Why this ride
223 km from Utsunomiya to Nikkō, about 4 h 48 of riding. On the way it passes Nikko shrine stop and Lake Chuzenji water view. The climbs: Irohazaka hairpins and Irohazaka ascent. It tops out at about 1,350 m. It is a high-mountain day.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tokyo · Nikko Irohazaka and Lake Chuzenji + Nikko · Irohazaka and Lake Chuzenji
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 223 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 48
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Irohazaka · Nikkō
For 22 km this is Irohazaka · Nikkō, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it — expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 19 km
- Named road
- Irohazaka · Nikkō
Irohazaka · Nikkō
Water arrives beside the road and stays for 7 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go. Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 6 km
- Named road
- Irohazaka · Nikkō
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Utsunomiya fuel gate
Say gyoza in Japan and most people will say Utsunomiya. The capital of Tochigi has made the dumpling its civic emblem, with dozens of specialist shops, statues of dumplings in the station area and a popular rivalry with Hamamatsu over which city eats more of them. It is a cheerful, big-city sort of town, home to four hundred and fifty thousand people, and for riders it is the gateway to Nikkō, thirty-odd kilometres to the north-west.
Read the complete Utsunomiya fuel gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Utsunomiya is where the day begins. Next is Nikko shrine stop.
2. Nikko shrine stop
The shrines at Nikko are among the most lavish in Japan, and they are there because of a single man. Tokugawa Ieyasu, who unified the country and founded the shogunate that ruled for over two and a half centuries, died in 1616 and was enshrined here the following year, in a mountain setting selected for its sacred character. His grandson Iemitsu rebuilt the complex on a grand scale in the 1630s, and the result is Toshogu, a collection of buildings covered in gold leaf, carved animals, flowers and painted beams, set among very tall cedars.
Read the complete Nikko shrine stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nikko shrine stop comes up 49 km in. Next is Irohazaka hairpins.
3. Irohazaka hairpins
The Irohazaka is the most famous road in Nikko, and one of the best known in Japan. It climbs from the town at about 640 metres to Lake Chuzenji at roughly 1,270 metres, in a series of forty-eight hairpin bends, each marked with a sign bearing one of the characters of the old Japanese alphabet, called iroha, which has forty-eight letters. The road is split into two one-way sections, with the original, built in the 1950s, carrying traffic down and a second, with twenty-eight bends, carrying traffic up, so you never meet oncoming vehicles on the corners.
Read the complete Irohazaka hairpins write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
This is where the road stops climbing. Next is Lake Chuzenji water view.
4. Lake Chuzenji water view
Lake Chuzenji lies at about 1,270 metres in the mountains above Nikko, and it was born in violence. Some twenty thousand years ago, an eruption of Mount Nantai, the cone that now rises above the northern shore, sent lava across the Daiya river and dammed the valley, and the water that built up behind it became the lake. The result is a deep, cold, clear body of water, shaped like a crescent, with wooded slopes plunging into it and no real beach.
Read the complete Lake Chuzenji water view write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lake Chuzenji water view, about halfway. Next is Back to Utsunomiya.
5. Back to Utsunomiya
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Utsunomiya fuel gate write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Utsunomiya. That is the ride. Next is Irohazaka ascent.
6. Irohazaka ascent
The Irohazaka climbs from Nikkō, at about six hundred metres, to Lake Chūzenji at roughly twelve hundred and seventy, and each bend is labelled with one of the forty-eight characters of the old Japanese iroha syllable poem, so you can tick them off in order like a very steep alphabet. The road is actually two roads, a one-way uphill route built in 1954 and a one-way downhill route added in 1965, so you meet the bends in one direction only and never face oncoming traffic on them.
Read the complete Irohazaka ascent write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Irohazaka ascent is the summit of this stretch. Next is Lake Chuzenji.
7. Lake Chuzenji
Lake Chuzenji lies at about 1,270 metres in the mountains above Nikko, and it was made by a volcano. Some twenty thousand years ago, Mount Nantai, a steep cone that now rises to nearly 2,500 metres on the north shore, erupted and its lava dammed the Daiya River, forming this long, clear, deep lake. The water is cold, even in summer, and it is stocked with trout and salmon, and the lake is surrounded by forest. Seen at dawn, with mist rising from the surface, it is a calm and lovely sight.
Read the complete Lake Chuzenji write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
293 km in you reach Lake Chuzenji. Next is Kegon Falls.
8. Kegon Falls
Kegon Falls drops ninety-seven metres from the edge of Lake Chuzenji into a rocky gorge, and it is counted among the three great waterfalls of Japan. The lake's outflow, the Daiya river, simply runs to the lip of an ancient lava flow and falls straight down, creating a white column in a dark basin of volcanic rock. Around the main fall, smaller streams seep from the cliff face, and in winter some of them freeze into long icicles, a magnificent sight if you can bear the cold.
Read the complete Kegon Falls write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kegon Falls, late in the day. Next is Nikko food.
9. Nikko food
Imaichi is the quiet partner of Nikko, a working town of sixty thousand people on the plain where the mountain roads meet the Kanto lowlands, and a very good place to eat after the climb to Chuzenji. Some of the trunks are as thick as a small car, and the shade under them is deep and green even at noon.
Read the complete Nikko food write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food at 391 km, roughly 7 hours into the riding. Next is Back to Irohazaka ascent.
10. Back to Irohazaka ascent
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Irohazaka ascent write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Irohazaka ascent closes the day.
Leg by leg
Utsunomiya fuel gate to Nikko shrine stop
Utsunomiya fuel gate → Nikko shrine stop is 82 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nikko shrine stop to Irohazaka hairpins
Nikko shrine stop → Irohazaka hairpins is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Irohazaka hairpins to Lake Chuzenji water view
Irohazaka hairpins → Lake Chuzenji water view is 6 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lake Chuzenji water view to Back to Utsunomiya
Lake Chuzenji water view → Back to Utsunomiya is 99 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Back to Utsunomiya to Irohazaka ascent
Back to Utsunomiya → Irohazaka ascent is 93 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Irohazaka ascent to Lake Chuzenji
Irohazaka ascent → Lake Chuzenji is 6 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kegon Falls to Nikko food
Kegon Falls → Nikko food is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nikko food to Back to Irohazaka ascent
Nikko food → Back to Irohazaka ascent is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Japan Irohazaka Roads · 47 km
- Nikko Irohazaka and Lake Chuzenji · 300 km