Tsuruoka, Yamagata

Yamabushi and Shugendô

Tsuruoka's Yamabushi outfit

Those three mounts are considered as the core of Shugendô's practice. Shugendô　修験道 (literally: The way of the ascetic practice) is often perceived as a form of syncretism of Shintô religion and Buddhism. The Yamabushi 山伏, literally : "the men who sleep in the Mountain" (men who practice shugendô) believe in Buddha but also believe that a god resides in all things that exist in nature. Yamabushi, those men who wear a checked vest and blow in a trumpet shell to communicate with their peers and to keep the bad spirits away, aim to protect the mountain and to live a sinless life connected to the nature.

The pilgrimage of all the three mounts is done in that sense. The three mounts symbolically represent death and rebirth. By going down and up the 2466 stone stairs of the mount Haguro, people can experiment a "symbolic death" and "rebirth", after which they can access to the Dead world represented by Mt. Gassan and its foggy landscapes, and then go purify their body and their soul in Mt. Yudono's natural hotsprings.

Shôjin ryôri at Saikan (Mt. Haguro)

Shôjin ryôri 精進料理 ("food for spiritual elevation"), a vegan food traditionnally consumed by Yamabushi, uses no animal product but sansai 山菜 ("Mountain vegetables") instead, as well as local rice, handmade gomadôfu ごま豆腐 (sesame-flavoured tôfu), bamboo sprouts, vinegared chrysanthemum flowers and mushrooms. There exists a lot of different shôjin ryôri depending on the shukubô 宿坊 (temples that also welcome travellers for the night) that serves it, but it usually consists in a lot of small dishes accompanied with a miso soup and white rice.

National Treasures

Mt. Haguro hosts The Five-Storied Pagoda, gojûnotô 五重塔, Japan's National Treasure which structure that consists in a central pillar inside the tower to protect it from earthquakes inspired Tokyo's Skytree's architecture as well as Jiji-sugi 爺杉 ("Grandpa cedar"), a 30m high cedar that exists for more than 1000 years.

Heritage and creativity

In 2014, Tsuruoka has been registered as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. Its more than 50 species of "ancestral food", zairai sakumotsu 在来作物 that exist and remain intact for several centuries now are one of the reasons why the city has received this title. Among these there are: minden nasu 民田なす (a round eggplant with a long and thin hat), karatori imo からとりいも (spiciness-sweetener potato), atsumi kabu 温海かぶ (Atsumi turnip, a red turnip that grows on sharp slopes), ootaki carrot 大滝ニンジン,^[3] etc. The presence of such ancient food is not the only reason why Tsuruoka has been registered as a Creative City of Gastronomy. Its particular way to cook these ingredients was even more determinant. Tsuruoka's most known specialties are: kandarajiru 寒鱈汁 (a soup containing black cod fished during the winter -the period when it is supposed to be tastier), gomadôfu ごま豆腐 (sesame-flavoured tôfu), tochimochi とちもち (chestnut flavoured pound rice cake), kitsunemen キツネ面 (fox mask shaped black sugar biscuit), etc.^[4]

The city is also known for its large variety of soups (it is said the harsh cold during the winter is the reason why there are so many types of hot soups in Tsuruoka),^[5] apart from kandarajiru, there is takenokojiru タケノコ汁 (Mt Gassan bamboo soup), imoni 芋煮 (potato soup), nattôjiru 納豆汁 (nattô based soup), môsô jiru (another type of bamboo soup)...

A story of peas

Tsuruoka is known for dadacha-mame (だだちゃ豆), a specy of soybean, which have been called "the king of edamame"; they are also used for other products such as nattō and in manjū. There are two theories as to the origin of the name: one is that it derives from dadacha, the Shonai dialectical word for "father" – gagacha is the dialectical word for "mother", while the other is that the beans came from Date, Fukushima, and were originally called Date-no-chamame, which became Date-chamame and then Dadacha-mame.^[6]

Dadachamame are used in any kind of meal: sweet, salty, spicy, bitter, sour, just boiled, crushed, grilled, in sauces..

Dadakko だだっ子, are small cakes which contain a sweet dadachamame paste. Dadappai　だだっパイ are small dadachamame pasted inside a puff pastry. There are also dadachamame flavoured icecreams, cookies, biscuits, creams...

A city flirting with the sea

Tsuruoka and the whole region of Shônai benefit from a large variety of fishes and sea food coming from the Sea of Japan. Among all the local sea foods you can find in Tsuruoka, there are: Cherry salmon, Japanese seabream, blue crab, littlemouth flounder, flatfish, black rockfish, tonguefish, flying squid, oyster, sea robin, sandfish, Japanese codfish...Needless to say, this huge variety of fresh local fishes and seafood in Tsuruoka had contributed to the local sushi shops' good reputation, but it has also helped constitute a very particular kind of "family gastronomy", where fishes hold a very important place.^[7]

Rice fields as far as eyes can see

The rice cultivated in Tsuruoka and more generally in Shonai region has been recognized for its strong umami taste. In 2010, searchers from Keiô University's Institute for Advanced Biosciences 慶應義塾大学先端生命科学研究所 have proven Tsuyahime local rice brand contained 1.5x more umami taste than the common other brands of rice thanks to the studies of metabolomes.^[8][9]

A city of wood and grass

The city is literally surrounded by plains, forests and mountains. Thus, wood and grass were largely used in all kinds of crafts. As for architecture, thatch-roofed houses (kayabukiyane かやぶき屋根) are one of the symbols of the city. Some of them remained in good condition through centuries now as for example Tasôminka 多層民家 (the several-layered house), a traditional farmer house from Meiji period, and the house in Chidô Museum 致道博物館.

Concerning clothing, shinaori しな織り, is a traditional weaving style from tree bark that is still performed these days. The items created with this solid and firm thread are very resistant and waterproof.