Top Things to do

• Hagurosan Saikan

  Yamagata Pref. Tsuruokashi Haguromachitouge 7

  This facility offering food and accommodation is located on the grounds of Dewasanzan Shrine, in Haguro Town, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture. As a temple originally named “Kezouin,” it is the last remaining building to have been lived in by Haguro mountain priests. One can enjoy the delicate and exquisite taste of seasonal mountain vegetables and mushrooms picked from the foot of Dewasanzan, used in vegetarian cuisine and said to have entertained the poet Matsuo Basho, famous for writing “Oku no Hosomichi” (The Narrow Road to Oku). Accommodation is available but there are few private rooms, most being partitioned rooms amidst a larger one.

• Chido Museum

  Yamagata Pref. Tsuruokashi Kachushinmachi 10-18

  This is a museum in Kachu-Shinmachi Town, Turuoka City, Yamagata Prefecture which stores and displays 5,350 important items that fall under eight varieties of Important Tangible Folk-Cultural Properties relating to the heritage of the Shonai area. The museum takes its name from the Chidokan, the Shonai Clan’s samurai school, and items relating to that school are also on display. Several historical buildings such as the former Nishitagawa District Office and the old Tsurugaoka Police Station which are also important cultural properties were dismantled and rebuilt on the premises, which were the site of the Tsurugaoka Castle’s san-no-maru and the official residence of the Sakai family, the domain lord. The beautiful garden in shoin-zukuri style (a traditional style of Japanese residential architecture) is also worth seeing.

• Tsuruoka City Kamo Aquarium

  Yamagata Pref. Tsuruokashi Imaizumi Okubo 657-1

  This is an aquarium in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, the prefecture’s only one, with the nickname “Jellyfish Dream Hall.” It is known for displaying over 50 kinds of jellyfish and holds a Guinness World Record in this field. The biggest highlight is about 2,000 moon jellyfish swimming in a large water tank five meters in diameter. An exhibition corner of Shonai’s freshwater and saltwater fish, a sea lion show, and the black-tail gull feeding are all popular. There is also a complete exhibition area for children.

• Studio Sedic Shonai Open Set

  Yamagata Pref. Tsuruokashi Haguromachikawadai Higashimasukawayama 102

  This is a photo spot and tourist facility in Haguro Town, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, open to the public mainly as a set for shooting period piece films. It is famous as the location for well-known films including “Departures,” “Zatoichi THE LAST” and “Time Scoop Hunter.” Shooting sets are dotted around the vast 88-hectare (880,000m²) area, and aside from urban areas one can also see various locations including mountain settlements, fishing villages and inn towns. Excursion buses operating in the area cost 500 yen for the day.

• Sankyo Warehouse Sakata Yume-no-Kura

  Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Sankyomachi 1-1-20

  Standing near the Nagasaki Ohashi Bridge, Sankyo Warehouse, built in 1893, is still used as an agricultural storehouse today. A portion of the warehouse was remodeled and opened as Sakata Yume-no-Kura, a tourism facility and collection of shops selling local products. The Hana-no-Yakata museum presents the history of Sakata City and its culture through exhibits and informational panels. The facility has an open terrace and restaurants serving light meals, and visitors can enjoy Tsuya-hime soft serve ice cream and Tama-konnyaku, local specialties. There is also a corner selling seafood products, Shonai rice, and other top Yamagata souvenirs.

• Homma Museum of Art

  Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Onarichou 7-7

  A garden and art museum a five minute walk from Sakata Station. Built as a garden and villa for the Homma family of wealthy merchants and landowners, the facility was opened to the public as a private art museum in 1947. The museum’s collection consists primarily of works of art passed down for generations in the Homma family, and the museum is filled with ancient writings, antiques, paintings, and other valuable artwork. Other highlights include the Seienkaku, a beautiful wood villa built in the Kyoto style; and the Kakubuen, a traditional garden built around a central pond celebrated as one of the best Japanese gardens in the country and renowned for the beauty of its fall foliage.

• Tsuruoka Catholic Cathedral

  Yamagata Pref. Tsuruokashi Babachou 7-19

  Tsuruoka Catholic Cathedral is located a five-minute walk from the Shiyakusho (City Hall) mae bus stop on the bus line from Tsuruoka Station. It is a beautiful church with a red roof and white walls, designed by Father Papineau and completed in 1903. A masterpiece of Meiji (1868–1912) period Romanesque architecture. On one of its altars stands the only statue of the Black Madonna in Japan and one of the few in the world. Another feature unique among Japanese churches is that its pictorial windows are not made of stained glass but of pictures painted on transparent paper pressed between two panes of glass.

• Ninosaka Chaya

  Yamagata Pref. Tsuruokashi Haguromachitouge Haguroyama

  A 30-minute walk from Hagurosan Zuishinmon Gate, this popular tea house is located on Ninosaka hill on the approach to Mt. Haguro. Ninosaka is the longest and steepest of all the approach paths to Mt. Haguro. On the left side going up is “Ninosaka Chaya.” Pestle-ground daily, the recommended “chikara mochi” is strong mochi with soy flour and red bean paste, coupled with matcha tea. The pestle–ground strong texture is popular with temple visitors. Also, you can see all of Shonai plains from the tea house, and on a clear day, you get the gorgeous sight of the Sea of Japan all the way out to Tobishima.

• Tsuruoka Park (Tsurugaoka Castle ruins)

  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.