Activities Mount Haguro’s Avenue of Centuries-old Cedar Trees Alena Eckelmann Mount Haguro is one of the Three Mountains of Dewa, or Dewa Sanzan, that are considered holy ground by the Japanese. Mount Haguro..
Culture Dewa Sanzan Sacred Mountain Alena Eckelmann Mountain worship, such as that performed in Yamagata's Dewa Sanzan, has a long tradition in Japan, a country that is 70% covered..
Activities Matsugaoka Alena Eckelmann Japan's Meiji Era (1867-) saw samurai lose their warrior jobs. Some 3,000 samurai of the Shonai Domain decided to swap their..
Culture In Search of the Sakai Daimyo in Tsuruoka City Alena Eckelmann The Sakai, a samurai clan that originated in the 14thcentury, became chief retainers to the Shoguns of the Tokugawa Clan. The Sakai..
Culture The Old Abumiya Residence Alena Eckelmann Sakata, a small town in the northwestern part of Honshu Island, has a rich merchant history. The "Band of 36", a group of powerful..
Culture Sankyo Rice Warehouses Alena Eckelmann The heritage of Sakata City in Yamagata Prefecture tells the stories of rich rice merchants and of poor day laborers in rice warehouses...
Culture On the Movie Set of “Okuribito” Alena Eckelmann "Okuribito" (Departures) won the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2009. The main movie set, the NK Agent's office, is now open..
Area Iide Iide Town is a small town in the southern part of Yamagata Prefecture. The town is surrounded by four mountain ranges: Zao Renbo, Azuma Renbo, Azahi Renbo and Iide Renbo. The 8,000 people or so..
