Half-Price Shinkansen Day Trip! 3 Recommended Gourmet Destinations Part 2: Yamagata

A special discount ticket called "Tokudane Special 28" will be available, offering half-price Shinkansen fares.
It can only be used on weekdays from Monday, May 25, 2026, to Friday, June 5, 2026.
There are some points to note, so please check the details here.
Since there are some points to note, please check the details here.

Going with this half-price ticket
3 recommended day trips With that in mind,
I have picked out and written about
recommended places I have actually visited.

Next, I will introducea few day trips specializing in gourmet food.
The first installment is Morioka.

And for the second installment of our gourmet day trip series, I will introduce Yamagata♪

I won't be introducing common tourist spots like "Yamadera"
or local specialties like "Imoni" (lol).

Yamagata is full of delicious things,
I wonder how many places I can visit? 😅

While "Tokudane Special 28" is super affordable at half price,
the sections you can use it for are limited.
You cannot get on and off anywhere within the section.

The Yamagata Shinkansen has many stations where you can get on and off between here and Shinjo.
North of Yamagata, there are section settings for Tendo, Sakurambo-Higashine, Murayama, Oishida, and Shinjo.
This time, I will introduce it assuming you are going as far as Yamagata Station.

① Meat Soba, Yamagata Beef, and Chilled Ramen

Yamagata also has so many delicious things
that unless you have a spare stomach,
you can't eat it all at once... (lol)

"Meat Soba"

When it comes to soba in Yamagata, it's " Cold Meat Soba"!

Before I tried this, I thought,
meat soba in cold broth,
wouldn't the fat be gritty...?
But this "cold meat soba" was
surprisingly
delicious!

The place I visited was
" Soba-dokoro Tsurufuku," about an 8-minute walk from Yamagata Station.

At lunchtime,
it's a shop where local office workers line up.
A shop frequented by locals is never a mistake.

Closed: Sundays, 2nd and 4th Saturdays

For cold meat soba,
" Chottotei" seems to be famous.
It's a bit far from Yamagata Station, though
(just a little bit...)

But it seems like this is the place when it comes to Yamagata meat soba,
so if I have the chance,
I would like to try the meat soba at this shop too.

Closed: Wednesday

Yamagata Beef

When it comes to beef in Yamagata Prefecture, Yonezawa beef is famous, but
what is the difference between it and Yamagata beef?

Yamagata beef is high-quality beef raised throughout Yamagata Prefecture, and
it seems that beef raised and shipped under even stricter standards among those
is what Yonezawa beef is like.

Where I want to go is...
the place I had to tearfully give up on last time because it was closed: "Yamagyu"

It's a restaurant where you can enjoy
high-grade beef at a relatively reasonable price, so I want to go at least once.

Closed: Tuesday

I'm also interested in "
Kakashi", which is close to the station and where you can eat at a relatively affordable price.

Closed: None

Chilled Ramen

Unlike chilled Chinese noodles (hiyashi chuka), it looks like a regular soy sauce ramen.
Yet, it's a chilled ramen where both the soup and noodles are ice-cold.
This is also a local gourmet dish I want to eat at least once.

The birthplace of it, "Sakaeya Honten", is
about a 25-minute walk from Yamagata Station, so
it's a bit far to walk, but...

Closed: Wednesday

② Gourmet Spots to Stop By

Geso-ten (Squid Tentacles Tempura)

An 8-minute ride on the Senzan Line from Yamagata Station,
right near Uzen-Chitose Station is
"Supermarket Endo"

Their geso-ten is famous here.
When you choose the flavor and size and place your order,
they fry it after the order is placed.

They even sell original wine, sake,
and merchandise like T-shirts.

Moreover, this place is a "kaku-uchi"
Yes! You can drink and eat right there.
The fact that it's cheap is also not to be missed.

If you're taking a train trip,
enjoying a kaku-uchi is also a great option!

There is an official website, but it's a bit hard to understand (lol),
so I'd like to introduce this one, which has a very good report.

"Dondon-yaki"

In Yamagata, there is a snack called "Dondon-yaki"a snack?It's something like okonomiyaki
rolled up and served on a pair of disposable chopsticks.

You can eat in or take out at
" Oyatsu-ya ".

Actually, from 5 PM, the back space becomes an
"Oyatsu-ya Sakaba" where you can also drink alcohol!

For the end of your day trip, how about
a "night drink set" (1480 yen) with 2 mugs of beer + a small side dishand finishing off your Yamagata gourmet experience with their famous dondon-yaki?

It's also easily accessible, just a 6-minute walk from Yamagata Station.

Closed: Sundays and Mondays

Summary

Yamagata is alsofamous for fruitso I'd love to eat some fruit, but
fruit picking might be difficult on a day trip.

However, during the Tokudane Special 28 period, it's cherry season,
so perhaps
they might be sold around the station
or there might be shops where you can eat them.

This is something you won't know until you go...

Souvenirscome up a lot when you search, but
personally, I'm not a fan of beans (lol),
so I'm not interested in bean-based items...

If I were to buy a souvenir,
local sakewould be nice~

Since Yamagata is rumored to have delicious rice and sake...
It's heavy, but I'd like to buy a small, high-quality bottle of sake
to take home.

Thank you for reading until the end.
✨
I hope this helps with your travels.

Next time, I will write
"Half-Price Shinkansen! 3 Recommended Day-Trip Gourmet Destinations: ③ Akita Edition".
Please follow me and look forward to it.
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