websites I have found so far do not agree on the best route. I realize the roads will be very busy that time of the year so I want to find the fastest bus route.

Many thanks,

Johannes van Vuren,
Cambridge, UK.

There are equally frequent buses from Higashi-Okazaki to Korankei (66 minutes, 800 yen one way) as there are from Toyotashi Station (42 minutes, 800 yen one way).

So, it comes down to whether Higashi-Okazaki or Toyoyashi is reached faster from your starting point.

Assuming you start in Kyoto, the fastest connection to Higashi-Okazaki takes 85 minutes and costs around 6000 yen, while the fastest connection to Toyotashi Station takes about 100 minutes and costs virtually the same. The latter connection does involve more train transfers, though, and can be considered less comfortable.

So, as you can see, the two approaches are almost exactly equally fast and expensive.

What I do not know, however, is whether eventual traffic jams make one approach preferable over the other.

A friend went from Osaka to Higashi-Okazaki by train with a transfer in Nagoya (note that the Nagoya to Higashi-Okazaki train is not run by JR) and then took the bus. From Otsu you will need an extra train transfer in either Kyoto or Maibara to reach Nagoya. Toyotashi will involve more train transfers.

We also went in Nov but found the train + bus connection a bit too time consuming since we would like to go to Ena Gorge (another scenic koyo destination) on the same day. So we rent a car from Nagoya and manage to take in both. Korankei is EXTREMELY popular during autumn foliage season. We got stuck in traffic for more than 2 hrs for the last 7 km of the drive.

BTW, if you are going there I hope you are aware that it is better to stay after dusk when the mt. slope along the river is beautifully lit up in the evening.

Thanks William5 and Uji for your useful information. I will leave Otsu very early in the morning and will now go to Higashi-Okazaki as it seems to be easier to get to from Kyoto. I also plan to stay for the evening lightup of the trees in Korankei. Do you know what time the last bus goes back to Higashi-Okazaki? I would have loved to go to the Ena Gorge too but will have to leave that for another day.

Johannes.

Regards this website http://www.mirai.ne.jp/~asuke/
2011's bus time table hasn't been updated yet.

But for 2010, last bus from Korankei Leave at 17.51(Weekday) and 20.34(Weekend)

What time do they turn on the lights at Korankei? If the last bus leave that early, then how do people get back to where they came from? Or do most people come by car? Will there be taxis to take me back to Higashi-Okazaki?

The Nov bus schedule between Hitashi Okazaki and Korankei is not out yet. If you read a bit of kanji you can use the following site to search for the time-table. Click the lower right-hand 岡崎地区 and the bus line is shown on top of the page. Nov schedule should be out next month. A search for Oct reveals that the last bus from Korankei to Hitashi Okazaki is at 17.51 for the whole week. It wouldn't be surprise during Nov (esp. during autumn foliage season between mid and late Nov) there are more frequent runs as well as later departures from Korankei.

http://trainbus.meitetsu.co.jp/bus/BusLine.aspx?param=3#kensakutop