Journeys in Japan

Yonezawa City, Yamagata: The City with a Warrior's Legacy (1x14)

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On this edition of "journeys in japan" we head to northern Japan to visit a historic city with a warrior legacy -- Yonezawa in Yamagata prefecture. For long years, it flourished as a castle town and was a home to many samurai. Our reporter JJ explores its samurai legacy. JJ first visits Uesugi Shrine, dedicated to the great lord Uesugi Kenshin who was in power about 500 years ago. Yonezawa was long ruled by generations of Kenshin's descendants. In 1871, local followers of the Uesugi clan built Uesugi Shrine in honor of Kenshin on the former site of Yonezawa Castle. At the shrine, JJ meets samurai enthusiasts who show him the appeal of samurai. In fact, Yonezawa is home to a big festival called the Uesugi Matsuri every May. Some 700 samurai enthusiasts from across Japan don costumes and participate in the mock battle to get a sense of what is was like to be a warrior 500 years ago. JJ wears the armor of a 16th century warlord. In Yonezawa, there are lots of hedges with the ukogi plant. Many ukogi hedges were created during the 18th century as part of a clan policy. The lord of Yonezawa domain at the time was Uesugi Yozan, the tenth family head of the Uesugi caln. Yozan conceived the idea to utilize ukogi as an emergency food source. During his reign, Yonezawa's food supply was very tight. So Yozan encouraged people to cook and eat ukogi plant with staples. JJ meets local people who are carrying on the tradition of ukogi dining. JJ caps off his visit by dipping at a hot spring in Yonezawa frequented by generations of the Uesugi clan. JJ feels the warrior's legacy in Yonezawa.