Korankei by Train and Bus, November 2026: No Yakusa Bus

The seasonal direct bus from Yakusa Station to Korankei is not running for the 2026 Maple Festival (1–30 November). To get there without a car, take an ordinary route bus from Josui, Toyotashi or Higashi-Okazaki — and on festival weekends from 14 November, plan around afternoon buses that stop short of Korankei and an early last bus home.

The old answer from Nagoya was the Linimo to Yakusa and a seasonal direct bus into the gorge, and some 2026 guides still give it: the Weathernews autumn-leaves page for Korankei lists the Yakusa bus from mid-November, and as of 22 October 2026 even the Japanese version of Aichi Prefecture’s own festival page still lists the Yakusa route for mid- to late November. This guide is built from the 2026 notices of the two bus operators, Toyota City and NEXCO Central. I haven’t ridden these buses myself.

The Yakusa direct bus is not running in 2026

The Ohwa Bus service between Yakusa Station and Korankei is not running, so every public-transport trip now ends on a regular route bus.

Tourism Toyota, the city’s official tourism site, states on its English Korankei page that the Ohwa Bus direct service between Yakusa Station on the Aichi Loop Line and Korankei is not running. Its list of routes now starts from three stations instead: Josui, Toyotashi and Higashi-Okazaki.

That matters more than it sounds. The direct bus was a seasonal extra, and the three routes that remain are ordinary local lines. Their operators cut some of them on festival weekends, because traffic around the gorge makes them run very late.

Three ways in from Nagoya

From Nagoya, take the subway or a Meitetsu train to Josui, Toyotashi or Higashi-Okazaki, then a route bus to the Korankei stop.

• Josui: Aichi Now, the prefecture’s tourism site, says to take the Higashiyama Subway Line from Nagoya to Fushimi, change to a Toyotashi-bound Tsurumai Line train (an Akaike-bound one stops short), and board at Josui’s north bus platforms.
• Toyotashi: the same train continues to Toyotashi. This is the shortest bus ride of the three, and the one Meitetsu cuts hardest on weekends (below).
• Higashi-Okazaki: reached on the Meitetsu Nagoya Line. Its last bus back runs earliest of the three.

Weekends from 14 November: buses stop short in the afternoon

On the busiest festival weekends, afternoon buses do not reach Korankei, so arrive before noon or plan to come back after dark.

Both operators publish cut-down weekend timetables for the second half of November. Their own notices give the reason: the roads around Asuke jam so badly that the buses fall far behind schedule.

• Meitetsu Bus, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 28 and 29 November. Meitetsu Bus turns most afternoon trips back before Asuke. From Toyotashi, the 12:30 to 19:30 departures stop at Kuragaike-higashi; the last bus that reaches Korankei before then is the 11:35, which is extended to Asuke on these days only. From Higashi-Okazaki, the 14:10, 15:10, 17:10 and 18:10 departures stop at Matsudairabashi.
• Toyota Oiden Bus, 14, 15, 28 and 29 November. Toyota City, which runs the Oiden Bus, does not serve Korankei on the 12:24 to 18:24 departures from Josui. The last one before that gap leaves Josui at 11:24.
• Toyota Oiden Bus, 21, 22 and 23 November (a three-day weekend). On Toyota City’s Oiden Bus timetables, the 11:24 to 18:24 departures from Josui end at Nishi-Nakagane, before Asuke. The last bus that reaches Korankei in the morning leaves Josui at 10:24.

On weekdays, Toyota City lists no suspended stops on the Oiden Bus, and Meitetsu Bus keeps every weekday trip, but it marks its afternoon departures (from 16:30 out of Toyotashi and from 14:10 out of Higashi-Okazaki) with a warning that, because of traffic, you may not be able to ride a bus back.

Staying for the light-up: the last bus out

The light-up runs from sunset to 21:00 every day of the festival, but on the busiest weekends the last bus out of Korankei leaves hours before that.

Aichi Now lists the Mt. Iimori light-up from sunset to 21:00, 1–30 November 2026, and notes that the times are not extended.

The last departures from the Korankei stop, from the 2026 timetables of Toyota City and Meitetsu Bus:

On the other weekend and holiday dates (1, 3, 7 and 8 November), the last Oiden bus out leaves at 20:12; Meitetsu’s notice lists no cuts before 14 November.

Two traps sit inside those numbers:

• The evening buses still run in, not out. On 14–29 November weekends, an Oiden bus leaving Josui at 19:24 still reaches Korankei at 20:23. On every one of those days, the last bus back has already gone.
• The Higashi-Okazaki route ends first. Meitetsu Bus marks its weekday 19:10 departure from Higashi-Okazaki as having no return bus that day, and the last weekend bus back on 14–29 November leaves Korankei at 15:50. On those weekend days Meitetsu also adds an extra 13:47 bus from Asuke, which leaves Korankei at 13:50 and reaches Higashi-Okazaki at 14:57.

Driving: the nearest expressway exits take ETC cars only

If you rent a car, the Tokai-Kanjo Expressway interchanges nearest Korankei are ETC-only and meant for cars with an ETC unit and a card inserted, so book a car that has both or come in on the Tomei Expressway.

NEXCO Central made the Toyota-Kanpachi and Toyota-Matsudaira interchanges ETC-only on 15 April 2025. In its 2026 notice, the Toyota-Fujioka interchange followed on 9 April 2026. Toyota-Kanpachi is the exit that Aichi Now gives for Korankei, about 20 minutes away by car.

• What counts as ETC. NEXCO Central’s guide for visitors says ETC needs both the in-car unit and an ETC card. A rental car with a unit but no card inserted is not an ETC car at these gates.
• Without ETC. The Japanese version of the Aichi Now festival page tells drivers of cars without ETC to use the Tomei Expressway’s Toyota interchange instead. Its English version gives the Toyota-Kanpachi exit with no ETC warning.
• If you end up in an ETC-only gate by mistake. NEXCO Central says not to reverse: drive into the lane marked “ETC/サポート” or “サポート” (support), stop, and follow the staff’s instructions.
• Parking. Tourism Toyota lists the Korankei car park at ¥1,000 per car in November (¥500 in other months); its Japanese page gives about 670 spaces. Aichi Now notes that drive times vary greatly with congestion.

What I could not settle

Quick answers

Is there an entrance fee for Korankei?

No. Aichi Now lists the festival as free to enter; the car parks and the Sanshu Asuke Yashiki museum inside the gorge charge.

Can I trust a journey-planner app for the return trip on a festival weekend?

Don’t. Meitetsu Bus says its own timetable search, the CentX app and its bus location system will still show the cancelled departures from 14 to 29 November, so use the timetables printed in Meitetsu’s notice and the PDFs on Toyota City’s Oiden Bus page.

When are the leaves at their best?

Aichi Now gives mid- to late November as the peak — the same weeks the weekend bus cuts apply.

Fares, timetables and rules checked on 22 October 2026.

— ko, writing from Niigata