Obanazawa
Discover Obanazawa
Obanazawa (尾花沢) is a city in Yamagata. Obanazawa's main claim to fame is that it has one of the highest snowfalls in the entire world, with over two meters falling in an average winter, and they've even developed a special sharply peaked "flower hat" (hanagasa) to stop snow accumulating on your head. The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site. It says Obanazawa is the city of snow, watermelon and hanagasa.
What to Experience in Obanazawa
Taste of Obanazawa...
Not available
Essential Information
Getting There
Multiple OptionsThe nearest airport is Yamagata, which receives flights from Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Itami, Sapporo Chitose and Nagoya Komaki. There are three buses a day to Ōishida Station and Obanazawa City Hall (of which two continue to Ginzan Onsen), taking 50 minutes and ¥1000 (1 hr 20 min and ¥1500 to Ginzan Onsen). Obanazawa is served by Ōishida Station, in the adjacent town of that name, and is served by the Yamagata Line and Yamagata Shinkansen from Tokyo. Tsubasa trains run eight times a day from Tokyo, with additional trains terminating at Yamagata. From Sendai, take the Senzan Line to either Uzen-Chitose (for a local train) or Yamagata (for the Shinkansen); check the timetable to see which is faster. This should take roughly 2 hours and cost ¥1660 (¥3130 if taking the Shinkansen). Taking the Shinkansen via Fukushima may be slightly faster, but will be much more expensive....
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
Ginzan Onsen (銀山温泉) is a very small picture postcard perfect Japanese village along a river with hot spring baths in most small hotels. To get there, buses run five times a day from Ōishida Station, taking 40 minutes and costing ¥710. The attraction of the town is its physical beauty - a village wedged between hills with a small river gushing through it and a number of quaint bridges strategically placed across the stream every 20 metres or so to connect houses on either side of the river. Famed in Japan because it was used as a set for the internationally popular NHK drama Oshin in the 1980s, Ginzan is a place to visit for a short period in winter when it is spectacularly covered in the metres of snow for which this area of Japan is famed or in summer for hiking in the surrounding hills. If you visit in winter, you may be lucky enough to attend the New year festivities in mid January - when the small town comes out to celebrate the end of the old year and the incoming new year.
Safety Information
Glimpses of Obanazawa
A large building lit up at night with lights on
river
Buddha statue in a serene forest setting.
wooden buildings
wooden buildings
Ginzan Onsen
A city street at night with people walking on the sidewalk
aerial view of green and brown building during daytime
a blue bridge over a river with a mountain in the background
a town in the mountains
A large building lit up at night with lights on
river
Buddha statue in a serene forest setting.