Yamagata with a toddler (2–3) 3 spots
Mountains ring Yamagata and the valleys between them are orchards. Cherries ripen in June on branches low enough for a child to reach, and Ginzan Onsen is one short street of wooden inns lit by gas lamps.
An amusement park in Yamagata with Japan's first Hello Kitty Ferris wheel.
Stroller OK · checked Aug ’26
Mogami River Boat Ride (Basholine)
An hour-long boat ride 12 km down the Mogami, through a prefectural natural park.
checked Aug ’26
The Child Corner gathers the coin-operated rides in one place, so a child can pick one and get on. The Melody Train is a coin-operated train that carries one adult and one child. About ten attractions take children aged two and under, with a parent riding along as a rule. The park map filters for rides for kids.Children start paying from age three. Some rides are off-limits because of age or height limits, and the conditions for each ride are on a separate page, so checking before you go saves an argument on the day. The Child Corner rides and the Melody Train take coins only, so bring change. Strollers are not lent, so bring your own. Bringing in your own food, packed lunches included, is not allowed; you eat at the places inside the park.
You change ropeways midway: seven minutes on the lower line, ten on the upper. The mid-station, Juhyo Kogen, has Hyakumannin Terrace, Hammock Square and Utopia Terrace Mini, all free for ropeway riders, so you can get off, rest in a hammock, and carry on afterwards.A round trip only as far as Juhyo Kogen is 2,200 yen for adults and 1,100 yen for children, so turning back before the summit is a real option. If you do go up to Jizo Sancho, the last upward ride leaves Zao Sanroku at 16:00, which is separate from closing time (17:00 lower line, 16:45 upper line). Each upper-line cabin holds up to 18 people.
Booked in advance, lunch is eaten on the boat: bento boxes run from an 1,800-yen bamboo basket to a 4,500-yen Yamagata beef steak box, and every one comes with a canned tea. Furukuchi, where you board, has the soba shop Bashoan on site, and Kusanagi, where you land, has a shop and the light-meal Terminal Kitchen Kusanagi — so there is food at the pier both before and after.Once you are on, there is no getting off until the 12 km are done: the floating convenience store is not operating and the boat passes Furusato Mura without stopping. The onboard bento must be booked, and the number differs by pier — Furukuchi is 0233-72-2001, Kawa-no-Eki Mogamikyo Kusanagi is 0234-57-2111. Weather, water level and other reasons can cancel a sailing or turn the one-way 12 km into a round-trip course, so check the official X account (x.com/mogamigawa_fune) before leaving the house and phone on the day as well. Scheduled boats take a single passenger and need no booking, but booking online saves 100 yen per adult and 50 per child, and closes three days before.