And today, we are starting our trip at Koriyama Station

in Fukushima Prefecture.

We are about to board the Shinkansen to Yonezawa

in Yamagata Prefecture.

Yamagata Prefecture is known for having delicious rice,

and by extension delicious sake as well.

So, we stopped by Toko Brewery,

Tohoku's largest sake brewing museum to have a taste.

Just one of these sake barrels

can produce around 2000 large bottles of sake.

And there are currently 17 of the barrels

here in this display.

These particular barrels were used a hundred years ago,

so, a hundred years ago they were already mass producing

crazy amounts of sake

using the technology that they had during that time.

(speaking Japanese)

This tourist friendly attraction

explains everything you need to know about sake brewing.

And at the end, you can look forward

to tasting a variety of Toko Brewery's products.

After taking a tour around the facilities

and learning about all the hard work

and the dedication involved in making good sake,

I really feel like I appreciate good sake now.

(lively music)

In the evening we checked into a traditional Japanese Inn

called Gotenmori with perks like welcome nominee,

welcome sake, and welcome wine.

This is a nice place to relax.

There are 12 different public baths accessible on rotation,

and the rooms are modern, stylish, and super cozy.

(speaking Japanese)

(lively music)

And the Coffee maker is a Keurig.

Fancy!

(speaking Japanese)

(water rippling)

(McKayla cheering)

The rooms are nice, the baths are really great,

and the Kaiseki dinner is absolutely delicious.

We had two different types of Yonezawa beef

that absolutely melted in your mouth.

If you stay here, make sure you come on an empty stomach

because this food is a lot.

(lively music)

For a change of pace,

in the morning we decided to stop by Waku-Waku Kan

for a Yonezawa Ori textile weaving activity.

Japanese woven fabrics

are made carefully with attention to detail,

and throwing an activity like this into your itinerary

really forces you to slow down and relax.

Working on your woven fabric is like meditation

plus you can leave with a one of a kind textile piece

that you've made yourself.

One of the best souvenirs you could possibly have.

(lively music)

(playful music)

For lunch, we decided to stop by Kura Obihachi

which is a really cool restaurant

operating inside a former brewery.

The restaurant still serves alcohol and craft beer,

but also, generous portions of a hardy lunch.

Trust me when I say you wanna work up an appetite

when you come to Tohoku

because it seems like everywhere we've gone so far,

we've been fed.

(playful music)

(upbeat music)

All right, guys, now we're gonna head up to Yamadera

which is, as the name suggests, a temple in the mountains.

It looks absolutely gorgeous and picturesque

from what I've seen.

I haven't actually been up there yet,

so, we're gonna just wait for the kids

on their school trip to head up first,

and then we're gonna go take a look and hopefully,

we're gonna see some of those amazing views as well.

Yamadera literally means mountain temple in Japanese,

and the temple grounds extend high up a steep mountainside.

But there are plenty of places along the way

to stop and explore.

So, don't let that scare you from coming here.

- [Guide] If you rub the place you want to improve,

it is believed he will answer your prayer.

I usually rub his head to have good brains.

- [Micaela] Good brains? Okay.

- And face to stop aging.

- [Micaela] I guess I will touch the child.

I'll have a cute baby.

And I hope she grows up big and strong.

- Yeah.

- [Micaela] Yes. - [Guide] So, let's go inside.

- [McKayla] Okay.

To get the most out of our climb,

we hired English speaking guides the Yamaderans

to help keep us motivated and educated

during our big hike up the mountain.

All right, here we go,

we're going up almost a thousand steps,

and hopefully by the time we get to the top

all my worldly desires will be extinguished,

and I will want absolutely nothing

except maybe to sleep or eat.

Do you walk up here every day?

- [Guide] Not every day,

but I think here like 50 times.

- [Micaela] 50 times? - [Guide] Yeah, even more.

- Wow.

- So, I can easily get to top.

- [Micaela] Oh. - [Guide] Yeah.

- [Micaela] It's very beautiful well.

- [Guide] It is.

- [Micaela] And so peaceful and green.

The ascent to the top of the mountain is about 1000 steps

and it's definitely tricky in bad weather,

but the views at the top of the mountain

are absolutely worth it.

I would love to come back

and see this in the fall and winter as well.

- [Guide] Ah, today is so beautiful.

- [Micaela] Yeah, really good weather.

We were extremely lucky.

(Micaela gasping)

Wow.

Wow!

Wow, okay.

I'm tired, but the higher we go, the more excited I am.

'Cause I see, some really nice views up ahead.

(McKayla gasping)

So, the guide was telling me there's a post office, post box

all the way at the top of the mountain.

And aside from Sunday, they come every single day.

11:00 AM on weekdays, 11:00 AM on Saturday

and they come all the way up here to collect the mail

'cause there's still some people living up here in Yamadera.

Can you imagine being the person in charge

of climbing a thousand steps every morning to get the mail?

The final push to the Hondera,

the main temple requires a little bit of energy

and I think this is where you end up

leaving all your other worldly desires

because at this point,

I just simply wanted to make it to the top.

(speaking Japanese)

I'm trying not to be loud.

But we made it.

Okay.

(lighthearted music)

Once you've made it to the top of the mountain,

the way down is so easy

and you get to admire all of those views

that we're facing behind you while you made your way up.

This hike definitely requires a little bit of energy,

but trust me, it's worth it.

From here, we left Yamagata prefecture behind

and entered Miyagi where we started at the top of a mountain

that still had snow on it.

Even in the summer, the climate across Northern Japan

is varied and diverse

and it's something I really enjoy about this region.

To see more about Miyagi Prefecture

make sure you watch the next video coming out soon.

All right.

I love colorful things, so there's.

Donzu.

(birds chirping)

(lively music)