Regions & prefectures
JapanRegions & prefectures
Yamagata
Three sacred mountains, cherries, and firs turned into ice monsters every winter.
- Capital
- Yamagata
- Status
- Prefecture
- Region
- Tōhoku
- Must-see
- The ice monsters of Zaō
- Local specialty
- Sato-nishiki cherries, imoni stew
The Dewa Sanzan, three peaks walked for fourteen centuries by yamabushi ascetics, make Yamagata a centre of shugendō, the mountain religion blending Buddhism with local cults. The prefecture grows three-quarters of Japan’s cherries and, at Zaō, snow-laden wind freezes the conifers into massive shapes, the juhyō, floodlit at night.
What to see there
Places, dishes and traditions tied to this territory.