Yamagata

Travel Guide

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  • Yamagata Hanagasa Festival

• Cherry Blossom

  

  • Eboshiyama Park
  • Tsuruoka Park

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  • Yamagata Fireworks

Top Things to do

• Uesugi-jinja Shrine

  4.0

  254 Reviews

  Yamagata Pref. Yonezawashi Marunouchi 1-4-13

  A Shinto shrine located in Marunouchi, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture. The shrine is dedicated to Uesugi Kenshin, a famous commander during the Warring States period and ancestor of the future lord of Yonezawa Domain. The shrine was built on the site of Yonezawa Castle in 1876 and designated an Imperial Shrine of Special Status in 1902. The shrine was destroyed in the Great Yonezawa Fire in 1919; the current buildings were reconstructed in 1923, and visitors can view the beautiful Japanese architecture of the shrine’s main shrine and front shrine. Treasures passed down in the Uesugi clan are kept in the shrine’s Keishoden hall, and many tourists come to view them year round.

• National Treasure-designated Five-Storied Pagoda of Mt. Haguro

  4.5

  215 Reviews

  Yamagata Tsuruoka-shi Haguromachi Hagurosan Chinai

  The five-storied pagoda at Mt. Haguro, one of the three sacred mountains of Dewa where Shugendo (a mountain asceticism incorporating Shintoist and Buddhist ideas) was practiced until the Meiji period, has been designated as a national treasure. The current tower is thought to have been reconstructed by Masauji Muto, a head administrator of Mt. Haguro and lord of Shonai in the time of Emperor Chokei of the Bunchu period. It has an elegant appearance nestling within the cedar trees.

• Yamagata Castle Ruins (Kajo Park)

  4.0

  181 Reviews

  Yamagata Pref. Yamagatashi Kajoumachi 1-7 (management office)

  These castle ruins, in Kajo-machi Yamagata City, is designated as a National Historic Site. It is said that Kaneyori Shiba, the father of the Mogami, built the Yamagata Castle in 1356. Today the ninomaru moat, the earthen mound, and the stone walls remain. A replica of the ninomaru west gate has been reconstructed at the entrance to Kajo Park (Kajo being another name for the castle). Selected as one of Japan's top 100 castles, it is one of the recommended sites to visit in Japan.

• Yamagata Prefecture Local Museum Bunshokan

  4.5

  184 Reviews

  Yamagata Pref. Yamagatashi Hatagomachi 3-4-51

  Yamagata Prefecture Local Museum Bunshokan is located along Prefectural Route 49 in Hatagomachi in the city of Yamagata. It is housed in the remodeled and repurposed former Prefectural Office and Prefectural Assembly Hall (built in 1916). This English Gothic Revival-style building has been designated an Important Cultural Property by the national government. The museum contains exhibits about the remodeling of the building and the history and culture of the prefecture. In addition, it is possible to rent the hall, the meeting rooms, the central courtyard and other areas for various events.

• Roadside Station Tendo Onsen

  4.0

  130 Reviews

  Yamagata Pref. Tendoushi Kuwanomachi 2-3-41

  This roadside station is along the Yamagata Bypass in Kuwano-machi, Tendo City. Located near the Tendo hot springs quarter, this station has over one million visitors a year. This multi-purpose park not only has direct to market produce shops, a tourist information center, water fountains, a lawn area with playground equipment, an amphitheater, but also a free foot bathing nook, and a wedding ceremony hall, all on the same site.

• Ken Domon Museum of Photography

  4.5

  90 Reviews

  Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Imoriyama 2-13 Inside Iimoriyama Park

  The Ken Domon Museum of Photography is a specialized museum located in Iimoriyama Park along Prefectural Route 355 in the Iimoriyama area of the city of Sakata. Photographer Ken Domon was a native of the area, and the museum contains his entire life's work, about 70,000 photos. The exhibits are changed on a three-month cycle, with each cycle having own theme, so that all the photos are displayed in turn. The museum also contains sculptures and gardens created by artists who were associates of Domon, especially the sculptor Isamu Noguchi.

• Tsuruoka Park (Tsurugaoka Castle ruins)

  4.0

  93 Reviews

  Yamagata Pref. Tsuruokashi Babachou 4

  Built around the ruins of Tsurugaoka Castle, Tsuruoka Park, sprawling in the center of Tsuruoka City, is a renowned destination for cherry blossom viewing in spring. 730 cherry trees grow on the park’s ground, particularly around the castle’s moat, and in spring the tree’s petals cover the waters of the moat. Also selected as one of the 100 best places in Japan for cherry blossom viewing, each year around April the park bustles with great numbers of visitors come to enjoy the flowers. Shonai-jinja Shrine stands on the site where the tower of Tsurugaoka Castle once stood, and the shrine’s treasure house displays various items connected with the lords who once ruled the domain from here. Some of the park’s many other highlights include an ancient Japanese cedar several hundred years old, and a museum dedicated to Tsuruoka-born author Shuhei Fujioka.

• Matsugasaki Park (Yonezawa Castle Ruins)

  4.0

  85 Reviews

  Yamagata Pref. Yonezawashi Marunouchi 1-4-13

  A 10-minute bus ride from Yonezawa Station. Records state that the castle which once stood here was built in 1238 and was used as a residence by the Nagai clan, Date clan, Gamo clan, Naoe clan, and Uesugi clan. The castle was demolished in 1873 and the site made open to the general public as a park for the next seven years. In 1857, the site was turned into a municipal park as part of an urban planning project. The park is surrounded by a 20 to 36 meter wide, 800 meter long moat. Also a renowned destination for cherry blossoms, 200 cherry trees surround the moat and are lit up at night during the blooming season, creating spectacular scenery with their pink blossoms and the red castle bridge reflecting off the surface of the water.

• Yamagata City Folk Museum (Former Saiseikan Hospital Main Building)

  4.0

  78 Reviews

  Yamagata Yamagata-shi Kajomachi 1-1

  This museum is located inside Kajo Park in Kajo-machi, Yamagata City. Built in 1878 as the prefectural hospital, the “Saiseikan” was relocated and restored, and is now used to exhibit items related to local history and medicine. The building is designated as a National Important Cultural Property.