Tohoku 2016 東北の旅 - Kaminoyama Onsen JR Station かみのやま温泉駅, Kaminoyama Castle 上山城

Kaminoyama Onsen JR Station かみのやま温泉駅 is located on Yamagata Shinkansen line, in Kaminoyama city 上山市. On my first trip to Tohoku region in the autumn of 2015, I visited an orchard (Yamagata Cherry Land 山形チェリーランド) in Kaminoyama city and participated in fruits picking for the very first time in Japan. On my subsequent visit in May 2016, I came to Kaminoyama JR Station and transferred to a complimentary shuttle bus (Green Echo-go グリーンエコー号) heading for Zao Okama crater 蔵王大釜. Located at the foot of Mt Zao, Kaminoyama city is well known for its therapeutic hot spring waters which was founded more than 560 years ago. In addition to its healing effects on minor ailments, the weakly alkaline, colourless hot spring waters’ high moisturizing content hydrates the skin. This explains why Kaminoyama Onsen is also affectionately referred to as "bijin no yu 美人の湯" which translates to mean “beauty spring”, by the locals.

Kaminoyama Onsen: http://kaminoyama-spa.com/

Trains serving this station include:
(1) Tsubasa つばさ commutes northwards towards Zao 蔵王駅, Yamagata 山形駅, Tendo 天童駅, Oishida 大石田駅 and Shinjo 新庄駅 via Yamagata Shinkansen line
(2) Tsubasa つばさ commutes southwards towards Akayu 赤湯駅, Yonezawa 米沢駅 and Fukushima 福島駅 via Yamagata Shinkansen. Tsubasa combines with Yamabiko やまびこ at Fukushima JR Station and continues its journey southwards towards Tokyo.
(3) Toreiyu Tsubasa とれい ゆつばさ is a special themed high speed rail equipped with foot bath. This train makes one round trip per day and usually operates on weekends and public holidays.

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What’s nearby?

(1) Bus stop for Green / White Echo-go bus グリーンエコー号/ ワイトエコー号バス, in front of the train station. 

There are a couple of ways to come up close to Zao Okama crater 蔵王大釜. For my trip, I utilised Green Echo-go bus, a complimentary shuttle service which departs from the train station for Katta Parking Area 刈田駐車場. A chair lift operates between here and the summit station 刈田リフト山頂駅, crossing the boundary of Miyagi and Yamagata Prefecture during the ascend/descend. The chair lift journey takes approx 7 minutes and from the summit station, it takes another 5 minutes to walk to the best spot to capture a panoramic view of Okama. The Green Echo-go bus makes two round trip per day during its operational period from late April to early November; one round trip between November to mid December. In the winter months, the name of the bus is changed to White Echo-go ワイトエコー号.

Kaminoyama Onsen Ekimae かみのやま温泉駅前 > Katta Parking Area 刈田駐車場
1: 0920 > 1020 hrs
2: 1325 > 1425 hrs
Katta Parking Area 刈田駐車場 > Kaminoyama Onsen Ekimae かみのやま温泉駅前
1: 1115 > 1250 hrs
2: 1530 > 1625 hrs

http://kaminoyama-spa.com/access/



(2) Tourist information center 観光案内所, within the train station.



(3) Maegawa Ashiyu (foot bath) 前川足湯, 5 mins walk from the train station.
There are a total of five foot baths facilities in the city and Maegawa is the nearest one from the train station.

(4) Kaminoyama Castle 上山城, 10 minutes walk from the train station.
〒999-3154 山形県上山市元城内3番7号
Operating hours: 0900 - 1645 hrs
Admission fee = 410 yen
http://kaminoyama-castle.info/

The original Kaminoyama Castle was first built in 1500s and was touted as the Great Castle of Ushu 羽州の名城 (Ushu was the name of the province encompassing the modern day Yamagata and Akita Prefecture). The castle was demolished during the rule by Tokugawa Shogunate. The current keep, which serves as a local museum today, is not an exact replica of its predecessor and was constructed out of concrete. Did not manage to visit the museum as I returned to the train station, after visiting Zao Okama, at 4.30 pm, just 15 minutes before its closing time. Took my time to admire the castle from the outside and was able to capture a relatively good overview of the city from elevated grounds.

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Commemorative stamp: