Yamagata Food Experiences

Relax your body and mind during this Shonai tour, featuring cultural activities and local cuisine in Yamagata.

For a restful and reinvigorating stay, come to Tokyo Daiichi Hotel Tsuruoka and take a dip in the natural onsen hot spring, then experience a Japanese-style kaiseki banquet.

Relish the stunning regional sake products of the Shonai region, the heavenly result of fresh spring water, traditional brewing methods, and high-quality rice!

During this gastronomic workshop in Yamagata City, you’ll learn how to make tofu from scratch, using Yamagata soybeans.

Under the tutelage of Chef Sawatari, the bilingual owner-chef of kaiseki restaurant Chitosekan, you’ll learn how to make a festive Japanese rice dish using the highest quality local ingredients.

During this hands-on farm stay in Japan, join the Onodera family in their 100-year-old farmhouse in Yamagata and experience an early-morning harvest and cooking class with local produce.

Learn to prepare the fresh and local edible plants you’ve foraged for yourself on Mt. Gassan with an expert mountain guide.

Try your hand at pottery making in a homey and peaceful village of Yamagata Prefecture! Then, enjoy Japanese sake to match the beautiful handmade "ochoko" sake cups at a sake local shop.

Climb the 2,446 stone steps of a centuries-old trail to the top of sacred Mt. Haguro, learn about the lifestyle of Yamabushi mountain ascetics, and enjoy traditional Shojin Ryori (Buddhist cuisine)

Venture into Yamagata nightlife with an expert guide, drinking and eating in Japan like a local! (Includes unlimited whisky highballs at the first stop!)

Soak up as much information as you can from Chef Suda, building a solid knowledge base about the art of sushi at the chef’s stunning coastal restaurant during this sushi workshop.

Watch as the fugu pufferfish’s white and glossy meat is prepared before you by a professional chef with over 19 years of experience serving this notoriously poisonous fish.