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Wooden inns lit at night along a river at Ginzan Onsen, a red-railed footbridge and snow on the slope behindTwo gondola cabins passing an ice-coated tower above rime-covered trees at a ski area in YamagataA bronze lantern held up by a carved child figure with a frown, kanji inscription behind it

Yamagata

Yamagata: Places to Visit

Food · Things to do · Where to stay

Most visitors to Yamagata go to Yamadera, a temple founded in 860 on a hill, to Ginzan Onsen, a hot spring town on the site of a former silver mine, and to Zao Onsen, a ski and hot spring resort. The JR Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa reaches Yamagata Station from Tokyo in about two and a half hours; Zao Onsen is about 40 minutes by bus from there, and Yamadera about 20 minutes on the JR Senzan Line, then a 7-minute walk.

Ginzan Onsen is reached from Oishida Station, about three hours from Tokyo on the Yamagata Shinkansen, then about 40 minutes by bus. The line ends further north at Shinjo. Yamagata Airport and Shonai Airport also serve the prefecture.

Places in Yamagata

  • Yamadera — Risshakuji, founded in 860: 1,015 steps climb from the Konpon Chudo hall to Okuno-in, and a stone marks the haiku Matsuo Basho wrote there.
  • Ginzan Onsen — Wooden inns on both sides of the Ginzan River in Obanazawa, at a place that once prospered as a silver mine.
  • Zao Onsen — A ski and hot spring resort; in winter, ice-coated trees called snow monsters stand on the upper slopes, reached by ropeway.
  • Yonezawa — Known for Yonezawa beef, one of the three main brands of Japanese beef.
  • Dewa Sanzan — Three sacred mountains; Mt. Gassan is the highest of them.