Table of contents
Travel to Yamagata, visa requirements / By train / Buses to Yamagata / Get around / Yamagata attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Shopping, Yamagata souvenirs / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Yamagata nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Hotels, youth hostels, lodging / Get outYamagata (山形) is the prefectural capital of Yamagata prefecture.
Travel to Yamagata - Visa Requirements
By train
The Yamagata Shinkansen zips from Tokyo to Yamagata in 2:45 at a cost of ¥10690, and continues onward to Shinjo. The dirty little secret, though, is that from Fukushima onward the Shinkansen travels on an ordinary track and thus at ordinary speeds.
Buses to Yamagata
JR Bus Tohoku runs an overnight bus service, the Sakuranbo, from Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. The trip takes about 5 3/4 hours and costs ¥6300.
Tours and Getting around Yamagata
Most of the town is centered around the JR station in the middle of town. Yamagata has a bus route, taxis, and bicycles for rent. Most of the most popular tourist destinations have bus routes that run to various areas around town.
Yamagata tourist attractions and sightseeing
Yamagata city tours
Yamagata souvenirs and shopping
From the JR station in the middle of town, there are free buses that will take you over to a decent amount of the local non-touristy shopping. JusCo has a bus that runs up until 4pm each day that visits the eastern Yamagata location. Central to the JR station, there is a wealth of local shops, department stores, book stores of all kinds. The main street that runs from the JR station has several side streets as well. Upon a recent visit, there were many shops that catered to all your basic needs, though very few were designed or meant exclusively as tourist destinations. There are very few chain stores in downtown Yamagata, though the skirts of town have a few chain stores like Joy (hardware goods like Lowes), Super Denkodo (Compusa/Best Buy-ish), JusCo (Wal-Mart/Target), and a Toys R Us.
Yamagata Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive
Yamagata nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs
Yamagata cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging
Get out
- Yamadera, the Mountain Temple, is nearby and the main tourist draw in these parts.
- The holy mountains of Dewa Sanzan are within striking distance of Yamagata.
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