Experiences Archives - The Hidden Japan

Sushi Workshop in Yamagata City

Learn how to prepare nigiri and rolled sushi under the guidance of a master chef in the heart of Yamagata City.

Catch your own fish or shop for some at a local market, then watch or work alongside as a professional Japanese chef prepares it.

The Uesugi Festival commemorates the samurai clan who once ruled Yonezawa. The main event is a reenactment of the Battle of Kawanakajima.

Leave the car behind and explore the wide open plains of Yamagata Prefecture on a guided cycling tour!

A guided hike up the 2,446 stone steps of holy Mount Haguro, with a lunch of Dewa Sanzan shojin ryori mountain monk cuisine.

Experience rural Japan life with a farmstay experience in Tsuruoka, Yamagata. Harvest or plant crops, and learn to cook traditional dishes.

Dine on Dewa Sanzan shojin ryori, sleep at a pilgrim’s lodge. Wake the next morning to harvest vegetables and learn to cook this cuisine.

Experience Iaido, a traditional sword-based martial art, at the very place it was founded: Iai Shrine in Yamagata Prefecture.

Venture into the nature of Yamagata with yamabushi mountain monks along their ancient training paths on Mount Kinbo.

Forage for sansai (wild mountain vegetables, herbs, and mushrooms) in the pristine nature of Mount Gassan, Yamagata with a veteran guide.