Tag: yamagata prefecture

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Shinjoh Festival (Registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage)

festival car 4
festival car 1
festival car 1
festival car 2
festival car 2

This festival is held for 3 days in the  end of August.  Each neighborhood association(small town) competes for floats composed of the festival car decorated* by a lot of arts(dolls) based on classical subject and the    following musical accompaniment.  The decoration is like ‘Nebuta’ in Aomori. 


*)Due to festival cars decorated only one side (left side in the direction of parade), pay attention to the trends of the locals so that you do not fail to pick up space(side) for seeing the festival parade.


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Totoro Tree

totoro tree
totoro tree detail
totoro tree detail

No matter how you look at it, it looks like a Totoro tree ！

In fact, a cedar tree is divided into two at the base, which is only visible to Totoro’s ears at a distance. Even so, the shape is really good.

There is an observation deck with a parking lot nearby, but let’s walk around the Totoro tree through the thickets.

*)On the way I often worried about whether I could reach my destination or not in the real countryside.
By the way, Sakekawa village is famous for various mushroom cultivation. I learned later looking at the production area display at the supermarket in the neighborhood.

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Going down the Mogami River by boat

mogami river

‘Gathering early summer rains / Even more rapid / The Mogami River’
by Basho

boat going down
boat going down

Basho traveled to Tohoku district during the Edo period and left many famous haiku poems. One of them is the Mogami River.

fall from the cliff
waterfall from the cliff

The seasons were different, but the flow was not as intense as I expected.
Time seems to have stopped and the area is quiet. I can only hear the sound of pointing the boat’s rod to the river. A stream of water falls from the cliff and the boat song of the boatman is sucked into the mountains. On the way you can see the ruins of Oshin’s outdoor studio. I fell asleep on the way.


The following is a boat landing.  One-way, two-way, etc. you can chose according to your schedule.

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Ginzan Hot Spring too famous

ginzan hot spring
retro modern hotels
retro modern hotels

In the Edo period, silver production in Japan was about one-third of the world and the representative ‘ Iwami Ginzan(Silver mountains)* ‘ became World Heritage.  ‘Ginzan Hot Spring ‘ has the same story adding hot spring and the downtown is said to be retro-modern and is visited by many foreign tourists like Kyoto.

public bath
public bath

 

 

 

But the best way to spend time was to take a public bath in the entrance of the village designed by Mr.Kuma Kengo, architect who designed the main stadium Tokyo2020 after visiting mine ruins at the end of village (small walk). 

mine ruins
mine ruins

*)Ginzan and Ginza(silver guild or place)
Since the foundry of silver coins was placed in Tokyo during the Edo period, Ginza has developed into a high-class shopping district and any central shopping districts of even small towns in Japan have been named as the same  Ginza district.

falls at the end of village
waterfalls at the end of village

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Big Zelkova Tree (1500 years old) in Higashine

big tree

Higashine city is famous of cherry producer and even the station name has the name of cherry like ‘Cherry Higashine’.  But ‘Big Zelkova Tree'(Keyaki) is far more famous since ancient times.  The sacred tree quietly stands in the lively voice of elementary school students.

rice terraces
rice terraces

Yamagata was a place to ship rice to the Edo Shogunate by Kitamae ship being collected through Mogami River, so rice production was also popular.  You can still see many beautiful rice fields.  I like branded rice, ‘Tsuya-Hime'(Shiny princess).

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Soba is cool in the throat

white flower of buckwheat

Soba, a thin noodle made of buckwheat flour, is eaten or the scent enjoyed all over Japan and had become a subject of classical literary arts, especially rakugo.
Yamagata was a place to ship rice to the Edo Shogunate by Kitamae ship, so rice production was popular.  Soba has historically been offered as thank-you after the rice farming work that many neighbors helped, and its taste was a showcase for the farmers.  That is why soba became famous in Yamagata prefecture.
Soba fields spread along the Oishi Kaido(highroad) in the countryside, and many soba restaurants are concentrated in it.  In August, the fields are filled with small white flowers, and in the fall you can enjoy the fragrant new soba.

Gallery (click photos)

soba highroad left
soba highroad right
soba menu
sobagaki(right)

The restaurant ‘Heikichi’ I found in the countryside by chance is the following.
The place name is “Jinego”, literary ‘next year’s children’ in Japanese characters, because it was too snowy to register the birth at the government office only next year.