Hachijurigoe

〜Bus tour through unexplored Hachijurigoe〜

National Route 289, established in 1970, has a total length of about 300 kilometers and stretches from Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture to Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture.
Hachijurigoe is a mountain road that includes about 19 kilometers of formerly impassable section from Sanjo City (formerly Shitada Village) in Niigata Prefecture to Tadami-machi in Fukushima Prefecture. While the actual distance is only eight “ri” (about 31 km), people said it felt like it was 80-ri long from its steepness.
During the Boshin War, it was also known as the path that Echigo-Nagaoka domain (now Niigata Prefecture) chief retainer Tsuginosuke Kawai used to escape to Aizu (now Fukushima Prefecture) using all of his strength while wounded.
In the Hachijurigoe Bus Tour, you will see the construction of National Route 289 Hachijurigoe that is slowly linking the once broken roads between Aizu and Echigo, and can experience the bountiful nature, the greatest appeal of the rarely visited area, and the history related to Tsuginosuke Kawai.
The Hachijurigoe Bus Tour started operating from fiscal year 2013 under Sanjo City, and continued for six years until 2018.
More than 7,800 participants have taken part so far (operating from June 23 to November 3 in 2019).