Visit Japan, Travel Japan, Discover Japan: 01/2014

1/31/2014

Famous Port City of Northern Japan - Sakata

After the stay at Yunohama Onsen of Tsuruoka, we visited Sakata City which is located right next to Tsuruoka. By the way, these two cities have been in rivalry for a long time in the western region of Yamagata. I heard they don't like each other.

Sakata is one of the major port cities on the Sea of Japan side and been flourishing since the port opened in the 17th century. But those days are almost over, because of the economic downturn many rural cities face in the country. Although the city itself isn't a popular tourist destination, their name is well-known thanks to the big port.

There are some historic places tourists visit in the city and we stopped by at one of the famous sites - Yamai Rice Warehouse Complex. Due to the tight flight schedule back to Tokyo, we didn't have a chance to explore the whole city. But Yamai Warehouses were enjoyable enough to have a quick tour. Beautiful and quiet and the premises which were built in 1893 are well maintained. Amazingly those long-lived houses are still active as warehouses. Their retro-look exterior makes the site popular as a filming location for movies and TV shows.

Some parts of the warehouses are converted to commercial rooms such as a cafe, restaurant, souvenir shop, and museum as well. Seeing, eating, buying, it's like a all-in-one convenient sightseeing spot of Sakata.

See also; <Beach of the Back Side of Japan – The Sea of Japan in Sakata City> http://funtravelinjapan.blogspot.jp/2013/08/beach-of-back-side-of-japan-sea-of.html

FYI:

About Sakata Area: http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/yamagata/sakata_city.html
Travel Info of Sakata: http://www.sakata-kankou.com
About Port of Sakata: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Sakata
Yamai Rice Warehouse (Japanese) : http://www.sakata-kankou.com/spot/165

Actual storage space

Commodities were shipped
through this boatslip

Antique boat.

Sakata seems to be popular
among swans.
@ a river nearby Yamai Warehouses

They spend the winter here
till flying back to Siberia.

1/29/2014

Hotel of Lion, but Named Kame-ya (= Turtle Inn)

We stayed at a hotel named Kame-ya in Yunohama Onsen. The direct translation of the name is Turtle Inn. Why turetle? Ok, legend has it that Yunohama Onsen was discovered by a turtle.

The story briefly goes like this;

A long long time ago, a fisherman found a injured turtle on the Yunohama beach and saw the turtle staying on the the same spot for the next couple of days. He wondered what the turtle was doing without any move on the beach and curiously put his hand into the sand. He then found out there was a hot spring underneath it and realized the turtle was healing him(her)self with it. It's said that is the beginning of the Yunohama Onsen history.

Kame-ya is one of the top-class hotels at the Yunohama district, but the fees are still reasonable considering their total services.

But the most interesting feature of the hotel was neither meals nor bathing facility. We found a quite big statue of lion in front of the hotel. A staff member of the hotel told us the founder of the hotel put a lion statue on the rooftop and it came down to the ground when they renovated the building before.

"Why did he put a lion on the rooftop?" , we asked.
"He got that idea from the lion statue of Mitsukoshi Department Store they use it as a corporate symbol. He thought putting a lion on the rooftop would help our business prosper like Mitsukoshi", the employee explained.
"But their lion welcomes customers in front of the main entrance, not on the rooftop. Why on the rooftop?", we replied.
"No idea about it", she said.

That's the story of the lion statue.

FYI:

About Yunohama Onsen: http://yamagatakanko.com.e.db.hp.transer.com/onsendetail/?data_id=2781
About Kameya Hotel: http://japanican.com/en/hotel/detail/3105001/
Kameya Hotel Website (Japanese) : http://www.kameya-net.com/index.html
About Mitsukoshi Department Store: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsukoshi
History of Mitusukoshi Lion Statue (Japanese): http://www.mitsukoshi.co.jp/store/1010/history/list02.html

Exterior of Kame-ya Hotel
The lion statue used to be
on the rooftop.

Courtyard of Kame-ya Hotel

Kame (=turtle) & Daikoku-ten (FYI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daikoku-ten)

Main Entrance

Is this shrine? No clue what this is
exactly. A guy behind the lion is the
founder of the hotel.
Definitely not a god.

Funny cute face

My wife really loved this lion.

A turtle was at the shrine-look place.
This guy should be at the center stage.

Founder, lion, and turtle.
All-in-one tourist attraction.

In front of the hotel.

1/25/2014

Scenic Drive On the West Coast

We drove through Route 113 from Yamagata Prefecture to Nigata Prefecture. At the end of the highway, you can reach west coast of Japan which is the Sea of Japan.

After westward driving on Route 113, we drove up to north on Route 7 which lies just beside the shore and is popular as a scenic drive route. There are many unmarked or unnamed points to stop by.

Our final destination, by the way, was Yunohama Onsen (= hot spring) in Tsuruoka, Yamagata on that trip. We also enjoyed the magnificent vistas of west coast of the country.