Spots in Shonai Area (North) Area

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Shonai Area (North)

Category

Ken Domon Museum of Photography

4.5

97 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

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.

I discovered Domon Ken photography, in Rome, when just by chance I saw a huge exposition on his life work. So when we went to Japan, we went to Sakata just to see his museum. We spent a whole...
Koiwai Farm's solitary cherry tree

4.5

70 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Sakata-shi Hiyoshicho 1-2-20

This is an entertainment complex in 1 Chome Hiyoshi-cho, Sakata City. Built in the remodeled Soma-ya, a famed Sakata restaurant, the 1st floor features Teahouse Kutsurogi Dokoro, and the second floor has a dining theater where you can watch Maiko dances while you dine, as well as the Takehisa Yumeji Art Museum. The main Soma-ya manor was destroyed in the Shonai earthquake of 1894, but was soon rebuilt and is now designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The BEST part was the English tour given by Ms Maki throughout the Museum & Geisha Show ❤️❤️❤️ So many Beautiful & Rare Art & Porcelain Antiques in a Truly Antique Edo Period Mansion ❤️❤️❤️
Roadside Station Chokai Furatto

4.0

36 Reviews

Transportation

Yamagata Pref. Akumigunyuzamachi Sugasato Sugano 308-1

A roadside station located along National Route 7 in Sugano Sugasato, Yuza Town, Akumi County. The facility hosts a farm fresh shop selling local agricultural products and fresh seafood; a shop selling local specialty products; a café serving seafood rice bowls, curry, and set meals; a light meal corner; ramen corner; and bakery. You can also take sashimi and grilled fish bought at the farm fresh shop to the cafeteria and enjoy it there as a set with rice.

道の駅のスタンプ帳でソフトクリームが50円引きでしたので、だだちゃ豆ソフト350円を試してみました。寒河江のチェリーランドで食べたものの方が豆の香りがしっかりしてツブツブも残っていました。
Former Main Residence of Homma Family and Villa “O-tana”

4.0

76 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Nibanchou 12-13

This samurai-style villa built in 1768 by Mitsuoka Homma—the third landlord of Homma Family, wealthy merchant family of Dewa—served as lodgings for the Shogun’s inspection envoys. Featuring a combination of samurai-style and merchant-style construction, this building would be unusual anywhere in the country. The red pines are also wonderful, and are said to live over 400 years.

もともとは本間家が庄内藩に献上した日本家屋、後に拝領し本邸として使われました。ぐるっと外を回ってみましたが、やはり大きいですね。さすが本間家の建物です。
Kaikoji Temple

4.5

35 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Hiyoshichou 2-7-12

This is a temple near Hie Shrine in Hiyoshi-cho, Sakata City. This temple is said to have been built by the famous monk Kukai 1,200 year ago. This temple is the only temple in Japan to have enshrined the statues of the mummified bodies of the Venerable Chukai and Venerable Enmyokai, after one thousand days of ascetic pursuit.

Kaikoji temple just north of Sakata city centre is home to not just one, but two self-mummified monks. There is a display that shows some of the actual tools and garments the monks used during their...
Sakata Yume no Kura

4.0

35 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Sakata-shi Sankyomachi 1-1-20

山居倉庫の手前、11及び12号棟の部分にあります。 12号棟に入ると直ぐに割引券等が置いてあるインフォメーション、食堂、ファーストフードがあり、食堂前の壁には、おしんの撮影写真が掲示されています。奥に進み、左に曲がるとお土産コーナー、更に進んで11号棟に入るとミュージアムがあり、北前船に関するものや、今回は加藤家のお雛様などが展示されていました。
Chokai Blue Line

4.0

12 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Akumi-gun Yuzamachi

This approximately 35 km long mountain parkway, runs from Fukura, Yuzamachi Town to Kisakatamachi, Nikaho City in Akita enroute Hokodate point about halfway up Mt. Chokai. The route propels you from sea level to 1100 meters in one swoop, making this an exhilarating drive. Not only can one enjoy Mt. Chokai, but a panoramic view of the Shonai plain, the Sea of Japan, at a distance, Tobishima and Sado Islands, and Oga Peninsula. The parkway displays its seasonal fresh verdure in the summer and the ardent reds in the autumn. About midway along the route is an observatory, and there are virgin beech forests and other spots to visit including the Shinroku Park. The parkway is closed during wintertime, from the late October to late April.

もろもろの自粛が叫ばれている中、鳥海山のブルーラインの通行止めとなっており今回は秋田川の少し離れたところから眺めました。残雪の残る山はいろんな角度から見てもやっぱりきれいです。今度はもう少し近くから眺めたいと思います。
Homma Museum of Art

3.5

31 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

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.

さすが江戸時代から戦前まで豪商だった本間家の美術品です。日本国内でも著名な作者のオンパレードですね。撮影不可の作品も有りますが、ほとんどが撮影可なのが嬉しいです。私事ですが「真田太平記(池波正太郎作)」にも出ていた「小野通女」の作品を見られたことが嬉しく感じました。
Sakata City Museum of Art

4.0

19 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Imoriyama 3-17-95

This museum, founded in 1997, displays on permanent exhibit the western works of Shigeru Morita, Tsunero Kokuryo, and Chozo Saito, and the sculptor Tsuyoshi Takahashi. From inside its spacious 30,000 m2 grounds and the 3,000 m2 structure, one can overlook Sakata City, Mt. Chokai and Mogami River. On site is a temporary exhibit hall and a community gallery made available for the local residents.

気になった展覧会があると訪れています。鳥海山をのぞめる高台にあるため、気持ちがいいです。鑑賞後、喫茶店で景色をながめながら飲むコーヒーもよりおいしく感じます。
Seikien Garden

4.0

13 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Sakata-shi Hamada 1-11-13

This garden is in Hamada 1-Chome, Sakata City. It was built in 1891, with design by master gardener Yamada Soyu, as part of a second home for local lord Ito Shirouemon. The once-huge garden where they also had a rice paddy on a premise, and is now a scaled-down public garden. The second-home building is now a rental hall available for tea ceremonies, etc.

最初にこちらを訪問すると最初に驚かされるのは玄関に獅子の阿吽（？）石像（添付写真参照）があることです。この驚きを持って内部に足を踏み入れると内装の見た目は非常に地味なのですが 3種類あった釘隠しは凝っており特に亀（添付写真参照）はその緻密さに驚かされます。又廊下の床板や長押（なげし）を見ると全く継ぎ目がありません。更に床の間などに使用されている木材も凝っており建...
Sakata City Historical Museum

4.0

12 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Sakata-shi Ichibancho 8-16

This museum is in Ichiban-cho, Sakata City. Its collection holds materials related to the history and folklore of Sakata, with a permanent exhibition and temporary exhibits as well. It also has exhibits related to the great Sakata Fire of 1976, which caused serious damage to the city center's commercial district.

酒田駅から自転車で5分くらい小さいですが、正統派資料館入館料300円北前交易で栄えた江戸時代の資料や郷土資料が展示されています 1番印象的だったのは酒田大火の記録写真現在、どこの場所にあたるのかとてもわかりやすいですセイコウシャのぜんまい時計のカチカチという音がとても響きます
Former Aoyama Main Residence

4.0

10 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Akumi-gun Yuzamachi Hiko Aozuka 155

About 15 minutes from the Sakata Minato Interchange off the Yamagata Expressway via National Route 7, this residence is the estate of Aoyama Tomekichi, a fishing magnate. The residence has been nationally designated as an Important Cultural Property due to its distinctive construction style of the Meiji period. Visitors can tour the inside of the house in which elaborate engraved ranma transoms between the rooms are made into bamboo, sandalwood, and ebony woods. One can also appreciate the Shippoyaki cloisonné catches on the sliding doors, which at the time were comparable to the value of jewels, and can admire the fusuma paper sliding doors upon which artists vied to be selected to portray their painting. Many cultural treasure and artifacts related to the life of Aoyama Tomekichi and the affluence of the Aoyama family are also on display.

The thing that struck me about visiting the Town Home of Tomekichi Aoyama, a very well-to-do Japanese person, was that he lived what many of us today would describe as a very basic life. Inside...
Chokainomori Astronomical Obsevatory, Cosmos Domu

4.0

8 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Tsuchibuchi Akira Jiro 20-2

This astronomical observatory is in the Chokai-no-mori area of Tsuchibuchi, Sakata City. It has a 50-centimeter reflector telescope, the largest in the Shonai region. They hold astronomical observations at night on Fridays and Saturdays and during the day on Saturdays and Sundays. In the annex's exhibition room there's a model of the space shuttle, a display of the constellations, and a large quick reference board of the stars where you can see what the sky will look like later that night.

キャンプ場の途中にあったので寄ってみました公園になっており天気が良ければとても眺めが良い公園です天体観測館は当然と言えば当然なのですが日中訪れても無駄足になります夜の星観察場なので
Sokoji Temple

4.0

6 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Sakata-shi Sokojisawa 8

This temple is in Sokojisawa, Sakata City. This Zen temple was founded in 1384 by monk Getsuan Ryoen, and is the 12th temple on the Shonai 33 Temple Pilgrimage. Horaien, the garden on the temple grounds, is a nationally designated Place of Scenic Beauty, and the Kinoko Sugi cedar planted along the pilgrimage route is over 300 years old, and is a prefecturally Natural Monument. They also offer activities like copying of Buddha pictures or sutras, and Zazen meditation.

総光寺の立派な山門に向かう参道にはきのこ杉という面白い形に剪定された杉が立ち並び見ごたえがあります。山門は１８１１年のもので200年もたっている歴史あるものです。本堂の裏には庭園もあり見どころ多い寺院です。
IImoriyama Park

4.0

6 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Yamagata Sakata-shi Iimoriyama 2-13 Tono

This park is on prefectural route 355 in Iimoriyama 2-Chome, Sakata City. It has an adventure playground, multipurpose ground, a gymnasium, and other facilities. It also has a memorial hall dedicated to Sakata native photographer Ken Domon. There are about 15,000 hydrangeas planted on the grounds, and they bloom from late June through early July in a grand spectacle to see.

最上川を渡った先にある公園。市街から離れているので、自動車か観光自転車で行った方が無難です(本数は少ないですが、バスも通っています)。駐車場も広かったので。園内には運動施設や冒険広場(子ども向けの遊具があります)、池、土門拳記念館があります。広いので、1日中のんびりするにはいいかもしれません。山頂からは、最上川越しに市街を望めました。とは言え、飯森山は標高たったの42m。山と言うよりも丘で...
Sankyo Warehouses Sakata Yume no Kura (Sakata City Tourism and Product Hall)

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Sakata-shi 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.
Choukai no Mori Sansan

4.0

5 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Yamagata Sakata-shi Tsuchibuchi Ohira 1-59

This forest park is in Tsuchibuchi, Sakata City. Found in a grand forest with a view of the Shonai Plain and Sea of Japan, it has a variety of facilities including lodging, a campground, multipurpose plaza, astronomical observatory, and forestry education hall. On weekends and holidays, they offer guided forest walking tours, allowing a good glimpse of the plants and animals of the forest. They also run a ski slope in winter.

晴れてると抜群の眺めです。展望台の周囲の木を伐採しており海まで見渡せます。午前中は、人もいなくのびのび過ごせました。
Mt. Chokai

Travel / Tourism

Akita ken fukoichi

This is a 2,236 meter tall active volcano in Chokai Quasi-International Park extending over Nikaho City, Akita Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture. The 5th station hosts the Hokodate Observatory, with a view of the Oga Peninsula and Tobishima Island in the Sea of Japan. The 7th stage has bunches of flowers like narcissus anemone and nikkokisuge that bloom around July. It's popular with climbers, being selected one of Japan's 100 Top Mountains, Japan's100 Best Sceneries, and National Historic Sites.
Sakatakita Port Ryokuchi Observatory Tower

2.5

6 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Yamagata Pref. Sakatashi Takasago 231

This observation tower in Sakata Port also serves as a lighthouse, a rarity in Japan. The first floor features the Minato monoshirikan Hall, which exhibits panels educating visitors about the port. On the seventh floor, 18 meters up, the observation room offers a view of Sakata Port, along with the Sea of Japan, Takasago Wharf, cruise ships, and Japan Naval SDF ships.

駐車場も広く、入場料無料、エレベーターですぐに上がれます。眺めだけ見るなら最高です。一階には展示物もありますが長時間いるのは難しいかと思います。
Roadside Station Shonai Fusha Ichiba

Transportation

Yamagata Pref. Higashitagawagunshounaimachi Karikawa Sotokitawari 97-1

This roadside station, just opened in 2016, is along the National Route 47. Here, local fresh vegetables, artisan work pieces and sweets are sold. In addition to the direct from farm market, the station adjoins the Irodori Windmill Restaurant, where one can sit and watch the wind turbines while enjoying dishes made by the local residents from the local produce. As the name implies, this is a rare spot in Japan where you can watch group of aligned wind turbines so up close on flatland.

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Yamagata Areas

Although often overlooked, Yamagata prefecture by no means lacks appeal: the Yamadera temple trail through the mountains, deliciously tender Yonezawa wagyu, and over 100 steaming hot springs, most notably Zao Onsen, await visitors. When winter comes, the snowcapped peaks become dotted with skiers by day and onsen-goers by night, while summer brings the celebration of juicy Yamagata cherries.