Hiking Yamadera (Rissyakuji Temple) as a Day Trip from Sendai or Tokyo
Thinking about doing a half day trip to Yamadera (also known as Rissyaku-ji) temple? Well you are in the right place! Yamadera is a beautiful and serene hike that can easily be done as a day trip from either Sendai or Tokyo. This post will show you all you need to know to visit Yamadera to hike up the stone steps.
Yamadera, meaning mountain temple, is a popular hiking spot in Yamagata in Japan. As the name implies, there are a series of temples on top of a mountain and the official name of the temples is Hoshuzan Risshakuji Temple (立石寺).
While Yamadera may not be on the radar of a first-time Japan visitor, it actually can be done very easily as a day trip from Tokyo (albeit a long time spent on the train). It certainly is a popular day trip from Sendai, especially when combined with a visit to Matsushima in the afternoon.
In this post, I will share with you logistics of visiting Yamadera, details of the hike up the mountain, and other useful tips and information to make your visit smooth and fun.
Brief history of Yamadera
Yamadera’s origin can be traced back to 860 AD when it was founded by the monk Ennin (also known as Jikaku Daishi), a prominent figure of the Tendai Buddhist sect. The temple was established as a place of meditation and worship, taking advantage of the natural scenery of the surrounding mountains.
The temple’s architectural and cultural significance grew over the centuries, particularly during the Heian and Kamakura periods. Yamadera became a renowned pilgrimage site, attracting visitors from various regions who were drawn by its spiritual atmosphere and the stunning views from its numerous halls and pagodas.
One of the legends has it that the ritual flame of Yamadera’s head temple Enryaku-ji from Kyoto has been burning ever since it was transported. You can see this flame inside the Konpon Chudo, one of the main temples on the lower level of Yamadera.
Where is Yamadera (Risshaku-ji)?
Yamadera is located in Yamagata, about 400 km north of Tokyo and 60 km west of Sendai.
You may not have heard of Yamagata by name, but you probably have heard of famous winter destinations such as Ginzan Onsen, a fairytale-like hot spring town and Mount Zao snow monsters.
How to get to Yamadera
Thanks to the wonderful and efficient public transportation system in Japan, it is super easy to get to Yamadera on the train (or by car).
Getting to Yamadera from Sendai
There is a direct train (Senzan line) that connects Sendai Station to Yamadera Station. The train ride takes slightly over an hour and there is an hourly train everyday. The Senzan line is covered in a JR pass.
After getting off the train at Yamadera station, it is a 450 meter (6 minute walk) to the entrance of Yamadera (called Rissyakuji Temple Entrance (Yamadera)). The walk is easy and there are signs pointing you to the right direction.
Getting to Yamadera from Tokyo
If you want to do a day trip to Yamadera from Tokyo, you have a few options.
- Take the JR train from Tokyo Station to Sendai Station (about 2 hours, could be 2.5 hours depending on the train), then transfer to the Senzan line at Sendai Station to Yamadera Station (1 hour 10 minutes). Total travel time will be about 3-4 hours.
- Take the JR train from Tokyo Station to Yamagata Station (2 hours 46 min), then transfer to the Senzan Line at Yamagata Station (18 minutes). Total travel time is about 3 hours.
If you have a JR pass, you will be able to utilize the JR pass for this round trip ride.
As you can see, if you do decide to do a Yamadera day trip from Tokyo, you will be spending 5-6 hours on the train. Is it worth it? Maybe, depends on how much you want to visit Yamadera.
Best time to visit Yamadera
You can visit Yamadera all year round, even in the winter. In my opinion, the best time to visit Yamadera is from mid October to mid November, during the fall foliage season. The temperature will be cooler and you will see the vibrant foliage on your hike up and from the viewing platform.
The second best time to hike Yamadera is in the spring, after the snow melts. While Yamadera is not known for cherry blossoms (you may see some in the lower temples), it will be a lot easier to hike up without the snow and before the humidity kicks in. However, keep in mind that if you visit during Golden Week, you will see a lot more domestic tourists.
Winter may not be your ideal time to hike Yamadera, only because the snow and ice can make the 1000+ steps really slippery and make the trip much longer. I’ve seen photos of the snowy landscape viewed from Yamadera and it is absolutely gorgeous and worth the effort.
Although hiking in the snow can be difficult, I actually would NOT recommend visiting Yamadera in the winter when there is no snow. You will be seeing a lot of dead trees from the viewing platform when it’s barren without snow. For the sake of a beautiful view, hiking Yamadera in the snow is better than no snow.
Now let’s talk about summer. Summer is HOT and HUMID in Japan. Even though Yamagata is north of Tokyo, meaning it is less hot, it can still be very humid in the summer. I personally would not hike up 1000 something steps in the summer.
Yamadera (Rissyakuji) opening time & cost
Rissyaku-ji temple opens from 8am to 4pm (3pm in the winter). They stop letting people up 1 hour before closing time from what I read from forums. Don’t cut it close, they may not let you in.
In terms of timing, I recommend going early in the morning (like 8am) to avoid the crowd. I went at 8am in October and there were only a couple of people there! By the time I was coming back down around 10am, there were a lot more people.
It costs 300 Yen per adult to visit. You have to pay by cash. Children under age 4 can go for free.
How long does it take to visit Yamadera Temple
In general you should expect to spend at least 1.5 -2 hours at Yamadera. The stairs portion takes about. 30 minutes one way. The temple ground is quite large with multiple buildings to visit. If you are not the most fit or you simply like to take your time and explore everything, then you can spend 2-3 hours at Yamadera.
If you are visiting in the winter, you will need to budget even more time, as the snow and ice can make the climb much slower and harder.
Logistics of hiking Yamadera: what to expect
Save a copy of this map (or take a photo of the map when you are there) to help you figure out where to go at Yamadera.
Entrance to Yamadera
There are multiple entrances to Yamadera if you look at the map above.
After you get off the train at Yamadera Station, follow the sign and walk across the red bridge.
If you had google mapped “Rissyakuji Temple (Yamadera)”, this will lead you to the first entrance, which is on the lower left corner of the map above. This is actually the exit, although nobody will stop you from hiking up. At this entrance, there is a sign that tells you to walk another 270 m to the entrance.
After you continue the walk, you will see two other entrances with stairs to up. One will be going up to Nenbutsudō (念仏堂) while the other one will go up to Hie Temple (日枝神社), like the photo below.
If you continue to walk, you will finally come to the most right entrance, with no signs in English, just carved words in Japanese. If you can read Chinese characters like myself, there is actually a large sign and an arrow that says entrance.
To find this entrance, search for “Rissyakuji Temple Entrance (Yamadera)” on Google Maps.
To be honest it doesn’t really matter which entrance you choose, they all end up leading to the same trail and you can always explore around using the map above.
Exploring the lower temples
After climbing up the initial steps, you will have reached the lower temples. If you climb up from the official entrance, then the first building you will see is Konpon Chudo, the oldest and one of the most important buildings at Yamadera. Inside Konpon Chudo, there is a wooden Buddha statue as well as the flame that’s apparently been burning since the start of its head temple in Kyoto.
As you continue on the path past Konpon Chudo, you will see other shrines as well as statues of Kawai Sora and Matsuo Basho, a famous Edo period poet who visited Yamadera and wrote his famous Haiku poetry there.
After walking by Hie Jinja, Homotsu-Den, and Nenbutsu-Do, you will see a tower (called Shoro) with a map in front. This is the same map as the one above, again, take a photo of it if you haven’t!
After the towers, you will reach your first gate, Sanmon (meaning Mountain Gate). This is where you will need to pay the 300 Yen entrance fee with cash. I believe if you come before 8am, the gates will be closed.
If you look on the map above, there are other things to see to the left of Sanmon. Don’t worry about visiting them right now, you have a chance to visit them when you exit and walk down the exit stairs. I did see someone walking that direction, maybe he didn’t look at the map and just kept walking. Again, this is why I recommend having the map with you!
Walking up the steps
After you enter through Sanmon, your climb officially starts! I hope you did stairmasters before visiting because there are another 800 something steps. There are supposedly 1015 steps in total at Yamadera, so you already walked 200 some steps to this point.
The nice thing about hiking up Yamadera is that half of the stone steps are in the cedar tree forest, making the hike nice and shaded. Along the way you will see a ton of stone lanterns as well as statues. Sometimes there are signs explaining what you are looking at but they are all in Japanese.
After about 10-15 minutes, you will come across a small monument called Semi-zuka, a place believed to be where his disciples buried his short poems, as well as Mida-Hora, a large rock that’s been carved by wind and rain to resemble a standing Amida Buddha. I seriously couldn’t tell but apparently if you can, that will bring you good luck. There are also places where you can put coins on the side of the rock.
As you continue to climb up, you will finally reach Nio-Mon, the second gate on this climb. The gate is beautiful and is made from zelkova wood.
In case you get tired, there are places with benches you can rest when climbing up the stairs. There are also warning signs about monkeys and that you should not feed them or look at them. Apparently these monkeys can attack humans so you should avoid them if you spot one.
Finding the Yamadera view point
After passing the Nio-Mon gate, you will start seeing a lot more temple buildings/ halls on your right hand side as you continue to climb up the stairs. If you are adventurous, you can go right after the first building to walk all the way to Tainai-Do.
At the upper temple level, there are various paths you can take. Most people actually walk straight up all the stairs to the end to see Daibutsu-Den or Oku-No-In, thinking that is where the famous viewing spot is. Actually it is not.
I didn’t know this before hiking up, but Godai-do (on the left side) is where the famous view point is. I only went left instead of continuing going up the stairs because I saw the small red building (Nokyo-Do). I remembered seeing that from photos of Yamadera on Google so I decided to go there.
Nokyodo is actually where the sacred sutra manuscripts are kept and Kaisando, the building next to Nokyodo, is dedicated to Jikaku Daishi, Yamadera’s founder.
Little did I know that continuing walking up the steps next to KaisanDo would lead me to the famous view point of Yamadera at Godai-Do. There is a small section of very narrow steps and after that, you will be at Godai-Do.
Since I visited quite early, it wasn’t very crowded at all. There were a couple of other Japanese tourists there and that’s it. If you want to have this place all to yourself, then you definitely should visit early (or go in the winter).
This visit was on October 15th and there wasn’t too much orange/red foliage yet. Most of the trees in the landscape are still green. So I imagine if you visit late October or early November the color would be much more vibrant and intense.
Explore the upper temples
After visiting Godai-Do (the view point), you can walk back to the main stairs again to continue going up the last section of the steps. The walk back to the main stairs don’t have any railings, so be sure to watch out especially if you are visiting with kids.
As you continue to go up, there will be another rest area with a stall that sells souvenirs and water. There is also a bathroom there.
On the very top level, you will find Daibutsu-Den where you will find a golden buddha, and Oku-no-in, which houses 2 Buddha statues. There are other buildings at the upper level (and near the upper level) where you can buy charms and amulets. You can also pray and burn incense right in front of Oku-no-In.
Near the top (not at the very end) you will also find a red Japan postal mailbox! You can actually mail letters here and it gets collected everyday.
Walking down Yamadera
After exploring all the temple buildings at the top, you can start making your way down. You can either go down the same way you came up, or there is actually a downhill path that is small and narrow near Semi-zuka. The words are in Kanji (Chinese characters) so most foreigners will not recognize them. However this path is quite narrow and steep and it eventually connects back to the main stairs, so you don’t really need to walk this way.
As you walk down, after passing by Sanmon (where you paid for your ticket), you can turn right to explore the areas you didn’t explore earlier. You can walk through Baku-mon (another gate), see the statue of Rakanzo, walk past Risshaku-ji Honbo, see the giant rock of Kagura-iwa before walking down the exit steps.
Combining Yamadera with Matsushima or Sendai
Since it only takes 90 minutes to 2 hours to visit Yamadera, you can totally fit something else in during this day trip. Most people would either spend more time in Sendai or go to Matsushima, known as one of the top 3 most scenic views in Japan.
If you decide to explore Sendai for half a day, I would recommend visiting the following:
- Zuihoden: a mausoleum complex of Date Masamune and other members. Date Masamune was a powerful feudal lord during the Edo period. The mausoleum is composed of several different buildings surrounded by trees.
- Sendai Castle Ruins: otherwise known as the Aoba Castle museum. The castle was built by Date Masamune (the same person as above) and overlooks Sendai below. However the castle was eventually destroyed and now the area includes a museum, a statue of Date Masamune on a horse, etc.
- Osaki Hachimangu Shrine: a Shinto shrine built by Date Masamune to guard Sendai and protect the Date family.
- Rinnoji Temple: a zen garden known for its tranquility with a 3-story pagoda. Again this was founded by Date Masamune.
Many people decide to visit Matsushima instead after Yamadera. However it still takes about 2 hours to get to Matsushima from Yamadera, so I would only recommend this if you finish Yamadera really early (like if you visit at 8am and finish by 10am).
You will need to take the Senzan Line from Yamadera Station to Sendai station, then switch to the Senseki Line to Matsushima Kaigan station. Or from Sendai station you can take the Senseki-Tohoku Line to Takagimachi Station, then transfer to Senseki Line to Matsushima Kaigan station.
In Matsushima, you can visit the Matsushima Fish Market, a large seafood market that sells fresh seafood and cooked seafood. If you get to Matsushima around lunch time, you should totally eat lunch at the market before exploring further.
You can then explore the various temples such as the Godaido Temple, Entsuin Temple and Zuiganji Temple before walking across the Fukuurabashi Bridge to Fukuurajima, an islet in the Matsushima Bay with temples, a teahouse, and an observation deck to see the other forested islets. Or you can take a sightseeing boat around Matsushima Bay to better see the 200+ islets that Matsushima is known for.
FAQ regarding Yamadera Temple
Can you visit Yamadera with mobility issues?
If you cannot up stairs then you won’t be able to visit Yamadera. The stairs have railings but there are over 1000 steps, so it could be difficult for someone with mobility issues. You also cannot bring a stroller to Yamadera.
Is there food at Yamadera?
There is no restaurant on top of Yamadera. On the lower level (before you pay for the entrance fee), there are vending machines and a cafe that sell ice cream and some local snacks like grilled rice ball and rice cakes. There are also many restaurants on the street near the entrance. You should bring some water and snack if you plan to hike up Yamadera.
Can you visit Yamadera in the winter?
Yes you can visit Yamadera in the winter, but you will need to bring crampons/ non-slip hiking boots if you visit in the winter as the steps can get icy and slippery. The temple may also close early between December and March.
If you plan to hike in the winter, you should probably bring crampons with you when walking up the steps. Take note that certain parts of the hike don’t have railings, so do not walk near the edge when visiting in the winter. In addition, there may be a lot of fog up the mountain in the winter, obscuring the million-dollar view that you work so hard for.
Is it possible to do Yamadera as a day trip from Tokyo?
It’s possible to visit Yamadera from Tokyo in one day, but you will be spending 6 hours on the train back and forth.
How many steps does Yamadera have?
There are 1015 steps at Yamadera. But I haven’t personally counted it.
Is Yamadera worth it?
Yes I totally think Yamadera is worth the hike! It’s so unique and the view is amazing.
