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HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Water Cycling at Nagai Dam
The only place in Tohoku where you can enjoy riding a water bicycle
Yamagata Arcadia Tourism Bureau
Blessed with abundant water resources and beautiful nature, Nagai City in Yamagata is known as the City of Water, Greenery, and Flowers. As one of the city’s initiatives to celebrate water, a section of Nagai Dam was opened for private use in 2020, becoming the first dam in Tohoku where it is possible to enjoy family-friendly, engaging water activities, including the unique experience of cycling on water.
With floats on both sides, water bicycles are more stable than ordinary bicycles and are suitable for people of all ages. Anyone who can ride a bicycle and is taller than 140cm is welcome! The tour guide will give you all the necessary instructions and will stay close at all times. Stop to take a photo in front of a hidden waterfall, feel the invigorating effects of forest therapy, and enjoy magnificent views and an exhilarating sense of freedom as you pedal along the dam lake.
Other activities are available at Nagai Dam depending on the season, such as SUP and amphibious bus tours in summer, or pleasure boat cruises to admire the foliage in autumn.
How to get there
From Tokyo Station take the Shinkansen to Akayu Station (2 hours and 30 minutes), then transfer to the Flower Nagai Line and get off at Nagai Station (about 30 minutes). The meeting place (Nogawa Manabikan) is about a 10-minute drive from Nagai Station.
2743-4 Hirayama, Nagai-shi, Yamagata-ken
