TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Yamagata prefecture is known to Japanese being the region associated with NHK’s period drama “Tenchijin, Naoe Kanetsugu.” Filled with the sense of history and the touching sense of journey, this snow country in Tohoku is a treasure box of food. Winding past the prefecture, Mogami River historically divided the surrounding areas into four regions, “Okitama,” “Murayama,” “Mogami,” and “Shonai,” each having its own food culture. The local specialities has been passed along since Edo period, such as vegetarian dishes in the foot of the sacred mountain, Gassan, and the ryotei dishes that flourished in post station of Kitamae trade ship. These remind us of the origin of food we tend to forget in the age of plenty.

Food and Characteristics of Four Areas Nurturing Food Culture in Snowy Yamagata

Okitama（Around Yonezawa City）

Yonezawa is a city in the mountain long ruled by Kanetsugu Naoe and Uesugi clan, with many local specialities including Yonezawa beef. After April, snow-deep Yamagata is in season for wild vegetables. Fresh fukinoto (butterbut sprout) and tara-no-me (aralia sprout) are served up, as well as local vegetables such as yukina, ugoki, kogomi, and urui. On the other hand, the area is in basin-shaped valley surrounded by mountains, and has scarce food in winter, so the locals have developed serving ideas and storage method to keep hunger away. Among those preserved food, yukina is a rare white vegetable that grows inside the snow. “Fusube-zuke,” a boiled and soused yukina, is the speciality with a unique pungent taste.

Promoted by Yozan Uesugi who is the legendary ruler of virtue in Yonezawa, “katemono” is the origin of Yonezawa’s local dishes which is used an ingredient cooked together with the staple food. These were used to make the food filling during the time of lean harvest and famine.

“Ukogi” is one of “katemono,” promoted by Kanetsugu Naoe for both crime prevention purpose and to be used as an emergency food. Even nowadays, ukogi is normally planted as a hedge around the houses of Yonezawa region. The sprouts and new leaves are nutritious and edible, served as tempura, boiled ugoki, marinated with other ingredients, or mixed with rice.

Murayama（Around Yamagata City）

Located in the center of Yamagata prefecture with a view of Zao Mountain Range, this region has a big difference in temperature that makes it a famous place for growing soba (buckwheat). Arrays of soba shops stand along Mogami River; Murayama region is the first place to open “soba-kaido (buckwheat trail) within the prefecture. Other than that, traditional spring vegetable “ozasa-urui” and the speciality “hana-wasabi ” is picked around this area in spring.

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Surrounded by high mountains, Yamagata is a Kingdom of Onsen with hot springs pumping out from all the cities and towns in the prefecture. Each one of them are unique with a vast range of spring quality. Moreover, many hot springs have a spectacular view from its abundant nature that makes you even more relaxed. In this article, I would like to introduce to you some remarkable onsen resort in Yamagata.

We can always relax in hot springs, but I would say that the best season is from autumn with its colored foliage and winter with snows around. Steam coming out of outdoor hot springs in the biting cold air. It feels like paradise to lounge into the hot water gazing into the piled snow. This is an experience you cannot get anywhere but here in Japan. And onsen, unlike normal bath, keeps you warm for a long time. After you soak in for a while, the component of the natural hot springs will make you feel the cold air refreshing. That is why onsen lovers never gets tired of bathing, dipping in and out of the hot springs again and again.

This hot spring effect is utilized as “tojiba,” a rehabilitation facility to cure wounds and illness. Tojiba is a traditional hot spring used as chronic care facility. There are many of them available in Tohoku Area, and the famous tojiba in Yamagata is Hijiori Hot Springs (with 22 accommodations with hot springs).

Hijiori Hot Springs has attractive hot spring inns, public bath, and spring water drinking spot, and also has a vibrant morning market with fresh local vegetables. Balneal tourists come and go in their yukata, giving the town a unique atmosphere that naturally enables you to get in touch with other people while relishing the hot springs. In this town, you can enjoy simplicity; the origin of Japan. Spend your holiday in this therapeutic hot spring resort, I’m sure any tired body will be eased and refreshed.

There is one more onsen we must not forget in Yamagata. That’s “Ginzan Hot Springs” (12 hot spring accommodation) that gives us a nostalgic sense of an onsen trip. In this hot spring resort, row of retro-flavored Japanese inns resembling those in “Spirited Away” by Hayao Miyazaki, stand along the silently flowing Ginzan River. No wonder, there are gas lamps and white-walled storehouses where films were shot. Especially at dusk, the row of houses with lights gives a romantic view. The town is in an admiring beauty especially with its snowy landscape. The hot spring is in a milky white color with mineral deposit. It is slightly hot, but makes your body warm from the inside.

For those of you who want to appreciate the nature, I would recommend “Zao Hot Springs, Ubayu Hot Springs and Gassan Shizu Hot Springs. Zao Hot Springs is within the highlands on the mountainside of Zao Mountain Range, a key site for skiing. The strong acidic water is said to relieve skin disease and gastrointestinal illness, also known as “Hime no yu (bath for princess)” or “Bijin no yu (bath for beauty) .”

Ubayu Hot Spring is located at 1230 m elevation, a hot spring resort located at the highest altitude in the prefecture. Surrounded by sheer rocky cliff, here you can enjoy a thrilling outdoor bath. Gassan Shizu Hot Springs is around halfway up Mount Gassan, in a snowy area where you can enjoy skiing even during summer.

Yamagata is also a producer of fruits such as cherries, grapes, and apples. Some hot springs are gushing out from those town of fruits. To name some major ones, Sakuranbo Higashine Hot Springs, Sagae Hot Springs, Tendo Hot Springs and Kaminoyama Hot Springs are famous. In particular, Samukawa Hot Springs have been achieving popularity from its unique bath using its local specialty, roses. The rose petals makes an elegant view floating in the hot spring for beautiful skin, as well as giving you a sense of peacefulness from its fragrant scent. Of course, the best season is the harvest time of the fruits. It would be perfect if you take a trip in the middle of such season.

Other then that, some hot springs are associated with historical icons. For example, Onogawa Hot Spring is said to be the place where Komachi Ono, a poet in Heian Era, cured her illness. Semi Hot Springs is believed to be discovered by a famous samurai Yoshitsune Minamoto, and tradition says that Atsumi Hot Spring was found by Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism. I had a great time indulging in the legends of the past while lounging in the historical onsen.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.

As the mountains in the norland start changing its autumn color to winter, it is the time when “soba (buckwheat noodle)” starts attracting the gastronomists. New soba season starts from autumn to winter. Soba produces white flowers and grow red seeds in summer, then it is reaped in autumn when the seeds turn black. As the freshly reaped seeds are grounded on a stone mill, the “aroma of buckwheat” fills up the surroundings. New soba is made from this buckwheat powder before it loses its flavor. Soba is boiled in one go in a pot with strong fire, and then chilled in cold water right away. Soba-making requires promptness. After quickly draining the water, the cooked soba is ready to be savored in one slurp with your favorite soup. Freshness of the texture, fullness of the aroma, and the appetizing sound. This is the real joy of soba, a taste of Japan.

Foodies travel all over Japan seeking for this taste of supreme bliss; Yamagata can be one of the top soba-producing area for the gourmets. Nowadays, Yamagata has gained reputation nationwide, and has excellent soba that never fails to wow and awe gastronomers by its “aroma,” “body (firmness)” and “texture.” You can enjoy “freshly grounded” “freshly made” and “freshly boiled” delicious soba anytime you come to this area. And no wonder. Along Mogami River running down the prefecture from south, Okitama, Murakami and Mogami area have more than ten selected soba-producers, forming “Soba Kaido (Soba Trail)” by the national route. Mogami River is a motherly limpid stream that was once used as means of transportation written in poetries, but moreover, gourmet in Yamagata cannot be described without this river.

Yamagata produces soba in large quantities due to the big difference in the temperature. The soba-making techniques varies too, ranging from blackish Inaka-soba made from whole-grain soba powder, Yabu-soba made from peeled soba seeds, and white refined Sarashina-soba using only the inner part of the seed. To name a few more, there are unique sobas such as “Benibana Soba” tinted in a light-red color with Yamagata’s specialty, benibana (safflower), and Nihachi-soba using hot spring water to bind the buckwheat and the flour. Having the local soba as you travel; this is what you can enjoy being in the Soba Kaido.

You will have many discoveries from Yamagata Soba, but the most appetizing soba would be thick simple Inaka-soba dipped in a spicy soup. Inaka-soba full of rustic flavor has a characteristics of strong flavor of soba with a chewy texture. Generally, Inaka-soba is served in “Ita-soba” style instead of a bamboo basket. “Ita-soba” is soba served on a wooden board, which was originally a unique style of rice farmers rewarding the neighbors with freshly made soba while being busy from rice planting or harvesting. Soba is usually placed in a square box with wooden frame in a large portion（Most of them are double the portion of a generally served soba.)

Also, as the kingdom of food, soba comes along with pickles or boiled vegetables made from seasonal ingredients, making you realize that soba is a food taking root in daily lives. The soba itself is the same as Edo (Tokyo-style) soba served in bamboo basket, but Inaka-soba has a distinctive taste with its unique charm.

The appearance of the shops are usually rustic, as soba used to be made and eaten by the farmers. Some shops have straw-thatched roofs, and some have watermills. You will get to feel a particular atmosphere of an old Japanese farmer’s house as the shops make use of this earthy style. It even makes you want to stop by as you pass by.

Let me introduce you to some major Soba spots in Yamagata.

“Mogami-gawa Sannansho Soba Kaido” (Murayama City)
This is the original “Soba Kaido” established with 14 soba restaurants located along the road 15 km away from Sannansho, a spot known for the most rapid flow in Mogami River.

“Oishida Soba Kaido”（Oishida Town）
You can savor the local soba produced only in this area. The town is filled with white blossom of soba from middle of September, and has been selected as one of the “Top 100 Aromascapes”.

“Oku no Hosomichi Obanazawa Soba Kaido” (Obanazawa City)
Visited by haiku poet Basho Matsuo, Obanazawa has a suitable environment for soba cultivation and soba-making. Many soba shops here remains loyal to using quality ingredients and devotes time and effort to soba-making.

“Shinjo Mogami Soba Doraku” (Shinjo City)
They take pride in its quality of the soba powder and its soba-making technique, and have their own recipe for the soup. Chewiness, smoothness in the throat and tongue; all the element of the texture satisfies any soba-epicurean.

“Shogun Kenjo Soba no Sato Tendo” (Tendo City)
Tendo City is famous for its hot springs, and has also been one of the largest home to soba that presented its soba to the Shogunate in the old days. Kamo-soba (duck soba) is as popular as the hand-made soba. Kanchu Hikinuki-soba is also available for a limited time, only during the winter.

“Soba Kaido Yamagata” (Yamagata City)
Yamagata City has different kind of soba restaurants from thin Sarashina style Machisoba to thick Inaka-soba; each restaurants have sophisticated skills of soba chef and are all particular about the ingredients.

“Soba no Gassan Meguri” (Nishikawa Town)
Located at the base of Gassan, Nishikawa Town has about 40 restaurants serving skillfully made soba and the local specialty, wild vegetable soba. The soba in this region has a rich flavor from the temperature-changing climate and spring water that was selected as one of the “hundred exquisite waters of Japan.”

“Minami Yamagata Soba Kaido” (Takahata-cho, Yonezawa City)
This is the soba trail in Yonezawa and Kawanishi, around Takahata in South Yamagata Okitama Region. All shops provide hand-kneaded soba made with 100% of soba powder.

“Kakure Soba-ya no Sato” (Shirotaka Town)
Traditionally in Shirotaka, each village had families with the title of “Soba-ya” (Soba shop) in each village; there were many soba-making masters who would use his skills as a soba chef if he was asked to do so. Nowadays, four “Kakure” (secret) soba shop are in business, and each of them upholds its own taste and characteristics.

“Yonezawa Soba Kaido”（Yonezawa City）
In the past, people in Yonezawa peeled soba seeds and cooked them just like rice. After the milling technique was conveyed from China, they started to grind soba to make a powder, and made “soba dumplings” and “sobagaki.” By the time of Edo Period, “Soba-kiri,” the long and thin soba was born and has been tasted over the centuries as a traditional soba.

See earlier articles:

Yamagata Part 2
Yamagata Part 1

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.