Yamagata

Flavors of the Food Culture of Yamagata Prefecture, Dubbed “Another Japan”

Yamagata Prefecture is situated in northeastern Honshu. Around Mt. Gassan, in the middle of the prefecture, are Mt. Zao, Mt. Chokai, and Mt. Azuma. These are mountains are listed among “Japan’s One Hundred Most Famous Mountains,” and the area is rich in scenic beauty.

The famous haiku poet Matsuo Basho spent 43 days on his journey “Oku no Hosomichi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North)” in this region blessed with a wondrous natural environment. “Silence, the sound of cicadas seeping into the rock.” This familiar “Cicada haiku” was composed at the famous Rissyakuji Temple in Yamagata City. Places associated with Basho are scattered throughout the prefecture and have become popular destinations for haiku lovers and tourists alike. Edwin O. Reischauer, the former U.S. ambassador to Japan, praised beautiful Yamagata Prefecture in his essay contributed to “Yamagata—The Other Side of the Mountain.”

Tourists’ palates are delighted by the local specialties proudly produced in the area. Rice, which accounts for about 30% of the prefecture’s agricultural output, as well as the cherries and pears of which Yamagata is the nation’s top producer, are known throughout Japan for their high quality. The prefecture proclaims itself as “Yamagata, a prefecture of gourmet food and sake.”

The melt-in-your-mouth texture of Yamagata’s beef and high-quality Yamagata-brand pork is popular with food lovers around Japan. Not to mention the colorful pickles that come with each season. Various local flavors, such as “Seisai-zuke (pickled greens)” and “Akakabu-zuke (pickled red turnips),” have been handed down from generation to generation.