Article

06212 ／おばなざわし

Obanazawa City

The cedar of a heavenly maiden's legend

Nobesawa Castle cedar, citadel

01 ／ Weirs

Four weirs on the Nakazawa River werebuilt of mortared stone in 1916 to 1920.

These four registered tangible cultural properties are gravity weirs 1.7 to 3.4 m high. The Kuzure Upstream Weir lies 180 m below the Higashiyama Weir, the Kuzure Downstream Weir 70 m below that, and the Kawarasawa Weir 420 m farther down.

Nationally registered building, Jan. 15, 2010
Built 1916 to 1920 of mortared stone
Weirs 1.7 to 3.4 m high

02 ／ Historic site

The abandoned mine, a shrine and a castlesite make up one national historic site.

The Nobesawa Silver Mine Site covers 89.81 ha and includes the abandoned mine, a mountain-deity shrine and the Nobesawa Castle site. The city writes that tradition says silver was found in 1456, and that at its peak the mine was called one of the three great silver mines with Iwami and Ikuno.

National historic site, Dec. 21, 1985
89.81 ha
Tradition: silver found in 1456

03 ／ Haiku stone

The Cool Mound is a haiku stone put up in 1762at the temple where Basho stayed seven nights.

At Yosen-ji Temple stands a stone carved with a haiku by Matsuo Basho, called the Cool Mound. It was erected in 1762 and is a city-designated historic site. In the carved verse, "nemaru" is a local Obanazawa word meaning to sit and relax.

City-designated historic site, Jan. 31, 1995
Erected 1762
Basho stayed 7 nights at Yosen-ji

Obanazawa City from the sky

Now and 1974–78. Tap a photo to zoom in.

Now1974–78

Wide (about 6 km across)

Close (about 1.5 km across)

Now (shot November 2019)Shot 1974–78

Source: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) GSI Tiles（全国最新写真（シームレス）／国土画像情報（第一期：1974〜1978年撮影））

Open in GSI Maps (now)Open in GSI Maps (1974–78)

Living here

Seven minutes by bus from Oishida Station on the Shinkansen.

about 10,000 people

There is no Yamagata Shinkansen station in the city. The city's tourism page points to the Ginzan Line route bus from JR Oishida Station. In the timetable the city posts, buses with no operating-day note take 7 minutes from Oishida Station to Obanazawa City Hall (the timetable PDF is dated July 15, 2022).

People living here: 14,971people
Area: 372.53km²
Households: 4,883households
Rent (average for rentals): 29,654yen
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 11 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —7 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Obanazawa City in Japan38.601°N 140.406°E

to OishidaLocal bus7min

Travel times follow 尾花沢市公式の観光ページ『銀山温泉』（更新2026年08月17日）がリンクする路線バス・銀山線（民間運営＝有限会社はながさバス）の時刻表PDF（市のサーバーの files/original/20220715225802350ef6c57ce.pdf。PDFのファイルIDは2022-07-15）。『銀山温泉行き』のJR大石田駅発 9:50・12:35・14:10・15:55・17:45 の5本は、尾花沢市役所着が 9:57・12:42・14:17・16:02・17:52＝5本とも7分。運転日の注記は、17:45発に『12/31〜1/3運休』、14:10発に『母袋経由』だけで、土日祝の運休（◎）が付くのは尾花沢市役所の始発の便（6:40発・『☆快速』）だけ (checked 2026-10-28). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 8 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Obanazawa City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (Administrative Area Data), MLIT. Processed by Machigatari.

North to south

31.7km

Yamagata Prefecture: Oishida Town, Funagata Town, Mogami Town, Murayama City, Higashine City
Miyagi Prefecture: Kami Town, Sendai City, Shikama Town

Obanazawa City isthis kind of town.

01The cedar at the Nobesawa Castle site is a prefecturally designated natural monument, about 26 m tall. It is also called the "Heavenly Maiden Cedar" after a tale that a heavenly maiden alighted on it, and stands on the old main bailey, part of a national historic site
02The four weirs on the Nakazawa River are registered tangible cultural properties built of mortared stone in 1916 to 1920. They are 1.7 to 3.4 m high and line the stream from the Higashiyama Weir to the Kawarasawa Weir
03The Nobesawa Silver Mine Site is a national historic site of 89.81 ha. The "Cool Mound" is a haiku stone at Yosen-ji Temple, where Basho stayed seven nights, designated by the city. Buses take 7 minutes from Oishida Station to City Hall

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Obanazawa City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗

From this town's themes