Yamagata Prefecture

Geography

Yamagata Prefecture is located in the southwest corner of Tōhoku, facing the Sea of Japan. It borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture on the south, Miyagi Prefecture on the east, and Akita Prefecture on the north. All of these boundaries are marked by mountains, with most of the population residing in a limited central plain.

As of 31 March 2020, 17 percent of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Bandai-Asahi National Park; Chōkai, Kurikoma, and Zaō Quasi-National Parks; and Goshōzan, Kabusan, Kennan, Mogamigawa, Shōnai Kaihin, and Tendō Kōgen Prefectural Natural Parks.

Cities

Thirteen cities are located in Yamagata Prefecture:

Towns and villages

These are the towns and villages in each district:

Mergers

Climate

The climate of Yamagata Prefecture is characterized by long, hot, and humid summers and long, snowy winters. Both spring and autumn are short, the former often cold, the latter often warm, but both quite dry and sunny. Yamagata Prefecture, along with northern parts of Miyagi and Iwate are the transition areas from humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa/Cwa) to humid continental within the Japan mainland. Winter temperatures rarely fall below −10 °C (14 °F) in populated areas; they frequently rise above 30 °C (86 °F) in July and August. Precipitation falls all year round and the remnants of one or perhaps two typhoons usually pass through between August and October. The winters see heavy snowfall especially at higher elevations, though the Japan Sea coast (Sakata) is milder and has more rain. Snowfall for Shinjō is typical of populated mountainous areas, snowfall for Yamagata City typical of the valleys. The central mountains around Gassan may see as much as 3,000 centimetres (98.43 ft) of snow in a season with depths up to 8 metres (26 ft) at higher elevations.

Economy

Fruit

Yamagata Prefecture is the largest producer of cherries and pears in Japan. A large quantity of other kinds of fruits such as grapes, apples, peaches, melons, persimmons and watermelons are also produced.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, Yamagata Prefecture had a population of 1,068,027. As of the latest estimates in October 2024, 10.4% of the population was under the age of 15, 54.0% was between 15 and 64, and 35.6% was over 65, with 16.0% aged 65 to 74, and 19.6% aged 75 or older.

Yamagata prefecture experienced its greatest growth period following the end of World War II, but then quickly began to slow down and eventually decline steadily.

In May 2025, the Yamagata prefectural government announced that the estimated population had fallen below 1 million. This marks the lowest population level recorded in the prefecture since the 1920 census.

Notable people

• Date Masamune (1567–1636), daimyō of the Sendai Domain
• Inoue Hisashi (1934–2010), novelist, playwright, and essayist
• Kazunobu Mineta (born 1977), singer-songwriter; lead singer of punk rock band Ging Nang Boyz
• Ogata Taketora (1888–1956), journalist and politician; Deputy Prime Minister of Japan
• Shozo Sasahara (1929–2023), Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling
• Shizue Tatsuta (1903–1962), silent film actress
• Yoshihiro Togashi (born 1966), manga artist, creator of Hunter x Hunter and YuYu Hakusho

City life

Yamagata City is the central hub for Yamagata Prefecture and has many shops and restaurants around its main station. It is also the location with the most western hotels and the primary place of lodging for visitors visiting this region. This city serves as a good hub to visit the surrounding cities and towns around this prefecture with bus lines and train lines linking almost every part of Yamagata from the station.

There are also many bars near the station giving this city a good night life for visitors to enjoy at the front of the station as well as the nanukamachi district in the downtown area of the city.

Festivals and events

Yamagata Prefecture has a number of annual festivals and events.

The largest is the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival (花笠祭り) which takes place in Yamagata City on the first weekend in August, when thousands of people perform the hanagasa dance in the city centre and attracts up to 300,000 spectators. Yamagata City is the home of the bi-annual Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in October.

In February, a snow lantern festival is held in Yonezawa at the Uesugi Shrine. Hundreds of candle-lit lanterns light pathways dug into the snow around the shrine. Yonezawa is also the site of the Uesugi Festival (上杉祭り, uesugi matsuri) in mid-spring. The festival's highlight is a re-enactment of the Battle of Kawanakajima on the banks of the Matsukawa River.

In September, Yamagata Prefecture is famous for its imoni, a taro-root stew popular in Northern Japan during the autumn. Imonikai, taro-root soup parties, are very popular during this season, and many tourists come to Yamagata Prefecture specifically for its particular style of imoni.

Art

Beginning in 2003, Yamagata city officials with the aid of Tōhoku University of Art and Design began a three-year project in which the Buddhist art of the city's temples would be catalogued and compared to a set of guidelines in order to identify "cultural assets". One hundred and ninety temples have had their works of art examined and several significant examples of Buddhist sculpture have been discovered. At Heisenji Temple, in the Hirashimizu district, a particularly rare statue, a seated Vairocana Buddha made from zelkova wood, was found. Other significant works include sculptures from the Heian period (794–1185) and Kamakura period (1192–1333).

The Yamagata Museum of Art, located in Yamagata City, was opened in 1964 through the efforts of a foundation led by Yoshio Hattori, the president of Yamagata Shimbun and Yamagata Broadcasting Co, Ltd. The permanent collection consists of three types of art: Japanese and Asian, regional, and French. Special exhibitions are held periodically.

Language

Yamagata Prefecture is known for its local dialect Yamagata-ben, sometimes thought of as backward sounding in other parts of Japan. The 2004 movie Swing Girls (スウィングガールズ), co-written and directed by Shinobu Yaguchi, is set in Yamagata and makes use of Yamagata-ben for comedic purposes.

Sports

The sports teams listed below are based in Yamagata.

Football

• Montedio Yamagata

Volleyball

• Pioneer Red Wings (Tendō)

Basketball

• Passlab Yamagata Wyverns

Transportation

Airports

• Shonai Airport (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo by All Nippon Airways)
• Yamagata Airport (Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo by Japan Airlines)

Railways

• Aterazawa Line
• Flower Nagai Line
• Ōu Main Line
• Rikuu East Line
• Rikuu West Line
• Senzan Line
• Uetsu Main Line
• Yamagata Shinkansen
• Yonesaka Line

Tourism

The temple of Yama-dera, carved into the mountainside near the city of Yamagata, is a major attraction.

The Dewa Sanzan are three holy mountains that form a traditional pilgrimage for followers of the Shugendō branch of Shintō. The famous Gojudo (five-story pagoda) is at the base of Mount Haguro, the lowest of the three mountains.

Mount Zaō is a famous winter ski resort, also known for its snow monsters (frozen snow-covered trees) in the winter, and the Okama crater lake, also known as the Goshiki Numa (Five Color Lake) because its colour changes according to the weather.

Ginzan Onsen (銀山温泉) is a Silver Mountain hot spring town located in the mountains of Obanazawa City, Yamagata Prefecture. The area originally developed around a silver mine.

Media

Newspapers

• Okitama Times
• Shonai Nippo
• Yamagata Shimbun
• Yonezawa Shimbun

TV and radio

• Rhythm Station (JFN)
• SAY TV (FNN)
• TUY TV (JNN)
• YBC TV and Radio (NNN, JRN, and NRN)
• YTS TV (ANN)

Film

• Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival
• The Studio Ghibli film Only Yesterday (1991) is set in rural Yamagata, depicting a safflower harvest in the countryside. The film was directed by Isao Takahata.