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Monday · 2026/11/02

USD ¥157.3
EUR ¥175.7
SGD ¥123
AUD ¥110.5

Festival · Yamagata · Tohoku

Kasedori

An Edo-period festival in Kaminoyama where performers in bird-shaped straw costumes parade through town as spectators splash them with water for good fortune.

Kaminoyama · 11 Feb 2027

Mountain · Yamagata · Tohoku

Mt. Gassan

The highest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, sacred to the moon god, with a shrine at the summit that opens only in high summer.

Tsuruoka

Festival · Yamagata · Tohoku

Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival

A two-day winter festival in snowy Yonezawa transforming Matsugasaki Park into a landscape of 300 snow lanterns and 3,000 snow lamps lit by candlelight.

Yonezawa · 14–15 Feb 2027

Mountain · Yamagata · Tohoku

Mt. Haguro

The lowest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, climbed by a stone stair through old cedars, with a five-storey pagoda that is a National Treasure.

Tsuruoka

Yamagata

Festival

Kasedori

An Edo-period festival in Kaminoyama where performers in bird-shaped straw costumes parade through town as spectators splash them with water for good fortune.

11 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetKaminoyama · Yamagata

Festival

Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival

A two-day winter festival in snowy Yonezawa transforming Matsugasaki Park into a landscape of 300 snow lanterns and 3,000 snow lamps lit by candlelight.

14–15 Feb 2027Exact date not confirmed yetYonezawa · Yamagata

Festival

The Yonezawa Uesugi Matsuri

A multi-day festival in Yonezawa that ends with a reenactment of the 1561 Battle of Kawanakajima between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen.

29 Apr – 3 May 2027Yonezawa · Yamagata

Festival

Yamagata Hanagasa Festival

The Yamagata Hanagasa Festival is a major August event: over 10,000 dancers parade nightly with flower-decorated hanagasa hats to taiko drums and folk song.

5–7 Aug 2027Exact date not confirmed yetYamagata

Festival

Aodake Chochin Festival (Green Bamboo Lantern Festival)

A summer festival transforms a town with illuminated green bamboo lanterns, folk performances, and fireworks over Takahata.

16 Aug 2027Exact date not confirmed yetTakahata · Yamagata

Festival

Shinjo Matsuri

A festival in Shinjo with over 260 years of history, where 20 ornate floats themed on historical tales, legends and kabuki parade to traditional music.

24–26 Aug 2027Exact date not confirmed yetShinjo · Yamagata

Quick poll

Public Facility

Yamagata City Office

The city hall of Yamagata, home to the city's departments, with an observation lobby on the 11th floor and a canteen and cafe in the basement.

Yamagata

Activity & Sport

Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort

Ski resort above the Zao Onsen hot spring village in Yamagata, with 305 hectares of slopes, three ropeways and runs through the snow-covered trees called juhyo.

Yamagata

Park & Garden

Mogami Park (Shinjo Castle Park)

The site of Shinjo Castle, seat of the Tozawa lords for 243 years, with surviving moats and earthworks, three shrines and cherry trees.

Shinjo · Yamagata

Castle

Kaminoyama Castle

Local history museum in a castle-style building on the site of Kaminoyama Castle, a former Mogami clan stronghold pulled down by the shogunate in 1692.

Kaminoyama · Yamagata

Shrine

Uesugi Shrine

Uesugi Shrine in Yonezawa honors the formidable warlord Uesugi Kenshin and was rebuilt in 1923 following a destructive fire.

Yonezawa · Yamagata

Onsen & Wellness

Ginzan Onsen

A nostalgic Taisho-era hot-spring town in the Yamagata mountains, lined with wooden inns along a gas-lit river - at its most magical under snow.

Obanazawa · Yamagata

Mountain

Mt. Haguro

The lowest of the three mountains of Dewa in Yamagata, climbed by a stone stair through old cedars, with a five-storey pagoda that is a National Treasure.

Tsuruoka · Yamagata