▲ Visit Ginzan Onsen Street in all seasons - the same hot spring town featured in "Spirited Away." This 500-year-old hot spring street is home to the popular Notoya Ryokan, which inspired the bathhouse in Hayao Miyazaki's film. Renowned as a therapeutic hot spring during the Edo period, the town still retains its historic charm. Along the tranquil Ginzan River, wooden inns built from the Taisho to early Showa eras line the streets. The hot spring street offers free foot baths (Waraku Ashiyu) and two public bathhouses for day-trippers, along with souvenir shops displaying adorable wooden dolls and snack stalls where you can enjoy local treats while strolling. Must-try street foods include curry bread made with Yamagata Prefecture wheat and the fragrant "standing tofu."
▲ Ginzan Onsen Street in winter
▲ Zao Fox Village: A one-of-a-kind fox forest Over 100 foxes will warmly welcome you to this unique "fox kingdom" in the forest! Meet six fascinating fox species: the common Hokkaido red fox, dreamlike silver foxes, mysteriously colored Arctic foxes (in both blue and white varieties), elegant platinum foxes, and uniquely patterned cross foxes. Each fox has its own distinct personality - some aloof, some curious - all waiting to surprise you with unexpected encounters.
▲ We recommend trying the signature Shiraishi warm noodles, a specialty of Shiraishi in Miyagi.
