The biggest charming point of Zao onsen is the famous ice monster in the world which made in the upper part of slope. Zao onsen village located in the foot of the mountains are originally traditional hot spring village where has long history as hot springs, not is made for ski resort.

Zao onsen is one of the most famous sulfur hot springs in Japan, there are 5 source group and 47 sources, and the biggest the scale in Yamagata prefecture. “Strongly acidic sulfur spring” is also known as hot spring for beautiful skin, and when you walk around this area, the smell of the sulfur e ect the atmosphere of the hot spring town. There are a lot of Japanese tra- ditional accommodations like a Japanese-style hotel/ RYOKAN, and a public bath and an outdoor hot spring bath also.

You can enjoy tasting the peculiar dishes, Mongolian barbecue/ Jingiskan, Tama Konnyaku and Yamagata Soba etc. Sake and the wine are also famous in this area. The biggest charming point for Zao is that you can be satisfied with travel and best hot springs as the fully combination.

The town of Zao is more than just an onsen and ski resort-all throughout Zao are marks of the town’s 1,900-year history. Near the center of town, for example, is a cluster of shrines located at the top of a long set of steep, narrow stairs. Stone lanterns line both sides of these treacherous stairs, and recently jokes have been written on them to entertain the weary and the elderly as they climb.

The city contains many small stone monuments. In order to facilitate new construction, five of these commemorative stones were moved to a single location. One of these is known as the Yuna Seki, or Yuna Stone. The Yuna Seki is said to commemorate the story of a man who died with his mistress, who was a bath-attendant or yuna (at the time, bath attendants were essentially prostitutes). His wife was distraught at their passing and built the stone statue of the yuna to commemorate them.

Most recently the town tourism board has erected stone pillars carved with Japanese traditional poetry (waka) written about Zao Onsen. These can be seen throughout the town, along with much older stone monuments. Some of these monuments have been standing so long that their inscriptions are weathered away.  

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