Shonai, known as one of Japan's leading rice-producing regions, faces the Sea of Japan to the west and is surrounded by mountains, including Mt. Chokai and the Dewa Sanzan (Mount Gassan, Mount Yudono, and Mount Haguro), to the north, east, and south, all of which are rich in nature and surrounded by plains.
DaiwaConsilio
Tobishima Island, located in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Sakata City, is Yamagata Prefecture's only remote island. It covers an area of approximately 2.75 square kilometers and has a circumference of about 10 kilometers. Its population is 169 (as of December 2022), and fishing is its main industry.
Sakata (Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture) developed as a port town at the mouth of the Mogami River. During the Edo period, merchant ships from Osaka in the Settsu region, Shikoku, Chugoku, and Kyushu, all docked here, bringing with them the products of the eastern, northern, and northern regions.
During the Boshin War, fighting unfolded in Yamagata Prefecture over the Shonai Domain, which, along with the Aizu Domain, was considered an enemy of the Imperial Court. The Shonai Domain had 170,000 koku of rice yield, and the Yonezawa Domain had 180,000 koku, but the other domains in the prefecture were small, with less than 50,000 koku of rice yield.
DaiwaConsilio
