Missed Yamagata when you visited Japan? Big mistake. Huge.
Yamagata is in the northern Tohoku region of Japan and often gets overlooked despite its trove of snow sports, picture-perfect onsen towns, and dramatic religious sites. You could easily spend a week here, jumping from snow monsters to cliffside temples to unusual festivals.
1. Marvel at the monsters of Zao Onsen
Make your way to Zao Onsen, only a 40-minute bus from Yamagata Station, for a peculiar vista. The hot-spring town is heaving with skiers and snowboarders in mid-winter, but if the idea of hurtling down a mountain face isn’t for you, hop on a gondola or snowmobile to see naturally forming ice creatures at the Zao Onsen Snow Monster Festival.
Due to the freezing winds and falling snow, the trees of Zao petrify in unusual positions, creating an army of oddly shaped snow warriors. The season lasts from December to March, but the best time to see the phenomenon is in February.
2. Wander through the picturesque Ginzan Onsen
Ginzan Onsen is a Studio Ghibli-esque hot-spring town in the mountains, most famous for its lit-up traditional wooden rows of ryokan in the snow.
During winter, you need entry reservations or hotel bookings to visit — so they can better handle the flocks of tourists who come to experience the dreamy ambience. It’s common to see kimono-clad pedestrians walking along the river after their piping-hot baths, or heating up their toes in one of the free foot onsens.
While most famous for its snow-swept silhouette, the town also has a waterfall, cave, gorge, and walking trails that can be explored during the warmer months.
3. Climb to see Yamadera (Risshaku-ji) Temple
Yamadera is a sacred Buddhist site that offers an eternal flame, local specialties, and a well-earned view at the top of a thousand steps.
Walk in the footsteps of poets and great thinkers as you snake through the temple’s grounds situated on a mountainside. The quirky rock formations make for great photos and are flecked with green, orange, or white, depending on the season. The entrance is a short 5-minute walk from Yamadera Station — an hour by train from Sendai Station and just 20 minutes from Yamagata Station.
Read our first-hand experience climbing to the top of Yamadera Temple.
4. Go on an adventure
Yamagata has no shortage of mountains, lakes, waterfalls, gorges, and valleys. When snow season hits, these are all covered in a brilliant sheet of powder, making a great foundation for skiing and snowboarding. The most well-known (and easily accessible) snow resort in Yamagata is Zao Onsen, but smaller areas also boast slopes (see Yonezawa, for example).
Even after the snow melts, there’s plenty to do in Yamagata, including a tethered hot-air-balloon experience, kayaking through the submerged forest of Lake Shirakawa or Mifuchi Valley, and cycling through the rice paddies of peaceful Iide Town. We had a taster of some of these activities hosted by Yamagata Experience and can’t recommend them enough.
5. Try cherries and imoni hot pot
Foodies rejoice. Trying the delights of Yamagata should be high on your list. The prefecture has no shortage of fluffy rice sourced from its neverending paddies and soba from its buckwheat fields, as well as Yonezawa beef, wine, and sake.
But what Yamagata is most famous for are cherries — claiming to produce more than 70% of the country’s fruit. There’s even an annual cherry festival in June with plenty of all-you-can-eat-specials. The other staple is imoni — a hearty soup filled with taro root and meat — which also has its own festival.
Oh, and if you’re up for a “challenge”, try the mountain dish inago no tsukudani — locusts cooked in soy sauce and sugar — surprisingly, not bad.
6. Become a miko at Kumano Taisha Shrine
Kumano Taisha Shrine in Nanyō is one of the great love shrines of Japan. It’s home to the deities Izanagi and Izanami, who basically invented marriage as the first betrothed couple in Japan. For those looking for love, the shrine holds monthly matchmaking festivals where you can pray for a partner or marriage.
Hear the many dangling windchimes in summer and pinwheels in autumn displayed at the shrine. When we went (in autumn), there was also a path filled with mist. Staff encourage visitors to find three rabbits hidden in the precincts — they aren’t easy to spot.
The shrine offers the unique opportunity to become a shrine maiden or priest for the day — for a very reasonable price.
7. Visit the Kasedori Festival (and other events)
We mentioned Yamagata’s cherry and imoni festivals, but one of Yamagata’s most famous events is the Kasedori Festival, which takes place on February 11 each year. Men dress up in pointy straw suits and “ka-kaw” like birds to help with prosperity in business and fire prevention — better not to ask too many questions.
Another one of the prefecture’s big festivals is the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival, where the flower of Yamagata — the safflower — is adorned on the hats of around 10,000 dancers.
How to get to Yamagata
You can access Yamagata easily from Tokyo using the Yamagata Shinkansen. From Tokyo to Yamagata Station, it takes 2 hours and 45 minutes. Expect it to take longer with a few changes if coming from elsewhere in Japan. From Yamagata Station, you can access many of its other towns and cities using local trains or buses.
Where to stay in Yamagata
Yamagata is blessed with an abundance of hot-spring water from the surrounding mountains, so a traditional ryokan stop is encouraged. We stayed at The Takinami Hotel, a 10-minute bus from Akayu Station on the Shinkansen line, and were impressed with the private onsen, timeless design, and delectable food course.
Alternatively, you can stay close to Yamagata Station at Daiwa Roynet or Comfort Hotel.
Also read: Take a look at our top things to do in Yamagata Prefecture so you don’t miss out on anything!
While we do our best to ensure it’s correct, information is subject to change.
