Sakata City
Sakata City is located in the northwest of Yamagata Prefecture and thrived as a transit port for Kitamaebune merchant ships.
Historical cultural intersections remain around the city, adding a graceful touch to the atmosphere.
Sankyo Warehouses
These nine white-washed storehouses can store 10,800 tons of rice.
Japanese zelkova trees flank the west side of the warehouses blocking the sunlight and protecting the structures from strong seasonal winds in the winter.
The forebears’ wisdom made good use of nature to create low-temperature storage facilities and these warehouses are used to store rice even now.
Honma Museum of Art and the Kakubu Garden
The museum first began operating by displaying gifts that the wealthy merchant family of the Honmas received from feudal lords, such as the Sakai clan of the Shonai Domain and the Uesugi clan of the Yonezawa Domain.
It now gives various exhibitions ranging from antiques to modern art.
Art, nature, and history are combined harmoniously in this museum.
Somaro
Somaro was originally a high-class restaurant that thrived from the Edo Period.
The wooden main building was destroyed in the great fire following the Shonai Earthquake in 1879, and was rebuilt around the warehouse that survived.
Somaro was restored by adding new touches to tradition.
Historical Homma Family Residence
The third lord of the Honma Family, Lord Honma Mitsuoka, originally built this residence in 1768 to serve as the quarters for the Shogun’s officials on their inspection visits to Sakata, and offered the house to the Shonai lord, the Sakai Clan.
The building also merges the style of a samurai residence with that of a merchant house, which is very rare nationwide.
Kumano Taisha
A Historical 1,200-Year-Old Shrine that Worships the God of Matchmaking
Ginzan Onsen
A Hot Spring Town with “Taisho Romanticism” Atmosphere that Thrived as a Silver Mining Town
Yamadera
Mountain Temple of Long Stone Steps, the Site Where Basho Read His Acclaimed Haiku