I'd decided on my plans a couple of days ago, but was still feeling uncertain about them even as I was on the way to the train station after checking out of my hotel this morning. I just wasn't sure that all of my trains and buses would get me where I needed to be. But it turns out, I did all that worrying over nothing. Even though I was still out in a rural area, everything was on time--right down to the minute!
My destination was a place called Ginzan-Onsen ("Silver Mountain Hot Springs"), a popular place for tourists in Yamagata and one of the only major tourist destinations in the prefecture that I'd never been to before. Of course, I'm not the kind of person who enjoys public baths, which is the main thing to do while staying here. I went primarily to see this picturesque little town that always pops up in tourist brochures.
It's the off-season so there weren't a lot of other people walking around, which was nice, but also meant that most of the shops were closed. However, since it hasn't snowed heavily yet this year, access to the trail behind the town was open and I went for a walk.
First, there is the waterfall that feeds the canal running through the middle of the town.
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| The top of the falls |
And the trail winds all the way up behind it, basically tracing the path of the stream backwards out to some lovely open spaces.
Until I stumbled upon this:
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| Beware of bears! |
It scared the crap out of me, and I hightailed it all the way back to the town again. I'm not sure if there really was any danger (probably not), but I was surprised that in a tourist town there was no warning of the possibility of bears until you were actually in the place where you might see them. Let's hope they were all hibernating or something.
Back in town I stopped for some of Ginzan's famous kare-pan (deep fried dough with spicy curry inside).
Then I did a little more browsing in the two or three other shops that were open. Yamagata is famous for a variety of fruits, and most of the souvenir shops sell cans of juices or fruit-flavored sodas. Grape, tomato, pear, peach, apple and cherry are the most common, but this town is famous for its watermelon, too. I picked up a couple of cans to take home and enjoy later.
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| Advertising cans of 100% Yamagata juice. |
By then I had about 20 minutes left to wait for the bus, so I took a leisurely walk up the hill to the bu stop. It was a beautiful day!
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| I think the most beautiful skies you'll see in Japan are here in Yamagata... |
The bus ride back to the train station was quiet. I had another 40 minute wait for my next transfer, so I walked around a bit outside. I hadn't noticed when I'd arrived in the morning but outside in the afternoon I realized that the train station was designed in a shape similar to stadium bleachers--you can walk up them, all the way to the top of the station roof! Once you're at the top, it's another beautiful view of the town.
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| View from the street outside the station |
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| Bleacher-shaped Ōishida Station, with the stairs on the far left. |
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| And the view of the town behind the station from the top of the station's roof. |
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| Seriously. The skies. |
After catching one more local train, I was back at Yamagata Station and ready for a transfer to the bullet train that would take me back to Tokyo. I had 30 minutes to pick up a gift, retrieve my belongings from a locker, grab some food to eat on the train, and buy my ticket. It was quite the rush, but I made it onto the platform just as the train was pulling into the station.
Once settled into my seat, I enjoyed my gingerbread latte and watched the scenery fly by as the sun went down.
Not a bad way to end a trip to my favorite part of Japan!
