Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Yamagata

After the 1913 flood, this 3.0-metre stone check dam on the Shobojigawa is the only dry-laid dam in the group, completed in 1926; registered in 2005.

After the 1913 flood, this 3.0-metre stone check dam on the Shobojigawa is a dam with a stone apron and revetment, completed in 1926; registered in 2005.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, built by fishing communities as Japan's only pagoda memorializing the fish taken from the sea.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, built in 1855 by northern-trade merchants, its tiered altars holding over five hundred rakan figures.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, a late-Edo two-story gate holding Bishamonten and Idaten as guardians rather than the usual temple kings.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, a compact four-legged gate covered in deep carvings of waves, animals, and the twelve zodiac signs.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at the innermost point of Zenpoji in Yamagata, its wave-shaped roof modeled on the undersea dragon palace of the sea deity.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property at Zenpoji in Yamagata, a quiet hall keeping the temple's earlier name and holding a cloud-and-dragon ceiling painting.

Discover the Daisenji-bo Nagayamon, a nationally registered tangible cultural property in Yuza, Yamagata. This 1834 Edo-period gate once welcomed pilgrims to Mount Chokai's Shugendo lodging community.

The Chikaoka Family Residence Main House, a nationally registered Tangible Cultural Property since 2022, is a grand late Edo-period chumon-zukuri farmhouse in Kaneyama Town, Yamagata Prefecture. With 311 square meters of floor space, seven rooms, a horse-stable wing, formal entrance platform, and rare triple-groove lintels, it stands as an invaluable example of traditional Tohoku farmhouse architecture.

Discover the Rear Gate (Ushiro-Shinmon) and Sacred Fence (Tamagaki) of Fukura Kuchinomiya at Chokaisan Omonoimi Shrine in Yamagata Prefecture. This registered tangible cultural property of Japan, rebuilt in 1939, encloses the twin sanctuary halls of a 1,400-year-old mountain shrine — the Ichinomiya of Dewa Province at the foot of Mount Chokai.

The Former Nagai Elementary School First Building in Nagai City, Yamagata Prefecture, is a magnificent 93-meter-long wooden two-story schoolhouse built in 1933 by local civic leaders. Featuring Stick Style architecture, distinctive red exterior walls, a grand central staircase, and boat-bottom ceilings, it was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2009. Now open to the public as a community facility with a café, exhibition space, and workshops.

The Nakazawagawa Higashiyama Dam in Obanazawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, is a Taisho-era gravity-type stone masonry sabo dam built around 1920 after a devastating 1913 flood. As part of Yamagata's first prefectural sabo project, this 12m-long, 2.4m-high dam was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2010. Located near the famous Ginzan Onsen, it offers a unique glimpse into Japan's pioneering disaster prevention engineering heritage.

Discover the New Murao Roman-kan Annex, a 1937 Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kaminoyama Onsen, Yamagata. Five exquisite wooden buildings connected by covered walkways showcase lavish Showa-era craftsmanship amidst a Japanese garden.

Built in 1898, this three-story wooden inn near JR Yonezawa Station blends Japanese irimoya roofing with Western arched windows and Zen-inspired katōmado openings, earning the nickname 'Dragon Palace of Yonezawa.' Designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, it still operates as a hotel where guests can sleep amid raden inlay, Yakusugi cedar ceilings, and over a century of hospitality tradition.

Maizuru Bridge is a stone single-arch bridge built in 1886 spanning the moat of Yonezawa Castle in Yamagata Prefecture. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, it serves as the main approach to Uesugi Shrine and is affectionately known as 'Megane-bashi' (Spectacles Bridge). Its unusually wide deck, tuff stone balustrades, and natural boulder-topped pillars make it a distinctive example of Meiji-era bridge architecture.

The Main Hall of Myozenji Temple in Yamagata City is a wooden temple building designed in 1934 by Ito Chuta, the legendary architect behind Tsukiji Hongwanji. Featuring symmetrical bell and drum towers and a grand 60-tatami hall, it is a nationally Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

The 1925 heart of the former Uesugi counts' residence in Yonezawa, rebuilt in pure Japanese style by Nakajo Seiichiro, its cypress hall open beside Uesugi Shrine.

On the north side of the Yonezawa City Uesugi Memorial Hall stands a plaster-walled dozo storehouse built to resist fire, completed in 1924 and registered in 1997.

The only two-storey building of the former Uesugi residence in Yonezawa, a 1925 guest wing by Nakajo Seiichiro whose banded corridor transoms shape its refined exterior.