Yamagata

Prefecture (ken), northern Honshu, Japan, on the Sea of Japan. Much of its 3,601 sq mi (9,327 sq km) is mountainous. Bandai-Asahi National Park, stretching from north to south, includes the Dewa Sangan (Three Mountains of Dewa [Gassan, Yudono-san, Haguro-san]), which are sacred to the Shugen-do sect of Buddhism; the granite mountains associated with Asahi-dake (6,135 ft [1,870 m]); and Iide-san (6,906 ft). In the northwest,