It's nearly a year to the day since I came to Yamagata; therefore, it's time for some reflections. And where better seek a starting point than my own starting point nearly 365 days ago, the four-and-a-half-page long Rough Guide entry? It begins...
'Few tourists make it to Yamagata, a large, workaday city ringed with high mountains, and those that do are usually just passing through...'
And so friends leave and a few strangers somewhere else in the world start packing their bags for Yamagata, Japan.
'...The district's west side is bounded by the train tracks and Kajo koen...on the site of Yamagata castle, where there's a moderately interesting municipal museum...'
The 'site', mind, the site of Yamagata castle. They ran out of money re-building it and now all that, er, remains, is a bridge that leads to nowhere.
'...the interior of this forner Prefectural Office (Tues-Sun 9a.m.-4.30p.m.; free) has been magnificently restored...don't forget to look up at the ceilings' spectacular plasterwork- it was all handcrafted by one man at the rate of 15cm per day...'
One man. 15 cm per day. Things move, here in Yamagata.
Next,
'...the Yamagata Art Museum...boasts a small collection of major European names...but unless there's a special exhibition of interest it's not really worth the entrance fee...'
Well then.
But enough of smarmy interjections, wisecracks and lightning judgements. I'm prying my way further and further into this town. I'm here for another year.
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