Top 5 Historic Sites in Sakata, Tohoku

Reviewed By passionfruitsin

Our cruise landed in Sakata and our shuttle brought on to the main shopping mall in town. Young and old were on the spot to receive us and there were stalls and cultural displays too. Going to the Tourism booth we were surprised that they organized free tours for 3 separate routes around the whole town, We decided on the Sanyo warehouse route and were led by a most enthusiastic lady and 3 high school students with elemental command of English. The highlight of the tour was Sanyo Soko and we were told of the history. The shrine behind the warehouse has been protecting the owners of the place for generations. We were even shown how the ritual is carried out at this shrine. Leaving the warehouse we walked pass the municipal office followed by the Honma residence. This was impressive but we did not stayed long as we were still keen to go round the rest of the town. Not far from the Honma resident was that of Abumiya, another rich local merchant who did a lot of philanthropy work for the locals for which they are very appreciative of. We ended our tour and offered to buy our guests lunch. The leading guide was in a hurry to go as she has another appointment. The students led us to a Ramen shop for lunch. It was a nice meal at a very reasonable price for the quality they provided. All in all, it was a very satisfying experience and the warmest of the Japanese guests was something we have yet to experience in any other countries we have been to so far.