Last Updated: Dec 8, 2023

Yamagata Winters

The Best Time of Year to Visit

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium

Located deep in northern Japan, Yamagata Prefecture is one of those places that rarely welcomes foreign tourists. While its Yamadera temple complex does have some minor awareness overseas, many of the prefecture’s other offerings are all but unknown to visitors. This is a real shame. You see, despite the lack of notoriety, Yamagata is home to vast treasury of hidden gems including the likes of a mountain shrine that is so sacred that one is not to speak of what happens on its consecrated grounds.

Though Yamagata is rife with an endless array of allures to pick from, few things can compare to the prefecture’s magnificent winters. Nestled amongst its snow capped peaks, you’ll find a smorgasbord of attractions that range from things like rustic hot spring towns to awesome ski resorts. For such a remote prefecture, it really does spoil visitors who make the journey with a cornucopia of choice.

On that note, today we’ll be taking a look at two of my winter favorites, the jaw dropping Ginzan Onsen town and Mt. Zao with its awesome “snow monster” phenomenon. While these areas are perennial draws for Yamagata, a visit when there’s a good blanket of snow is an unforgettable experience. Cold be damned! Traveler beware though as both are located well off the beaten path. Nevertheless, the difficulty in getting there is more than made up by their breathtaking splendor.

How to Get There

As with most destinations in Northern Japan, transportation isn’t exactly as accessible as in more urbanized areas. This makes the journey much more arduous than it would be otherwise. Including all transit time, both the snow monsters and Ginzan Onsen each require about a full day. What’s more, due to Yamagata’s remote location, you’re going to want spend the night up there at the very least. Realistically, this area is too far out to be considered as a day trip.

Anyway, for starters, you’re going to need to either take a bullet train or airplane up to Yamagata Prefecture. From there, the next step…