Soba

• Excellent soba produced by clean air and water

  Yamagata grows large quantities of fruits, rice, and wild vegetables,and it’s also one of the top producers of soba (buckwheat) in Japan! The land is surrounded by mountains including Mt. Zao and Mt. Chokai, and experiences temperature swings between daytime and nighttime. The soba seeds cultivated on this soil are highly fragrant and very sweet, and the soba created with pristine water resulting from abundant nature is appreciated for its rich flavor and smooth sensation as it is swallowed. From October to November when the soba harvest is at its peak, festivals are held throughout the prefecture to celebrate the new soba.

• Superior soba eaten in Yamagata

  Depending on the soba noodle shop, there is a variety of soba noodles in Yamagata, such as sarashina-style soba that goes down the throat smoothly, the highly fragrant inaka soba, juwari (only buckwheat flour), nihachi (80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour), and toichi soba (whole buckwheat flour plus 10% wheat flour). You can also discover a rich regional soba culture throughout the prefecture, including ita soba (served in a long wooden box) in the Murayama region, tsumetai niku soba (cold noodles with chicken) that originated in the town of Kahoku, and Gassan sansai soba (made with wild vegetables) in the town of Nishikawa. You’ll also find several soba kaido (soba highways) and soba-making classrooms within the prefecture, so you can have fun going round to different well-known soba shops.