The Dragondola is 5,481 metres long, the longest gondola in Japan. It takes about twenty-five minutes to cross from Naeba to Tashiro, over a deep forested gorge with a river at the bottom.
In winter it is full of skiers. In summer it is nearly empty, and it is better, because in summer you can see what is underneath: an unbroken beech and oak gorge that has no road through it, so the only way to look at it is from above.
At the top you are at 1,300 metres, in alpine meadow. In July the day lilies are out across the slopes. In August it is fifteen degrees cooler than Tokyo and the air is thin and clean. In October the whole gorge turns colour and you ride over it twice.
We walk the ridge paths at the top - easy, marked, and as long or short as you want - and there is a pond and a cafe up there if walking is not the point for you.
On the way we stop in Yuzawa town, which Kawabata used as the setting for Snow Country, and finish in a hot spring before the drive back.
This is a summer mountain day in a place that exists in most people's minds only as a ski resort. That is exactly why it is quiet.
Your private van, driver-guide and the whole day are yours alone. No other customers join.
The gondola runs on set dates each green season and stops for high wind and lightning.If a stop is closed or cancelled on your date, your driver-guide takes you to a similar place nearby instead. The tour price does not change. We will tell you before the tour.
