For going to the Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort, get on the Shinkansen (Hayate, Yamabiko, Komachi, and Aoba) to Sendai. It takes about 1 hour and 41 minutes at the shortest.
Get on Sendai-Yamagata Zao Nonstop Bus at Bus Pool No. 46. It takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes at the shortest.*Runs as a seasonal service from December, at the time of the opening of the ski resort to the end of March.

Change for a bus to Yamagata Zao at Sendai Station:

Get on the Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" at Tokyo Station to Yamagata. It takes about 2 hour and 46 minutes at the shortest.
Get on the bus for Zao Onsen at East Exit Bus Pool No. 1, and get off at the "Zao Onsen Terminal." It takes about 40 minutes at the shortest.

Access to Zao Onsen Ski Resort

Access to Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort: Route 1

JR Tokyo Station

Tohoku Shinkansen

JR Sendai Station

Yamako Bus

Zao Onsen Terminal

Access to Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort: Route 2

JR Tokyo Station

Yamagata Shinkansen

JR Yamagata Station

Yamako Bus

Zao Onsen Terminal

Route Maps

Shinkansen lines

Conventional lines

In order to get on the bus for Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort, pass through the Shinkansen Ticket Gate from the Shinkansen Platform, go up to the 2nd floor using the stairs or escalator, and go to the General Ticket Gate. A straight path reaches to the General Ticket Gate.
Pass through the ticket gate, then turn to the right (East Exit). You can find the way to the bus stop for Zao Onsen.
There is the tourist information center for Yamagata City near the exit of the ticket gate (An English speaking-staff stands-by).
When going forward the East Exit passage, since there are right-side and left-side stairs to get down, go down the left-side stairs to go to the bus pool. Bus Pool No. 1 is the bus stop for Zao Onsen. Although the bus you get on has the indication as Yamako Bus "Utoria Express," since the one "For Sendai" that stops at this bus stop has the same design, you need to be careful.

Yamagata Station Map

Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" Timetable (outbound):

http://jreast-shinkansen-reservation.eki-net.com/pc/english/common/timetable/e_yamagata_d/index.html

Yamagata Shinkansen "Tsubasa" Connects Tokyo Station and Shinjo Station in about 3 hours and 33 minutes at the shortest. It links with "Yamabiko" between Tokyo Station and Fukushima Station.

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East Exit Bus Pool No. 1 Yamagata Station-Zao Onsen Bus Timetable (*in Japanese):

http://www.yamakobus.co.jp/jikokuhyou/ya-za.html

Yamagata Station-Zao Onsen Bus Contact: Yamako Bus Information Center: +81-(0)23-632-7272 (Open throughout the year 08:00-18:30)

Bus for Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort

Bus Pool No. 1 is the bus stop for Zao Onsen.

Shinkansen Ticket Gate

General Ticket Gate

Go forward the East Exit passage, and get down the left stairs.

Bus Pool No. 1 (at the farthest side) is the bus stop for Zao Onsen.

JR PASS Information

JR offers economical and convenient rail passes to travel around Japan.

JR EAST PASS

You can reserve seats on Shinkansen, limited express, and ordinary express trains on JR East lines at no charge. Please choose any PASS out of the following three types of validity periods according to your travel schedule. A Flexible type is usable to travel on consecutive or non-consecutive days within 1 month. There is also a Youth type.

JR EAST PASS cannot be purchased inside Japan. Please purchase an exchange order before leaving for Japan.

For further information and on-line purchase:

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass/

JAPAN RAIL PASS

You can reserve seats on Shinkansen, limited express, and ordinary express trains on nationwide JR lines at no charge. However, the pass is not valid for “Nozomi” trains on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, and sleeper trains, etc. Please choose any PASS out of the following three types of validity periods according to your travel schedule.

Japan Rail Pass cannot be purchased inside Japan. Please purchase an exchange order before leaving for Japan.

For further information:

http://www.japanrailpass.net

JR East Japan Shinkansen Reservation

Before leaving for Japan, you can reserve seats for green car (superior class) or ordinary car (coach class) of Shinkansen trains and main limited express trains on local lines within the JR East Japan service area, on the Internet. This is on-line system to reserve easily in advance. You can use this site to get the train timetable and fare.

For further information and on-line purchase:

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass/

"JR East InfoLine" (Telephone assistance service in English, Korean, and Chinese) 

Call 050-2016-1603 10:00-18:00 (except year-end and New Year holidays)

For further information on JR East Japan:

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/