This site is a web media that delivers all kinds of trivia, from sightseeing and gourmet spots in the six Tohoku prefectures to local, customs, and history.
During the Edo period, the Yamagata domain's largest source of income was "Mogami safflower," which was cultivated within the domain. The red dye produced from safflower was essential for coloring Nishijin textiles woven in Kyoto. Of the safflower dyes produced in various regions at the time, Mogami safflower had the best color, and was difficult to obtain in Kyoto, so it was traded at the highest price
Mogami safflower transported to Kyoto by Kitamae-bune
This caught the eye of the owners of the Kitamae-bune ships that plied the Sea of Japan. Mogami safflower was shipped down the Mogami River from within the Yamagata domain and transferred to Kitamae-bune ships at the river's mouth in Sakata (Sakata City). It is said that Kitamae-bune ships loaded with Mogami safflower and other products could make as much as 1,000 ryo (approximately 100 million yen in today's currency) per voyage
Omi merchants established their base in the castle town of Yamagata Castle and grew rapidly
Many of the owners of the Kitamae ships were merchants from Omi Province (Shiga Prefecture), known as "Omi merchants." The Omi merchants' hometown was home to the Tendai sect's head temple, Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei, and their parishioners would visit Yamadera (Risshaku-ji Temple), an ancient Tendai sect temple located near Yamagata Castle, to pray
The first lord of the Yamagata domain, Mogami Yoshiaki, noticed this and treated the Omi merchants with great care, bringing in large sums of money for the domain, and allocated land in the castle town for them to set up shops
The Yamagata domain gradually declined after Mogami Yoshiaki, who had a fief of 570,000 koku, and by the end of the Edo period it had been reduced to 50,000 koku. However, the economy of the Yamagata domain has always been driven by Omi merchants and a small number of merchants who purveyed the government, and this continues to this day
In the Meiji era, the storm of modernization transformed the townscape
With the end of the Edo period, all feudal domains, including the Yamagata and Shonai domains, were dissolved, and Yamagata Prefecture was established under the direct control of the Meiji government. Yamagata City was chosen as the prefectural capital, and Mishima Michitsune was appointed as the first prefectural governor. Mishima promoted the modernization of the urban area in order to make Yamagata City a city worthy of being a prefectural capital. Under the new urban plan, the Sannomaru area, which was a huge site outside of the Honmaru and Ninomaru areas of Yamagata Castle, was urbanized, and new Western-style buildings were built one after another
Many buildings from the Meiji period onwards remain in Yamagata city, but almost none of the buildings from the Edo period remain due to the effects of urbanisation after the Meiji period and two major fires that occurred afterwards.Even so, although their numbers have decreased, the Tokamachi-Nanokamachi area of Yamagata city still has storehouses and shops belonging to merchants purveyor to the Yamagata domain and Omi merchants from that time
Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura: a tourist facility renovated from the mansion of a wealthy merchant
Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura is a storehouse owned by the Marutani Hasegawa family, who made their fortune as safflower merchants. The building was rented by Yamagata City and repurposed as a tourist attraction. The building was destroyed in the Great Ichiminami Fire of 1894 (Meiji 27) and rebuilt in 1901 (Meiji 34)
The Hasegawa family was a merchant purveyor to the Yamagata domain, and was not an Omi merchant. However, members of the Hasegawa clan, including the main branch, Marucho Hasegawa, the branch, Marutani Hasegawa and Marukawa Hasegawa, and the relative Maruyama Hasegawa, have served as presidents of banks such as Yamagata Bank and Kirayaka Bank, and are still driving the Yamagata economy today
Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura has a soba restaurant serving local cuisine and hand-made soba noodles, a restaurant based on French regional cuisine, as well as a souvenir shop, a farm produce direct sales store, and a tourist information center
Beni no Kura ＜Information＞
Facility name: Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura
Address: 2-1-8 Tokamachi, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
Phone number: 023-679-5101
Closed: January 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
Store names: Soba restaurant and local cuisine Benisansui / Cafe & Dining 990 / Souvenir shop Agarasshai / Shunsai Shunka Oishisa Direct Sales Store / Machinaka Information Center
*For details on the opening hours of each shop, please refer to the Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura website
Maruju Oya, headquartered in Tokamachi, is a manufacturer and distributor of fermented foods such as soy sauce, miso, seasonings, and pickles. The company was founded in 1844 as a government-sponsored merchant who was a vassal of the Yamagata domain and later became a safflower merchant. The former storehouse facing the main street is a valuable building from the time of the company's founding that survived a major fire. It is now a residence and is not open to the public
The adjacent factory premises houses a store and restaurant called "Kurazenya."
Maruju Oya＜Information＞
Facility name: Maruju Oya Co., Ltd
Address: 3-10-1 Tokamachi, Yamagata City
Phone number: 023-632-1122
*This is a private residence. Please do not enter under any circumstances
Omiya Maruta Nakamura was founded in 1858 as "Omiya Nakamura Kibei Shoten," a store dealing in safflower, cotton, sugar, and other products. The founder was an Omi merchant from Omihachiman (Shiga Prefecture). The company's headquarters has now moved, but the former storehouse-style headquarters and residence, built in the Meiji era, remain in Tokamachi. (The former building and the gate are not open to the public.)
Maruta Nakamura <Information>
Facility name: Maruta Nakamura Co., Ltd
Address: 1-12-1 Ryutsu Center, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture (head office address)
Former head office building address: 2-4-10 Tokamachi, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture (not disclosed)
*This is a private residence. Please do not enter under any circumstances
Noshiume Honpo Satoya is a long-established Japanese and Western confectionery store founded in 1821. It is the originator of Yamagata's famous "Noshiume" confectionery, which was highly valued as a medicine during the Edo period, and continues to produce it using traditional methods
Noshiume is sold as a specialty confection in famous plum producing areas such as Mito (Ibaraki Prefecture), but it is said to have been introduced from Yamagata. The Tokamachi main store building was constructed in the early Showa period
Noshiume Honpo Satoya ＜Information＞
Facility name: Noshiume Honpo Satoya (Main store)
Address: 3-10-36 Tokamachi, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
Nomuraya is a textile wholesaler founded in the early Edo period, and began dealing in cotton products such as cotton batting for bedding and futons from the late Edo period. The current owner is the 12th generation, and the store is still located in the same storehouse as it was in the past
Nomuraya Bedding <Information>
Facility name: Nomuraya Bedding Co., Ltd
Address: 2-4-9 Tokamachi, Yamagata City
Phone number: 023-622-2757
Business hours: 10:00-19:00 Closed: Open all year round
Gotenseki is an old irrigation canal that has been restored in the center of Nanokamachi. Five irrigation canals were built around Yamagata Castle for agricultural and domestic use. Gotenseki was one of them, and was named Gotenseki because it was an irrigation canal that flowed into the castle moat. The word "seki" originally refers to a barrier installed at a water intake or other water intake to adjust the amount of water taken, but in Yamagata, the name "seki" has come to be used as the name of the irrigation canal
Next to Gotenzeki is the Nanokamachi Gotenzeki commercial complex, which houses eight stores, including the kimono and accessories store Yukiya (established 110 years ago) and the soba restaurant Shojiya (a branch of a soba restaurant founded in the Edo period)
Gotenzeki <Information>
Facility name: Goten Weir and Nanokamachi Goten Weir
Location: 2-7-6 Nanokamachi, Yamagata City
Phone number: 023-623-0466
Store names: Iwabuchi Tea Shop / KEN OKUYAMA CASA / Kimono and accessories "Yukiya" / Soba restaurant "Shojiya" / Cafe and restaurant "Itsumo no Basho" / Yonezawa weaving "Nunoshikian" / Classic Cafe/Gunendo
*Please refer to the Yamagata Gotenzeki website for opening hours and closing days of each shop
My love of travel grew, and I used to write a travel magazine, and now I'm a travel writer for the web. During my research, I visited all 47 prefectures in Japan, mainly in the Tohoku region, but my fun part is soaking in hot springs and experiencing traditional Japanese culture such as old townscapes, lifestyles, and performing arts and crafts.
![Mogami safflower](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAJYAAACWAQAAAAAUekxPAAAAAnRSTlMAAHaTzTgAAAAaSURBVEjH7cExAQAAAMKg9U9tDQ+gAACAdwMLuAABXZHjmQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg== ""Mogami safflower" certified as a Japanese heritage and Japanese agricultural heritage [Yamagata Prefecture]")
![Mogami safflower](https://jp.neft.asia/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/30121446_m-1-150x150.jpg.webp ""Mogami safflower" certified as a Japanese heritage and Japanese agricultural heritage [Yamagata Prefecture]")
