Yamagata Prefecture

Yamagata Prefecture (山形県 - Yamagata-ken) is a prefecture in the north-east of Japan. Its capital is Yamagata City.

Geography
Yamagata Prefecture is located in the Tohoku region of Honshu, Japan. It is on the western coast of Japan, facing the Sea of Japan. It is bordered by Niigata and Fukushima to the south, Akita to the north and Miyagi to the east. Yamagata is a very mountainous region (Yamagata meaning "mountain shape") and as such is a popular ski and snowboard resort area.

Climate
Yamagata is a land of contradiction, being both very hot during summer with annual highs of around 35 degrees, and very cold during winter with annual lows of -5. Yamagata becomes very snowy in winter, with areas outside of Yamagata city experiencing snow that can reach several meters in height.

Regions of Yamagata
Geographically, Yamagata is broken up into four regions: Please note that these are geographical regions, and do not match up 1:1 with the local JET regions of Okitama, Murayama, Saihoku and Shonai.

Okitama
Located in the southern area of Yamagata (the chin), it is made up of the cities: Nagai, Nanyo, Oguni, and Yonezawa (along with other smaller cities in-between). The most populated city in Okitama is Yonezawa with several cafes, a movie theater, mall, and more. Surrounded by mountains, it is perfect for hikes, snowboarding/skiing, rock climbing, and other outdoor activities.

Okitama is well known for the different foods such as basashi and Yonezawa Beef.

Shonai
Shonai is the coastal region of Yamagata. It contains the best of both worlds with mountain and beach access. The largest city in Shonai is Tsuruoka. Tsuruoka is designated as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. Shonai in general has a lot of delicious food; like dadacha-mame or kandara-jiru. It has developed it's own food culture as well as it's own dialect of Japanese, which are somewhat separate from the other areas of the prefecture. The region contains two malls, an airport, several museums, and many other interesting locations.

Economy
Yamagata is an agricultural prefecture, producing 70% of Japan's cherries (Sato-Nishiki cultivar), as well as other agricultural products such as "La France" pears, melons, rice, beef and edamame. Yamagata is also popular as a winter sports destination, with many tourists from both inside and outside of Japan visiting Mt. Zao to ski and snowboard.

Government
Its current governor is Mieko Yoshimura, one of two female incumbent governors in Japan (the other being Yuriko Koike of Tokyo). The prefectural office can be found in the east of Yamagata City, and each region has its own administrative office.

Culture
Yamagata has a rich and interesting culture with many festivals and regional food. It also has its own dialect, called Yamagata-ben. Yamagata has a reputation of being out in the boondocks - a sentiment that is somewhat resented, but also quietly accepted, by its residents. For a list of suggested domestic tourist spots, see the Sightseeing in Yamagata page.

Festivals
Yamagata is host to a variety of unique festivals throughout the year, and foreign residents are typically more than welcome to join in. Most famous are the Hanagasa Festival - a dancing parade most famously in Yamagata City; the Uesugi Festival - a reenactment of the Battle of Kawanakajima in Yonezawa, and the Shinjo Festival - a procession of floats in Shinjo, which has recently become a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Property.

Cuisine
As one may expect from an agricultural prefecture, Yamagata is known for its food. In particular, its noodles - especially ramen - are famous. During the hot summer months, it is common for restaurants to serve cold noodle dishes. During autumn, imoni - a type of potato stew - is a popular dish, and many residents will hold imonikai - or "imoni parties" by the river. During the autumn period, it is also possible to attend the largest imoni festival in the country, with several tonnes of imoni being made in a six meter wide pot and stirred by cranes. In Yamagata city, the imoni is made with beef and soy sauce. In the Shonai region, it is made with pork and miso.

Sports
Yamagata's prefectural soccer team is Montedio Yamagata.

Air
Yamagata has two airports - Yamagata Airport and Shonai Airport. Both airports provide domestic flights only - Yamagata Airport has services to Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Itami, Nagoya Komaki and Sapporo New Chitose. Shonai Airport has services between Shonai and Haneda only.

Rail
Yamagata is easily accessible from Tokyo by the Yamagata Shinkansen Line, which terminates in either Yamagata City or Shinjo. The Yamagata Shinkansen is named the Tsubasa, and is typically connected to its counterpart bound for Sendai for most of its journey. As well as the Shinkansen, there are several smaller rail services connecting each city and town in the prefecture - of most note are the Ou Main Line (Fukushima-Aomori, but never the whole journey at once due to differences in tracks), the Aterazawa Line (Yamagata-Aterazawa), the Senzan Line (Yamagata-Sendai) and the Yonesaka Line (Yonezawa-Sakamachi, Niigata).