Highlights in Sakata

• Experience historical monuments at Hiyoriyama Park

• Sankyo-soko is a rice storehouse and museum built in 1893

• Enjoy the graceful performances of the maiko (apprentice geisha) at the Somaro Teahouse

• Marvel at the breathtaking Tamasudare Falls

• Discover the The Ken Domon Museum of Photography

• See the mummified monks of Kaikoji Temple, the only temple in Japan that hosts two such “Buddha mummies”

BELOW (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) Hiyoriyama Park Lighthouse Tower in Sakata, built in 1813, one of the oldest wooden lighthouses in Japan; locals in Sakata dressed up to perform a traditional dance during the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival; an old shrine in winter snow at the Sankyo Soko Storehouses; young maiko, apprentice geisha, wearing colourful kimonos