Hands-on "Snow Experience " Tour
Joined 2017
This tour is focused on the three wintery activities in the snowbound area of Yamagata. First you can enjoy shoveling the 3-meter-deep snow and digging the stored vegetables (turnips) out of the snow. Second you'd like to cook them with the help of a local cuisine specialist and appreciate the traditional food on the spot. Third we take a breathtaking boatride down the Mogami River.
Itinerary
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
Shinjo Station (JR East, Yamagata Shinkansen Bullet Train Terminal)
- We meet at West Exit, facing the main street.
1 Tsunokawa (Tozawa Village)
You shovel off about two-meter-deep snowfall to dig out the vegetables preserved for the winter.
It is quite a lot of labor for you! But no wonder it's fun!
It sure is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you!!
2 A Farm-House at Tsunowawa
You can make natto-jiru (miso soup seasond with natto, fermented soybean ) and onigiri rice balls using the vegetables you just dug out. The locals kindly help you cook all the dishes.
While enjoying delicacies, you can listen to locals talking about their ways of life, especially how to survive a long freezing winter.
3 Funabansho（ Boatride Boarding House)
Last but not least, you can take a boat down the Mogami River, enjoying the breathtaking snow-capped forests from the boat. You take a seat at a kotatsu ( electric foot warmer covered with a quit ) and drink some sake(Japanese alcohol)
if you'd like.
Ending Point
Shinjo Station (JR East, Yamagata Shinkansen Bullet Train Terminal)
Want to personalize this tour?
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Guide fee, Hotel pick-up fee in Shinjo city
Transportation ( you and guide / per person): JR train :1,000 yen, Bus: 200 yen, Taxi :About 10,000 yen in total (2,000 yen per person in case of 5 tourists)
Activity fee (you and guide / per person) : 5,000 yen
Boatride fee(you and guide / per person): 2,800 yen
Tour Important Information
Yamagata is famous for its heavy snowfall, and this region (Tsunokawa, Tozawa village) has about 3-meter-deep snow every winter. I'd like all the tourists to make the most of this tremendous amount of snow and go through hands-on experiences with this "White Monster".
As your fun and fabulous activities, we've prepared two things in connection with the snow. First, digging the winter vegetables (traditional Tsunokawa "Kabu" turnips) out of the accumulated snow. Second, with these ingredients cooking local food "Natto-jiru" (Natto-based miso soup with lots of vegetables) and "Onigiri " rice balls making. Why not enjoy your own cuisine with us? Lastly you'd like to visit one of our sightseeing hotspots, a boatride down the Mogami River. If you are lucky, you can happen to take a "Kotatsu"(a foot warmer with a quilt all over)-installed boat and warm yourself in it. From your boat you can appreciate marvelous and magnificent scenery of snow-capped cedar forests on both sides right in front of your eyes! It sure is a must-see you can't miss when you visit Yamagata.
Snow digging is available only after we have enough snowfall during this coming winter season. The period may be from around January 15 to March 15. Just in case we don't have much snowfall, we have a substitute plan instead of snow shoveling activity.
Tourists are requested to make a reservation for the activities (snow-digging and cooking "natto-jiru") 4 days ahead of their visit day.
This is a daytime tour taking about eight hours. If you'd like to spend overnight, you can stay in "Minshuku", Japanese-style inn at the cost of approximately 8,000 yen per person.
This tour is available only during the winter months when we have abundant snowfall, presumably from December to March in that area.
Important message from the supplier
I'm available from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Saturday.
Transportation fee and lunch of you and a guide will be paid by the customer.
If you book me before making inquiries, please note that you may be requested to pay extra guide fee for hotel pickup (about 5,000 yen) depending on the location. So, please ask me first.
Cancellation Policy
- Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
- 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
- No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time
Joined 2017
About Tour Guide Kuniaki S.
I've been involved in English education at public junior high school and prefectural board of education for more than 40 years as a teacher, teachers' consultant and a principal.Now retired, I’m very interested in introducing many places of historical interest and scenic beauty in my hometown to international visitors to Japan.My motto in life is ”once-in-a-lifetime encounter”. I'm more than happy to help make your trip the most impressive one.
Why don't you get off the beaten track and visit Shinjo and Mogami regions? Shinjo City is now world-famous for its Shinjo Festival, registered by UNESCO as an Intangible World Cultural Heritage, December in 2016. I’m sure that you can definitely enjoy both the festival and the subtle harmony between man and nature in this area.
Reviews
Julieta V.
“Wonderful Tour of Sakata”
Our guide Pure Water gave us an excellent experience around Sakata, taking us to multiple interesting sites including the Oranda Senbei Factory, Sankyo Rice Storehouses, Kaikouji Temple, and Somaro. He gave lots of interesting historical and cultural context while inviting us to interact and participate, treated us to a delicious lunch featuring iconic foods of the Shonai region, and secured front row seats for us to watch an incredible maiko dance and performance.
Kuniaki S.
Thank you so much for writing a review for me while you are still enjoying a journey on the Diamond Princess. I'm genuinely glad that you all had the time of your life taking a full-day tour in Sakata area with me. Your family members are always amiable and considerate of each other throughout our trip, which did make a deep impression on me! I simly can't say thank you enough for choosing me as your private tour guide this time. When our paths cross again in the future, why don't we delve more deeply into the Shonai region and make another round of fantastic tour with me? I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing you all again. Have a lot of fun reading my translated folk tales. Safe travels back to the States! Kuniaki (AKA: Pure Water)
Robert O.
“Great tour with Kuniaki S.”
We had a wonderful Sakata day visit with Kuniaki. After meeting at the port, we reviewed the itinerary and started our tour. The timetable was very well managed. We had sufficient time at each itinerary stop. Kuniaki shared interesting information at each location. He selected a terrific restaurant for lunch and we enjoyed exchanging personal background and travel experiences.
Kuniaki S.
A huge thank you for writing a review for me. I'm genuinely happy that you both had the time of your life through our customized tour. From our conversation I learned that we are just about the same age and that we have a lot in common. I simply can't say thank you enough for choosing me as your private tour guide. While you have time, why don't you enjoy reading "Once Upon a Time in Shinjo", which my fellow English teachers including me translated. I'm sure you will have a fun time. Please treasure the rest of your fabulous tour. I do hope that our paths will cross again in the very near future. Safe travels! Kuniaki ( AKA: Pure Water)
Daniele L.
“Fantastic Sakata tour”
Very punctual, he waited for us on the square where the ship docked. Mr. Kuniaki and his wife were very kind from the start, giving us a small souvenir that we really appreciated, then Mr. Kuniaki began the tour without his wife. We managed to do everything that was planned, the taxi drivers he booked for the transfers were part of the visit and were very funny. He also showed us non-tourist places that we really appreciated. Very competent in explaining the history of the places visited, excellent and local lunch he booked for us. In the little time we had he made sure that the visit to Sakata was special. If we would return to Sakata he told us he will be our guide again. Thanks Pure Water!!!
Kuniaki S.
Hi, Daniele and Elena. Thank you so much for the amazing review, which I didn't expect this much. I highly appreciate your wonderful feedback on our tour. I'm more than happy indeed to have been able to show you around all the destinations you both take a special interest in. What made this one-day tour so special was a visit to the Sixteen Buddha Statues along the Sea of Japan! In the little rain, which added another extraordinary value to all the surrounding landscape, we savored every single moment of our stay there. I will never forget your smiling faces that by all means made both the Sakata locals and tourists very cheerful and comfortable! From now on I could embrace all the good memories shared with you anytime anywhere looking at the photos you kindly emailed me right after our journey. You should come back to Yamagata once again to simply delve into another unbeaten track of Mysterious Dreamland, Japan. I do hope that our paths will surely cross again in the VERY near future! Kuniaki / Pure Water
$454/ per group
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This tour can give you chances to enjoy both Japanese traditional cultures and modern ones. We can visit a sembei rice cracker firm, rice storehouses, rice museum, Zen-sect Buddhist temple and a maiko teahouse. What makes this tour so special is that you can dive deep into ricce-related Sakata cultures, one of Japan's biggest rice production sites from long ago. You can't miss this amazing and unforgettable tour!
