Tsuruoka

In 2014, Tsuruoka became the first city in Japan to receive UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation, a distinction rooted in food traditions that include regional wagashi confectionery and a school-lunch culture the city claims to have originated. Set in the Shōnai plain of Yamagata Prefecture, the city grew around Tsurugaoka Castle and its Edo-period castle town, and the surrounding countryside produces Shōnai rice and dadacha beans. The Dewa Sanzan shrines in the nearby mountains hold the only imperial tomb in the Tōhoku region.

• Population125,389
• Nearest water from center 0.0 km0.0 mi
• Nearest mountain from center 4.5 km2.8 mi