The Curse of Yamagata’s Mountains

Watch the view. Or maybe don't.

Jan 12, 2024

Kia ora Koutou, Tim Bunting, Kiwi Yamabushi here on the Japan you never knew you wanted to know.

The Curse of Yamagata’s Mountains

There’s a certain part of the highway between Shinjo and Funagata here in Yamagata with signs on the side of the road that flash by as you drive:

YOKO-

MI-

CHU-

横見注意

Yokomi Chui.

Watch the view.

As if I’d do anything else.

Well, technically, it should be translated be careful of the view, we know how spectacular it is, and we’d hate for it to distract you while driving.

Because distract is indeed what this view is best at doing.

Much like the rest of Yamagata’s Mountains.

Unedited. This is just an everyday view in Yamagata.

Spend enough time in Yamagata, and you can’t help but stare out at the view. You can’t help but look at the mountains in the distance, and imagine yourself up there one day staring back at the very spot you are staring from.

Only me?

On a recent trip to New Zealand, I realised this compulsion of looking at the mountains isn’t just limited to Yamagata. Even in New Zealand I found myself looking for familiar shapes in the ridges, the particular way the snow melted, the foliage on the trees…

Even in New Zealand I was looking for mountains I recognised.

Naturally, there weren’t any. Well, maybe New Zealand’s own big three: Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu, Tongariro, or the mountain that had the honour of being Fuji in The Last Samurai, Taranaki. However, these are mountains you kind of need to be able to recognise to call yourself a kiwi.

No, I’m talking the mountains of Wellington, where I was visiting, and where I was brought up. I recognised the shapes from when I grew up, but that was about it.

Either way, that I was doing this in the first place tells you the strange effect living in Yamagata can have on you:

The Curse of Yamagata’s Mountains

They tell you to watch the view, so you watch the view, but then you become completely enamoured by the view, and you can’t help but watch the view.

No matter where you go.

One of the things my dad commented on when he came to visit me in Japan (10 years ago now!) was that mountains in Japan tended to be round, whereas mountains in New Zealand tended to be pointy.

There’s no denying it:

Dad too, was cursed.

Bless his soul. Forever thinking about mountains (he was a geologist, mind you).

In saying that, the curse does have its advantages. In the exam to become a Licensed Guide Interpreter, there is a section where you have to recall the names of mountains just by looking at a picture. For someone like me, that’s second nature now.

None of those mountains are in Yamagata, but still…

Second Nature.

Thanks to Yamagata.

So, imagine my delight when it was decided I would be going to Osaka. Osaka means I get to fly out of Yamagata Airport, a whole 90 minute drive away through some of the most picturesque parts of Yamagata Prefecture. Plus, to make things even more betterer, I’ll get to see mountains…

From the sky!

Chokai in the distance and Murayama Ha-yama to the left.

From the sky! Short of being on the mountain itself, that’s like, the best place to view mountains.

Some mountains are easy to recognise. Chokai stands out like a sore thumb. Gassan is easily recognisable as a giant mound of white, and the former volcano Murayama Ha-yama sits in its shadow so is an easy find. Besides having been there the most, Haguro-san is probably the hardest to spot (I think I know which one it is, but am not 100% sure). And then of course you get mountains like Taizo-san that scream ‘look at me! Look at me!’

Just not while I’m driving.

A Side Note: The Airports of Yamagata

Yo! What’s up? Gassan’s looking good, right?

I’ve heard Yamagata is one of the rarer prefectures in that it is served by more than one airport. Or perhaps, more than one rural airport is the point here. The reason Yamagata has two airports is pretty simple. There are two distinct areas. The Shonai Region is blocked off from the other parts of Yamagata with a whole lot of mountains: Chokai, Gassan, not to mention the Asahi Renpo (Alps).

Besides Shonai Airport, we of course have Yamagata Airport. Contrary to popular belief, Yamagata Airport is in Higashine City, a full two cities away from Yamagata City. Thankfully, though, the city between the two is Tendo, and Tendo isn’t that bad of a place. In what could easily be straight out of Harry Potter, Tendo is home to Maizuru-yama, a former mountain castle famous for its human chess battles that take part under the cherry blossoms in spring.

Don’t Forget The Coffee

They also have Yukihira Coffee with its premium latte, which for the record is well worth it. Then of course, is the proximity to mountains, such as Yamadera that backs onto rainmaker mountain: Amayobari-yama, and the nearby outdoor wonderland of Omishiro-yama AKA Mountain of Intrigue.

In other words, besides the hour flight from Tokyo to Shonai, the incredible mountainous landscape of Yamagata Prefecture can also easily be reached from such places as Nagoya, Osaka, or for the lucky, Hokkaido. It’s almost comical how easy it is, and it bodes well for me as I am wanting to travel more of Japan if I get the chance.

It also bodes well for me as every time I get to go to Yamagata Airport, I get to take a long drive through the mountains and valleys of Yamagata Prefecture, all the while looking outside the car to watch the views.

Or, I guess, maybe I shouldn’t be doing that.