Yonezawa works as a day trip from Tokyo because the Yamagata Shinkansen runs from Tokyo Station to Yonezawa Station in about two hours and ten minutes. This guide covers the city loop service, Uesugi Shrine and the castle moat, the Uesugi Museum and the Keishoden treasure hall, Yonezawa beef and the local vegetables, prices and timetables, and the hot-spring villages and lodging for anyone who stays on.
Getting to Yonezawa and Riding the Loop Bus
The Yamagata Shinkansen links Tokyo Station with Yonezawa Station, the starting point for everything below. Outside the station, the clockwise city loop bus goes round to the Uesugi Jinja-mae stop, which is the stop for Uesugi Shrine. Route options and journey times come first, then the practical points for riding it.
- Yamagata Shinkansen, Tokyo Station to Yonezawa Station: 2 hours 10 minutes.
- Yamagata Shinkansen, Yamagata Station to Yonezawa Station: 35 minutes.
- Expressway bus, Tokyo to Yonezawa: about 5 hours.
- Taxi from the taxi stand at Yonezawa Station to Uesugi Shrine: about 10 minutes.
- Clockwise city loop bus, Yonezawa Station to the Uesugi Jinja-mae stop: 210 yen one way.
- IC cards accepted on the loop bus include Suica, PASMO and ICOCA.
- Summer timetable, clockwise: the first trip leaves Yonezawa Station at 6:55.
- The 11th trip of the day leaves Yonezawa Station at 19:49.
- That same trip is timed at the Uesugi Jinja-mae stop at 20:01.
- It is back at Yonezawa Station at 20:36.
- The summer timetable applies from April 1 to November 30.
These times are from the summer timetable, which applies from the start of April to the end of November, so check again in winter. The one-day pass is sold for cash only, so have some ready. If Yonezawa is part of a longer stay in Yamagata Prefecture, Yamadera is another day out in the same prefecture.
Uesugi Shrine and the Castle Moat
The castle site, now Matsugasaki Park, is ringed by a moat on all four sides. Guidebooks describe Uesugi Shrine as standing on the old castle's main enclosure, enshrining Uesugi Kenshin, founder of the house, with bronze statues of Kenshin and Uesugi Yozan in the park beside the grounds.
- The moat is 20 to 36 m wide and about 800 m long.
- Shrine gate, summer season (April 1 to the end of October): open 6:00 to 17:00.
- Shrine gate, winter season (November 1 to the end of March): open 7:00 to 17:00.
- Goshuin (shrine stamp) reception: from half past eight until five in the afternoon.
- Goshuin offering: 500 yen each for Uesugi Shrine and Matsugasaki Shrine.
- The shrine's annual festival is held on April 29.
In the warmer half of the year the gate opens at six in the morning. From the start of November it opens at seven. Shrine stamps are issued for both Uesugi Shrine and Matsugasaki Shrine, each for its own offering. The annual festival is held at the end of April.
The Uesugi Museum and Its Folding Screens
The Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum, also called Denkoku-no-Mori, has a permanent exhibition room that sets out the history and culture of Yonezawa and the wider Okitama region in plain terms. The original national-treasure Uesugi folding screens of Kyoto (Rakuchu Rakugai-zu) are shown only for limited periods, so check the schedule in advance.
- The museum is about 2 km from Yonezawa Station.
- From the museum to Uesugi Shrine is a 5-minute walk.
The museum's prices, times and closure days are in the tickets table further down. Uesugi Shrine is only a short walk from the museum door, so the two can be taken in either order. The museum stands some distance from Yonezawa Station, hence the loop bus or a taxi.
The Treasure Hall, Matsugasaki Shrine and the Uesugi Mausoleum
The Keishoden treasure hall is said to hold heirlooms of the Uesugi house handed down from Kenshin, Uesugi Kagekatsu and Uesugi Yozan. Matsugasaki Shrine lies a short walk on from Uesugi Shrine. The graves of Naoe Kanetsugu and his wife are said to lie at Rinsen-ji, the family temple of both the Uesugi house and Kanetsugu himself.
The Uesugi family mausoleum is described as the burial ground of the domain's lords from Kenshin to the twelfth, with Kenshin's shrine-hall at the centre front and the later lords' halls ranged to left and right, the whole a nationally designated historic site. The mausoleum is the one stop here reached by taxi from Yonezawa Station.
- From Uesugi Shrine to Matsugasaki Shrine: a 5-minute walk.
- From Matsugasaki Shrine to Rinsen-ji: a 20-minute walk.
- The Uesugi family mausoleum: about a 15-minute taxi ride from Yonezawa Station.
Where to stay
Places to stay near Yonezawa, Yamagata, Japan →
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Yonezawa Beef and Local Vegetables
Yukina, or snow greens, is one of the certified brand vegetables of the Okitama region and is grown under the snow, a blanching method rare anywhere in Japan. Ukogi, eaten around Yonezawa and across Okitama, is mostly a variety with few thorns and soft leaves that goes into chopped dressings, mixed rice, tempura and blanched salads.
Yonezawa beef is the other half of the local table and the product that carries the town's name. For prices, the table below gives the menu of a beef restaurant one minute's walk from Yonezawa Station, together with its serving times, closing days and parking.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Beef hotpot set, lean cut (100 g) | 3,500 yen |
| Beef hotpot set, shoulder loin (100 g) | 4,000 yen |
| Beef hotpot set, loin (100 g) | 5,000 yen |
| Beef short rib bowl set | 2,900 yen |
| Beef steak bowl set | 3,600 yen |
| Beef bowl | 2,200 yen |
| Beef hamburger set | 2,000 yen |
| Opening hours | 11:00 to 15:00 (last order 14:30) and 17:00 to 20:30 (last order 20:00) |
| Closed days | Wednesdays and New Year's Day |
| Location | 1-minute walk from Yonezawa Station |
| Parking | 7 spaces in front of the store, free of charge |
Yukina reaches the shops around the New Year and, depending on planting and snowfall, stays on sale until about the middle of March, in supermarkets as well as farm stands. Ukogi follows in spring: the young shoots are at their best around May, and ukogi dishes mark the turn of the season on Okitama tables.
Tickets, Hours and Bicycle Rental
Admission charges, opening hours and closing days for the places above are gathered in the table below, together with the remaining loop bus fares and the rental E-BIKE offered at the Yonezawa City Hall tourism section. Student rates are for high school and university students unless the row says otherwise.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Loop bus, children | 110 yen |
| Loop bus, adult one-day pass | 520 yen |
| Loop bus, one-day pass payment | Cash only |
| Uesugi Museum, permanent exhibition (general / high school and university / elementary and junior high) | 410 yen / 210 yen / 110 yen |
| Uesugi Museum, opening hours | 9:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30 |
| Uesugi Museum, closed days | Fourth Wednesday of each month from April to November; every Monday from December to March |
| Keishoden, opening hours | 9:30 to 16:00, last admission 15:45 |
| Keishoden, open season | Mid-March to November 25 |
| Keishoden, general admission | 700 yen |
| Keishoden, high school and university students | 400 yen |
| Uesugi family mausoleum, general admission | 500 yen |
| Uesugi family mausoleum, high school and university students | 300 yen |
| E-BIKE rental at Yonezawa City Hall tourism section | 1,000 yen for up to 4 hours; 2,000 yen for up to 8 hours |
| E-BIKE rental, opening hours | 9:00 to 17:00 |
If you want the museum, the shrine and the treasure hall on the same day, the order matters. The Keishoden takes its last visitors at a quarter to four in the afternoon. The museum admits people until half past four. The walk between the two takes about five minutes. The treasure hall's season also ends in late November.
Hot-Spring Villages and a Night in Yonezawa
For a soak at the end of the day, buses from Yonezawa Station run out to Onogawa Onsen. Another service from the same station runs to the bus waiting room at Shirabu Onsen. The single fare for each is listed just below.
- Bus fare, Yonezawa Station to Onogawa Onsen: 590 yen one way.
- Bus fare, Yonezawa Station to the Shirabu Onsen bus waiting room: 950 yen one way.
Staying over makes an evening at one of the hot-spring villages easier to fit in and leaves the next morning for the parts of the castle town you skipped. Elsewhere in Yamagata Prefecture, Ginzan Onsen is another hot-spring destination covered on this site. If you would like more time in town than a day allows, browse places to stay in Yonezawa.