Exploring Yamagata area in 3 days with JR East Welcome pass.

Yamagata is located in Southern Tohoku Region in Japan popular for agriculture products, hot springs and mountains. I decided to explore this area for two reasons, one is to visit the beautiful Ginzan onsen town and because of the affordable JR East welcome pass. I will be explaining my 3 days of travel around Yamagata area and popular places I visited.

Day 1

I took a shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo station early in the morning hoping to arrive in Yamagata city before noon. The train ride takes about 3 hours and 20 minutes passing main cities such as Fukushima, Yonezawa and Kaminoyama Onsen stations. The train ride itself was interesting as the transition between urban areas to rural areas.

After arriving at Yamagata station I decided to store my luggage at coin lockers and have lunch before heading to Yamadera for a hike. There are few restaurants available at the station for lunch and a big mall for omiyage and souvenir shops at the station. The city seems a bit quiet and less crowded. There is an information center and they provide all the details about the area and guide you with any places you want to visit. After Lunch I took the Senzan line to go to Yamadera station which takes about 20 minutes. The one way ticket cost 240yen which was covered by JR east welcome pass. Please make sure to check the train time schedule as it does not run very often. I made the mistake of not checking beforehand and had to wait for an hour to board the next train.

Yamadara is a scenic temple located in the mountains of northeast Yamagata city. This temple is known as Hoshuyama Risshaku temple or Risshaku-ji temple established in 860. Because this temple is located in a mountain top known as a mountain temple or Yamadera. Once you reach 1000 steps you can see beautiful scenic spots at the temple observation deck. To enter the temple you have to pay a 300yen entrance fee. It was a difficult hike with snow as melted snow is slippery. On my way to the top I was able to see wild sheep's roaming around the temple grounds. Headed to Godaido hall to see the beautiful mountains.

After the climb I went back to train to Yamagata station and from there to accommodation at Yamagata grand hotel.

Day 2

Day 2 was so exciting as I was planning to visit Ginzan onsen for a very long time. It's one of my bucket list onsen towns I wanted to visit in Japan. Ginzan onsen or Silver Mountain Hot Spring is located in Obanazawa northwest part of Yamagata area. Highly recommended for one night stay at a ryokan to have a nice experience but with my limited budget I did a day trip including an onsen bath. Check my ''Exploring prettiest onsen town in Japan '' blog for more details on a day trip to Ginzan onsen.

Day 3

Initially I was planning to see Zao snow monsters and to hop on a onsen in Zao onsen town but had to cancel as the bus company said the snow is melting and not able to see snow monsters properly. Instead I changed my plan to visit Miyagi fox village. It was a long journey from Yamagata station. We took the train to Sendai station which takes about more than 1 hour to reach. The train ride was scenic and running through a mountain area. Once I arrived at Sendai station, I had lunch and took the Tohoku line train to Shiroshi station. The one way cost 770 yen covered by JR east welcome pass. From Shiroshi station took a taxi to Zao fox village or Miyagi fox village. The taxi ride cost 4000 yen one way as there are no buses running on weekends. Check more details about access from Zao fox village site.

Once I arrived at Zao fox village I bought an entrance ticket which cost 1000yen. The staff at the Zao fox village will arrange a return taxi to Shiroishizao station and let them know you need assistance. They will also store luggage with no cost.

So I entered the Zao fox village to see cute foxes but I was disappointed. At the entrance there are a few foxes caged and some are screaming some are sleeping. They all look depressed for me. Then entered the foxes free roaming area before that staff asked follow certain rules so you wont get harm or any accidents. Once I entered I was not so happy about the way foxes were treated in that village. It's more like a zoo and these animals are free roaming animals not caged pups.

In my opinion I don't think I will visit Zao fox village again. I felt sad at the end of the day and felt these animals need more free space where they can enjoy a natural environment.

After exploring 3 days in Yamagata I took the return bullet train from Shiroshizao station to Tokyo. I wish I can visit the Yamagata area to visit Zao onsen and Zao mountains in future.