This is near the top of the pass at 1372 meters elevation. At the top, I celebrated at a small tourist stand by indulging in an ice cream and chatting for a few minutes with the cute but bored girl manning (womaning?) the place. It's not a tourist site, just a pass at the top of the road, and there's no real spectacular view (until further on), so apparently few people stop there.

Another thing to watch out for on this road. The sign tells you all the normal rules you need to know about bears: make noise or do something else to let them know you're there so you don't surprise them; be wary of bears with cubs; and don't dump trash - particularly leftover food and edible garbage (if they eat it, they may get a taste for it and come to inhabited areas in search of more). Bear attacks are not common, but they do occur occasionally in some rural areas (particularly on the northern island of Hokkaido). This particular section of the road is near Odaigahara, a major hiking area in the Kansai; the road up to the trailhead is a steep but very nice ride that will be featured on this site in the future.