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Yamagata · City

Tsuruoka

鶴岡市つるおかしTsuruoka-shi

Samurai town, sacred mountains and Shonai cooking

Tsuruoka is the former castle town of the Shonai domain on Yamagata's Sea of Japan coast and the gateway to the sacred Dewa Sanzan mountains, recognised by UNESCO as a Creative City of Gastronomy for its local food traditions.

Overview

Tsuruoka lies in the southern half of the Shonai Plain, where rice fields stretch between the Sea of Japan and the Dewa hills. For two and a half centuries it was the seat of the Sakai family, lords of the Shonai domain, and the compact centre around the former castle still holds the domain school, the lords' villa and a cluster of Meiji and Taisho buildings. The novelist Fujisawa Shuhei, who grew up here, modelled the fictional domain of his samurai stories on this landscape.

After the 2005 merger with five neighbouring towns and villages, Tsuruoka became the largest municipality by area in Tohoku. Its territory runs from the coast at Yunohama and Atsumi to the summits of Gassan and the Asahi range, and it includes the whole of the Dewa Sanzan pilgrimage: Haguro-san with its five-storey pagoda, Gassan and Yudono-san.

The city's food culture, built on heirloom vegetables, mountain plants, Sea of Japan fish and the vegetarian shojin ryori of the Haguro pilgrim lodges, earned it designation as Japan's first UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in 2014. Tsuruoka is also a research town, home to a biotechnology cluster that grew around Keio University's Institute for Advanced Biosciences.

Landmarks

  • Haguro-san and the Five-storey Pagoda

    羽黒山五重塔Haguro-san Gojū-no-tō

    An unpainted wooden pagoda, a National Treasure, stands in the cedar forest at the start of a stone stairway of some 2,400 steps that leads to the Sanjin Gosaiden, the hall enshrining the deities of all three mountains.

  • Chidokan

    旧庄内藩校致道館Kyū Shōnai Hankō Chidōkan

    The Shonai domain school of 1805; its surviving lecture hall and shrine form the only domain school buildings still standing in Tohoku, a National Historic Site.

  • Chido Museum

    致道博物館Chidō Hakubutsukan

    Museum on the grounds of the Sakai family's retirement villa, with its garden, the Western-style former Nishitagawa District Office of 1881 and a relocated multi-storey farmhouse.

  • Tsuruoka Park and Shonai Shrine

    鶴岡公園・荘内神社Tsuruoka Kōen, Shōnai Jinja

    The moated site of Tsurugaoka Castle, planted with cherry trees; the shrine in the former inner bailey honours the Sakai lords. The Taihokan of 1915 and the Fujisawa Shuhei memorial museum stand in the park.

  • Kamo Aquarium

    鶴岡市立加茂水族館Tsuruoka Shiritsu Kamo Suizokukan

    Small municipal aquarium on the coast that specialises in jellyfish and shows one of the largest collections of species in the world.

  • Zenpo-ji

    善寳寺Zenpō-ji

    Soto Zen temple revered by fishermen along the Sea of Japan coast as a guardian of seafarers, with a large five-storey pagoda and a pond known for its carp.

  • Yudono-san Shrine

    湯殿山神社Yudono-san Jinja

    The innermost sanctuary of the Dewa Sanzan, where the object of worship is a hot-spring rock; visitors walk barefoot and photography is not permitted.

  • Matsugaoka Reclamation Site

    松ヶ岡開墾場Matsugaoka Kaikonjō

    Large silkworm-rearing halls built by former Shonai samurai in the 1870s, now museums and workshops at the heart of the "Samurai Silk" heritage story.

Districts

  • Castle town centre

    鶴岡中心市街地Tsuruoka chūshin shigaichi

    The area around Tsuruoka Park with the Chidokan, Chido Museum, the Catholic church of 1903 and old merchant houses along the Uchikawa river.

  • Toge (Haguro)

    手向Tōge

    Pilgrim village at the foot of Haguro-san with around thirty shukubo, temple lodgings run by yamabushi families.

  • Yunohama Onsen

    湯野浜温泉Yunohama Onsen

    Seaside spa on a long sandy beach facing west over the Sea of Japan.

  • Yutagawa Onsen

    湯田川温泉Yutagawa Onsen

    Quiet spa valley south of the centre, known for spring bamboo shoots and its associations with Fujisawa Shuhei.

  • Atsumi Onsen

    あつみ温泉Atsumi Onsen

    River-valley spa town near the Niigata border, with a morning market and a promenade of foot baths.

History

The religious history of the area is far older than the town: by tradition, Haguro-san was opened as a sacred mountain in the late sixth century by Prince Hachiko, and the Dewa Sanzan became the leading centre of Shugendo in northern Japan. The castle of Daihozan, later renamed Tsurugaoka, was a local stronghold in the Middle Ages and passed under Mogami control around 1600.

In 1622 Sakai Tadakatsu, from a senior Tokugawa vassal house, was installed at Tsurugaoka, and his descendants ruled Shonai until 1868. The domain was known for its well-run finances, supported by the Honma merchants of Sakata, and for its educational tradition centred on the Chidokan school. In the Boshin War Shonai's army remained unbeaten in the field, and the lenient terms of surrender granted by Saigo Takamori created lasting ties between Shonai and Kagoshima. Former samurai then cleared the Matsugaoka plateau for silk production, and the town took the name Tsuruoka in the Meiji period.

  1. 593

    By tradition Prince Hachiko opens Haguro-san as a sacred mountain.

  2. 1622

    Sakai Tadakatsu becomes lord of the Shonai domain with his seat at Tsurugaoka Castle.

  3. 1805

    The domain school Chidokan is founded.

  4. 1868

    Shonai fights in the Boshin War and surrenders after the fall of Aizu.

  5. 1872

    Former Shonai samurai begin clearing the Matsugaoka plateau for sericulture.

  6. 1876

    Tsuruoka Prefecture is merged into Yamagata Prefecture.

  7. 1924

    Tsuruoka is incorporated as a city.

  8. 2001

    Keio University opens its Institute for Advanced Biosciences in Tsuruoka.

  9. 2005

    Merger with Fujishima, Haguro, Kushibiki, Asahi and Atsumi.

  10. 2014

    Tsuruoka is designated a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

Culture

Tsuruoka keeps a strong samurai-town identity, shaped by the Shonai domain's emphasis on education and discipline, and a living religious culture on Haguro-san, where yamabushi still conduct ascetic training and welcome pilgrims. In the village of Kurokawa, farming families have performed their own Noh for more than five centuries. The city's rich local food traditions, from wild mountain plants to heirloom vegetables grown by individual families, are documented and promoted through its role as a UNESCO City of Gastronomy.

Festivals

  • Kurokawa Noh (Ogi Festival)

    黒川能・王祇祭Kurokawa Nō, Ōgi-sai

    On 1 and 2 February the village of Kurokawa performs Noh through the night for Kasuga Shrine; an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

  • Tsuruoka Tenjin Festival

    鶴岡天神祭Tsuruoka Tenjin Matsuri

    On 25 May participants disguised in kimono, straw hats and cloth masks walk the streets silently offering sake; tradition holds that if nobody recognises them for three years, wishes come true. Also known as the Bakemono Matsuri.

  • Shoreisai

    松例祭Shōrei-sai

    New Year's Eve fire ritual of the yamabushi on the summit of Haguro-san, marking the end of a hundred days of seclusion by two senior practitioners.

  • Kandara Festival

    寒鱈まつりKandara Matsuri

    Winter food festival in January built around kandara-jiru, the Shonai cod soup.

Food

  • Shojin ryori of Haguro

    精進料理shōjin ryōri

    Vegetarian cuisine of the Dewa Sanzan based on mountain vegetables, wild plants and bamboo shoots, served in the shukubo of Toge.

  • Dadacha-mame

    だだちゃ豆dadacha-mame

    Heirloom edamame with a nutty aroma, grown in the fields around the city and eaten in late summer.

  • Kandara-jiru

    寒鱈汁kandara-jiru

    Winter miso soup of Pacific cod including liver and milt, the Shonai coast's midwinter dish, also called donpei-jiru.

  • Moso-jiru

    孟宗汁mōsō-jiru

    Spring soup of moso bamboo shoots with sake lees and miso.

  • Mugikiri

    麦切りmugikiri

    Thin, flat wheat noodles of Shonai, a local cousin of udon.

  • Atsumi turnip

    温海かぶAtsumi kabu

    Red turnip grown by slash-and-burn cultivation on the hills near Atsumi and pickled in sweet vinegar.

Getting around

  • Tsuruoka Station lies on the JR Uetsu Line; the limited express from Niigata takes about two hours, connecting there with the Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo.
  • Shonai Airport, between Tsuruoka and Sakata, has flights to Tokyo Haneda and is linked to the city by airport bus in about half an hour.
  • Local buses from the station serve Haguro-san, Yunohama Onsen and Kamo Aquarium; Gassan and Yudono-san are reached by seasonal buses in the snow-free months.
  • Highway buses link Tsuruoka with Yamagata and Sendai across the Gassan route, and overnight buses run to Tokyo.

Day trips

  • Gassan

    月山Gassan

    The highest of the Dewa Sanzan at 1,984 m, climbed in summer from the Hachigome trailhead; snow lingers well into the season.

  • Sakata

    酒田市Sakata-shi

    The old Mogami River port with the Sankyo Soko rice warehouses of 1893 and the mansions of the Honma merchant family.

  • Chokai-san

    鳥海山Chōkai-san

    Volcano on the Akita border rising above the northern Shonai Plain, with the Chokai Blue Line mountain road.

  • Mogami River boat ride

    最上川舟下りMogami-gawa funakudari

    Boat trips through the Mogami gorge near Tozawa, where Basho travelled downstream in 1689.

  • Asahi mountains

    朝日連峰Asahi Renpō

    Beech-forested granite range in Bandai-Asahi National Park, reached from the Asahi district of the city.

Other cities in the prefecture

CapitalYamagataYamagata-shiCastle town between Yamadera and ZaoCityYonezawaYonezawa-shiThe Uesugi castle town of the Okitama basin

Frequently asked questions

How do I visit the Dewa Sanzan from Tsuruoka?

Buses run from Tsuruoka Station to Haguro-san year-round. Gassan and Yudono-san are served by seasonal buses and are accessible only once the snow has cleared, roughly from early summer to autumn.

Can I stay with the yamabushi?

Yes. The pilgrim village of Toge at the foot of Haguro-san has shukubo lodgings run by yamabushi families that serve shojin ryori, and some offer short ascetic-training programmes.

Why is Tsuruoka a UNESCO City of Gastronomy?

It was recognised in 2014 for the diversity of its local food traditions, including heirloom vegetables kept by individual farming families, Haguro shojin ryori and seasonal dishes such as kandara-jiru.

What is Kamo Aquarium known for?

It focuses on jellyfish and exhibits one of the largest numbers of jellyfish species of any aquarium in the world.

How far is Tsuruoka from Tokyo?

By rail it takes roughly four hours via the Joetsu Shinkansen and a limited express from Niigata; by air, Shonai Airport is about an hour from Tokyo Haneda.

Related

Sources

  1. 1.令和2年国勢調査 (opens in a new tab) — Statistics Bureau of Japan
  2. 2.鶴岡市ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 鶴岡市
  3. 3.出羽三山神社 (opens in a new tab) — 出羽三山神社
  4. 4.磐梯朝日国立公園 (opens in a new tab) — 環境省

Editorial team · Published: