Gala Yuzawa & Mount Naeba | 2 Days of Fall Trip from Tokyo | Part I | #niigata #galayuzawa
Just a short escape from Tokyo. 2 days between mountains and mist. From the quiet trails of Gala Yuzawa to the calm peaks of Mount Niba. This is a little journey to slow down, breathe, and wander. From Tokyo, the Shinkansen to Gala Yuzawa takes just about 60 to 75 minutes. A journey that feels like time travel. One moment you are surrounded by skyscrapers and the next it’s just filled forest and clouds. Gala Yuzova welcomes you right out of the train. The station itself feels like a gateway to stillness. Everything slows down the moment you step outside. The station is directly connected to the resort itself. You don’t need to take a taxi or a shuttle. Everything starts right here. Just outside the station, there is this beautiful countryside stretch. Quite almost frozen in time. The air here feels softer, mountain cool, and little misty. Gala Yuzawa isn’t just a ski resort. It’s a year round mountain escape. In autumn, the slopes transform into a palette of amber and gold. The air smells like pine and rain. From the quiet town of Yuzawa, the ropeway rises directly into the mountains into the place where the seasons speak their own language. This is the Yuzawa Kogan ropeway, one of the largest in Japan, and it carries you to the Alpine Botanical Garden. The moment the door close, the sound of the town fades. The cable hums softly and the ground sleeps away beneath your feet. You are suspended between earth and sky, between what’s ordinary and what feels like a dream. The gondola rises over thousand m gliding above valleys, forests, and streams. In winter, it’s a gateway for skiers. In the warmer months, it’s a floating observatory that reveals a softer side of the mountain. But what makes this gondola special isn’t just the view. It’s the feeling of rising above everything familiar, leaving noise and time far below. As you rise, the forest begins to unfold layer by layer. First come the cedars deep and shadowed. Then the meles bursting into their brief moment of fire. The mountains breathe mist. The air sharpens and the color melt into one another like a living watercolor. The gondola ride feels like floating through a painting below. crimson meals, rustcoled oaks and tiny river tracing the valley. They call this season of coyo, the turning of leaves. For just a few weeks each year, the mountains of Nigata turn into a sea of red and gold. You can almost feel the season shifting in real time. During mid October to early November is the peak foliage time. The whole mountain feels alive, quiet and vibrant. Just step out at the top and the air here feels completely different. fresh, crisp, and full of that mountain quiet. Just beside the main deck, there is the patch of bright red bushes. They almost don’t look real. In Japan, these are called koia or sometime burning bushes because in autumn they turn into deep crimson color. The trails are quiet, only the sound of your own footsteps and the distant hum of the gondola below. You start to notice things you’d usually miss. The smell of damp wood, the glimmer of dew on the leaf, and the way the wind moves through the grasses. In early autumn, this garden glows with bright reds and yellows. We came a little late and the colors have started to fade. But that too has its beauty. There’s a stillness in the fading. A kind of peace that feels closer to truth than perfection. As we followed the wooden trail deeper into the garden, the means thickened. Everything turned quieter, softer. Just the sound of dripping leaves and my own footsteps. There’s something otherworldly about a weight forest. Every color deepens. Green become darker, browns richer, and the air feels almost alive. The fog doesn’t hide the forest. It reveals it one breath at a time. Forest bathing isn’t just something you take off your itinerary. It’s something you carry with you. A slower heartbeat, a softer way of seeing. And then suddenly the forest opens. You come out from the shades of trees and there it is, a quiet pond resting under a veil of mist. The fog hangs low above the water, softening the edges of everything. This little resting spot feels almost sacred, simple, quiet, completely still. I could hear every drop of water hitting the surface, every rustle of grass. The forest behind me still hums with rain, but here by the pond it’s calm. I think that’s what make Yuzawa so special. Every few steps, the landscape changes, but the peace stays the same.
🍂 Gala Yuzawa — A Mountain Town in Autumn Silence
In this first part of my Niigata journey, I travel from Tokyo to Gala Yuzawa, a quiet onsen town surrounded by misty mountains and golden valleys.
This episode follows my slow walk from Gala Yuzawa Station through the countryside lanes — past old wooden restaurants, local rental shops, and into the Gala Gondola Center, where the ride opens up to an ocean of autumn colors.
Up at the Yuzawa Kogen Alpine Botanical Garden, I explore the mountaintop trails, quiet observation decks, and the gentle rhythm of this highland garden — where time moves slowly and every leaf tells a story.
🌿 In This Episode
0:00 – Introduction
0:33 – Arrival at Gala Yuzawa Station
1:07 – Walking through the countryside road
1:54 – Gondola to the mountain park
3:38 – Observation deck and red Kochia bushes
5:26 – Park trails and misty valley views
7:16 – closing reflections
📍 Location
Yuzawa Kogen Alpine Botanical Garden, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Access: 75 min from Tokyo by Joetsu Shinkansen
🎧 Mood & Vibe
Soft lo-fi and ambient music, slow-motion visuals, gentle narration — a mindful escape into Japan’s mountain silence. Perfect for anyone who loves forest walks, slow travel, and autumn landscapes.
🗒 Part of the Boho Travelogue Series
➡️ Part 2: MOUNT NAEBA ADVENTURE
📸 Instagram: [@bohotravelogue]
#JapanTravel #GalaYuzawa #AutumnInJapan #SlowTravel #BohoTravelogue #NiigataVlog #JapanVlog #KoyoSeason
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