Goodbye to Sendai
Packed, and then headed to the station in the morning. Still taken with the number of vending machines and the tidy, quiet feeling of a modern city in Japan in the winter. We spotted a vending machine re-stocker at some point—which is a mythological entity whose existence was disputed until recently. Thirty minutes of winding trail, trees visible through the fog. Before we came on this trip, I was thinking about American Gods (Neil Gaiman) and how we bring our deities to a new land with us. Who are the mountain gods in Zao? Do they care that we’re visiting?
Mountain Zao 山蔵王
Bus station is small, with a tiny queue, and we have a couple kilometers to walk to our place. The sleepy vibe was a sharp contrast to the relative bustle of Sendai. Sulphur from the geothermal hot springs seemed to lend credence to my previous theories about the mountain gods… Turns out our large suitcase was a pain in the ass to drag a couple kilometers over snow-packed asphalt. At least we could see the slopes on our left as we walked through town. We got to YuiLocalZao, right on time—to not be able to check in (aka too early). Luckily Shinu-san (I realized I missed the honorific later), a friendly attendant in a white jumpsuit let us leave our luggage. Glad he was there, considering it was supposed to be an automated check-in process.
This gave us a little time to sort out rentals and explore the town. We checked out several places. The first shop had one friendly boarder behind the counter with good gear on the walls– not the cheapest. One young woman at the shop spoke decent english (all I know is how to say “eigō o hanashimasuka” (Do you speak english?). Second shop had us remove our shoes, put on tiny slippers, and go back into a hallway. Nice dudes, didn’t get that we were window shopping at first. Third shop’s (Kasukawa カスカワスポツ) temperature was just right. Well, also, they were in move-move mode, rushing tourists through the rental process. Tired, and ready to just get it over with, we ended up renting.
Checked in, room was clean and nice, and extremely spacious (especially compared to the first one we stayed in. Got to a teapot-sign place for a beer, (I’ll find the name later…) sake, and rice with beef dish (that Nikki liked!). Hiked more of the town, tried some Tama Konnyaku (balls) (玉こんにゃく), a Yamagata prefecture specialty. Konnyaku is made from the ground root of a konjac plant, and ends up slick and chewy, gummy noodle that you can bite a slice out of. Pretty good with spicy mustard. Grabbed some drinks and snacks from the local Lawson (not much else around) and much needed rest.
Monsters
2026-02-11
Next morning, coffee and rentals. It was “HEAD” gear, and was not my gear. So of course I whined about it. The line for the gondola started early. Buses on buses brought tourists on tourists to go up the mountain to spot the legendary “snow monsters”—trees covered by the incredible amount of snowfall Like always, getting back on the board is painful, and accompanied by the usual blaming of shaking off the rust on the gear, or the snow, and not the self-deprecation and frustration.
It was a slog making it to the top on the first day. The ropeway (gondola) line was super long, so we had to take a series of lifts, one of which turned out to be closed, with no signage, warning, notification, or any indication of why or when it might open if at all. Ski mountains.
Once we made it to the midway station of the ropeway, the gondola to the top was scenic. Until we ascended into the clouds atop the mountain. The monsters were there, breathing a gale, knocking our car around. Getting down the narrow cat-tracks from the top wasn’t great. Nikki was terrified. We made it! Only hit a couple reds, mostly greens. Really long catwalk-y runs in many cases, not a lot of trees or big slopes. But it stayed gray and snowy for the second half of the day.
We found our way to a sake-tasting shop and encountered some of the biggest humans I’ve ever seen. Aussie & South African brothers, one of whom was named … Gandalf. He offered to show me his ID to prove it. According to the SA government, he’s a wizard. Also, a couple Matt (AUS) & Destiny (USA) chatted us up a bit, and I grabbed WhatsApp details. The shop owner was definitely ready to get us out of there. Buncha really loud, tipsy westerners.
Walked around the town more after this, trying to find places to make reservations for dinner the next day. Maybe a burger & music bar, or a cool really small sushi place (none of them worked out).
Found a show on TV about detectives trying to solve a case across time using hand radios that could talk between early 2000s and modern day. Found it later: It’s called Signal: Choki Mikaiketsu Jiken Sosahan (シグナル 長期未解決事件捜査班)! Sake and pizza chips make anything fascinating.
More Monsters
2026-02-12
Today we knew to grab the day tap-pass cards using our IKON passes first thing. Rode the Zao Ropeway alll the way up to the top this AM… And the high winds and zero visibility made us get right back on. The attendant understood when I said “kowai (怖い)” (scary).
Nikki found a wide green field-run with sparse trees to play around in while I did a couple reds. Overall the runs we picked were solid, and the constantly falling light snow and cloudy weather made it a very pleasant couple of days with freshies here and there. I didn’t hit their one big black run with >30° slope… Noticed a lot of beginners around, but I’m not one to talk about my skill level.
Overall ended the day battered, but with the reward of having tested ourselves against Zao. Maybe we didn’t pass, but it’s the try that counts!
In the evening we met up with the couple we met the previous day for dinner. We ended up at Otochaya 音茶屋(オトチャヤ), the “Teapot” restaurant I mentioned before! The only table they had available was a traditional Japanese one: low to the ground and we removed our shoes to sit at it! Turns out, we were supposed to go to the restaurant next door The Nameless (名もなき店). Didn’t miss out on the traditional meal, the whole restaurant was tatami mats and folded legs. Intimate way to share a meal, definitely want to experience it again.
Lovely chat on the way back to the place with our new companions, and then pack and to bed.
Travel day To Shiga Kogen
2026-02-13
Bus to Sendai, JR Shinkansen to Nagano, Express bus to Shiga. Real glad I figured out to buy tickets in advance for this one, it filled up. They had to chain up the bus as we gained altitude—dICEy.
また後で！
Mataaode (Also, see you later)