Yonezawa

米沢市よねざわしYonezawa-shi

The Uesugi castle town of the Okitama basin

Yonezawa is a former castle town in the snowy Okitama basin of southern Yamagata, seat of the Uesugi daimyo from 1601 to 1868 and known for the reforming lord Uesugi Yozan, Uesugi Shrine and Yonezawa beef.

Overview

Yonezawa lies at the southern end of the Okitama basin, the upper valley of the Mogami River, hemmed in by the Azuma mountains on the Fukushima border and the Iide range to the west. It is the first stop of the Yamagata Shinkansen after the line climbs over the Itaya Pass from Fukushima, and one of the snowiest cities of its size in Japan.

The town's identity is bound up with the Uesugi family. After backing the losing side in 1600, Uesugi Kagekatsu was moved here from Aizu with a fraction of his former domain, and his successors ruled Yonezawa until the Meiji Restoration. The eighteenth-century lord Uesugi Yozan, who restored the bankrupt domain through austerity, sericulture and weaving, is still cited in Japan as a model of good government. The castle grounds, now Matsugasaki Park, hold Uesugi Shrine, dedicated to the warlord Uesugi Kenshin, and the city museum preserves the family's treasures.

Today Yonezawa combines this heritage with textiles, electronics and research; Yamagata University's Faculty of Engineering, founded in 1910 as a technical school for the silk industry, has made the city a centre for organic electronics. Its name is known throughout Japan for Yonezawa beef.

Landmarks

Uesugi Shrine
上杉神社Uesugi Jinja
Shrine to Uesugi Kenshin on the site of the castle's inner bailey, surrounded by the old moat. Its treasury, the Keishoden, displays armour, swords and personal effects of Kenshin and Kagekatsu.
Matsugasaki Park (Yonezawa Castle site)
松が岬公園（米沢城跡）Matsugasaki Kōen (Yonezawa-jō ato)
The former castle grounds, with moats, earthworks and statues of Kenshin and Yozan; the castle never had a large keep, reflecting the domain's reduced status.
Denkoku no Mori (Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum)
伝国の杜（米沢市上杉博物館）Denkoku no Mori (Yonezawa-shi Uesugi Hakubutsukan)
Museum and cultural centre beside the park holding the Uesugi family collection, including the Kano Eitoku screens of scenes in and around Kyoto, a National Treasure.
Uesugi Family Mausoleum
上杉家廟所Uesugi-ke Byōsho
Cedar-shaded enclosure with the mausolea of Uesugi Kenshin and the successive lords of Yonezawa, a National Historic Site.
Uesugi Count's Residence
上杉伯爵邸Uesugi Hakushaku-tei
Residence of the Uesugi family after the Meiji Restoration, a large wooden house with garden next to the shrine.
Rinsen-ji
林泉寺Rinsen-ji
Family temple of the Uesugi with the graves of Naoe Kanetsugu and his wife and of Kagekatsu's consort.

Districts

Matsugasaki and the castle quarter
松が岬Matsugasaki
The centre around the castle site, with the shrine, museum and former samurai streets.
Station area
米沢駅周辺Yonezawa-eki shūhen
East of the Matsukawa river, about two kilometres from the castle site; beef restaurants and hotels cluster here.
Onogawa Onsen
小野川温泉Onogawa Onsen
Old spa village in a side valley south of the centre, linked by legend to the poet Ono no Komachi and known for fireflies in early summer.
Shirabu Onsen and Tengendai
白布温泉・天元台Shirabu Onsen, Tengendai
Mountain spa and the Tengendai plateau above it, starting point for the Nishi-Azuma mountains and a ski area in winter.

History

In the fourteenth century the Okitama district came under the Date clan, and in 1548 Date Harumune made Yonezawa his seat; his great-grandson Date Masamune was born here in 1567. When Toyotomi Hideyoshi reorganised the north, the Date were moved away, and in 1598 Uesugi Kagekatsu received the vast domain of Aizu, with Yonezawa governed by his chief retainer Naoe Kanetsugu.

After Sekigahara the Uesugi were reduced to 300,000 koku and confined to Yonezawa in 1601, and a succession crisis in 1664 halved the domain again. Crushed by debt and a large samurai class, the domain was near collapse when Uesugi Yozan became lord in 1767; his reforms promoted mulberry and silk, carp farming and edible hedges, and his maxim that anything can be achieved by effort is still quoted. Yonezawa joined the northern alliance in the Boshin War of 1868 but surrendered early. The travel writer Isabella Bird, crossing the Okitama plain in 1878, described it as a garden of plenty. A great fire in 1919 destroyed Uesugi Shrine, which was rebuilt in 1923 to a design by the architect Ito Chuta.

1548
Date Harumune moves the seat of the Date clan to Yonezawa.
1567
Date Masamune, later founder of Sendai, is born at Yonezawa Castle.
1598
Uesugi Kagekatsu receives Aizu; Naoe Kanetsugu governs Yonezawa.
1601
The Uesugi are reduced to 300,000 koku and move their seat to Yonezawa.
1664
A succession crisis halves the Yonezawa domain to 150,000 koku.
1767
Uesugi Yozan becomes lord and begins his domain reforms.
1868
Yonezawa fights in the Boshin War with the northern alliance and surrenders.
1889
Yonezawa is incorporated as a city.
1910
Yonezawa Higher Technical School, forerunner of Yamagata University's engineering faculty, opens.
1923
Uesugi Shrine is rebuilt after the great fire of 1919.

Culture

Yonezawa's culture revolves around the Uesugi legacy: the warrior ideal of Kenshin, who is honoured at the shrine and in the spring festival, and the civic virtue of Yozan, whose reforms are taught in schools and quoted by politicians and business leaders. Weaving remains a living craft, with Yonezawa-ori silks produced in small workshops, and the carved otaka-poppo hawks of Sasano are a well-known folk craft. Snow shapes the town's winter, celebrated each February with hundreds of snow lanterns in the castle grounds.

Festivals

Uesugi Festival
上杉まつりUesugi Matsuri
From 29 April to 3 May, with a procession of armoured warriors and, on the final day, a large re-enactment of the Battle of Kawanakajima on the banks of the Matsukawa.
Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival
上杉雪灯篭まつりUesugi Yuki Tōrō Matsuri
Held on a weekend in February: snow lanterns and hundreds of small snow caves lit by candles fill the castle grounds.
Onogawa Onsen firefly season
小野川温泉ほたるまつりOnogawa Onsen Hotaru Matsuri
Early-summer evenings when fireflies appear along the stream through the spa village.

Food

Yonezawa beef
米沢牛Yonezawa-gyū
Finely marbled wagyu from cattle raised in the Okitama district, eaten as sukiyaki, steak or in ekiben lunch boxes.
Yonezawa ramen
米沢ラーメンYonezawa rāmen
Thin, hand-crimped noodles in clear soy-sauce broth.
Sweet-simmered carp
鯉の甘煮koi no umani
Carp stewed in soy sauce and sugar, a legacy of the carp farming Uesugi Yozan encouraged as a protein source.
Ukogi
うこぎukogi
Young shoots of the ukogi shrub, planted as hedges in samurai quarters on Yozan's advice; eaten mixed into rice or as a side dish in spring.

Getting around

Yonezawa Station is on the Yamagata Shinkansen, about two hours from Tokyo and around forty minutes from both Fukushima and Yamagata.
Local trains run west on the Yonesaka Line through the mountains to Sakamachi in Niigata Prefecture.
City buses link the station with the castle quarter, Onogawa Onsen and Shirabu Onsen; bicycles are a practical way to cover the flat centre outside the snow season.
By road the Tohoku-Chuo Expressway connects Yonezawa with Fukushima and Yamagata.

Day trips

Yamagata
山形市Yamagata-shi
The prefectural capital with Yamadera and Zao Onsen, forty minutes north by Shinkansen.
Akayu Onsen
赤湯温泉Akayu Onsen
Spa town of Nan'yo, one Shinkansen stop north, amid vineyards and small wineries.
Aizuwakamatsu
会津若松市Aizuwakamatsu-shi
The Uesugi's seat before 1601, reached by road over the mountains via Kitakata.
Nishi-Azuma and the Azuma mountains
西吾妻山Nishi-Azumayama
Volcanic highlands with moorland and conifer forest above Tengendai, part of Bandai-Asahi National Park.
Kaminoyama
上山市Kaminoyama-shi
Castle and spa town between Yonezawa and Yamagata on the Shinkansen line.

Other cities in the prefecture

CapitalYamagataYamagata-shiCastle town between Yamadera and Zao CityTsuruokaTsuruoka-shiSamurai town, sacred mountains and Shonai cooking

Frequently asked questions

What is the connection between Yonezawa and Uesugi Kenshin?

Kenshin died in 1578 in Echigo, but his adopted heir Kagekatsu brought the family, and Kenshin's remains, to Yonezawa in 1601. He is enshrined at Uesugi Shrine on the castle site and buried in the family mausoleum.

Who was Uesugi Yozan?

The ninth lord of Yonezawa (1751–1822), who rescued the domain from bankruptcy through frugality, agriculture and silk weaving. He is one of the most admired rulers of the Edo period.

Where can Yonezawa beef be eaten?

Restaurants specialising in Yonezawa beef are concentrated around the station and the castle quarter, and beef ekiben lunch boxes are sold at the station.

How much snow does Yonezawa get?

Yonezawa lies in a designated heavy-snow area; snow cover of a metre or more in town is common in midwinter, and more in the surrounding mountains.

Sources

1.令和2年国勢調査 (opens in a new tab) — Statistics Bureau of Japan
2.米沢市ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 米沢市
3.山形県ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 山形県