Your journey begins when you meet your guide at Shonai Airport. The first stop is lunch at gira e gira, a restaurant serving Italian cuisine made with local ingredients, conveniently located near the airport. After lunch, visit Hoya, a district of Tsuruoka located in a gentle valley where heirloom vegetables such as Hoya kabu turnips are grown. Enjoy harvesting seasonal ingredients here. Then, on to Hako—a kominka traditional residence outfitted with modern amenities. Learn to prepare country-style dishes and cook rice over a kamado. In the evening, gather around the irori hearth to share a traditional Shonai dinner with local farmers and cooks. Spend a relaxing night at Hako.

Enjoy a morning meal made with lots of local vegetables, then head to Mount Haguro of the Dewa Sanzan. The Dewa Sanzan are a trio of holy mountains with a revered pilgrimage route ranked alongside the world-famous Kumano Kodo. After changing into pilgrim robes at a shukubo pilgrim lodge, with a yamabushi mountain monk as your guide, make the pilgrimage up the 2,446 stone steps of Mount Haguro. Lined with towering 400-year-old cedars, this pilgrimage route was awarded three stars in the Michelin Green Guide. At Saikan, the pilgrim lodge just below the summit, try your hand at cooking Dewa Sanzan–style shojin ryori under the guidance of Chef Ito. After Mount Haguro, visit Gyokusenji, a Zen temple with a history stretching back nearly 800 years and a garden designated a national Site of Scenic Beauty. Savor matcha tea and wagashi sweets as you gaze out at the beautiful garden. Refresh your heart in this traditional Japanese atmosphere with a tranquility one can no longer find in Kyoto. After tea, pay a visit to Kanou Farm on the slopes of Mount Gassan, principal peak of the Dewa Sanzan, for seasonal ingredients. Then, on to Winery Pino Collina. The winery is located at the foot of Mount Gassan, with vineyards opening onto views of the mountain looming in the distance. Enjoy a winery tour and special tasting session with General Manager Kawashima. As evening approaches, relax at the winery’s restaurant at a table on the terrace overlooking the vineyards. Let the wine flow as you listen to Kawashima-san’s talk and enjoy a dinner made with the ingredients provided by Kanou Farm. Spend the rest of the evening relaxing at Suiden Terrasse, a boutique hotel set amongst the surrounding rice paddies in such a way that it appears to float.

After breakfast at your hotel, head to Shonai Town to experience the culinary fermentation traditions of Dewa Shonai. Miso and soy sauce at Hanabusa Shoyu, koji at Sakura Kojiya, sake at Koikawa Shuzo and the Yamato Zakura sake brewery—enjoy tours of facilities producing these fermented foods accompanied by explanations of the process. For lunch, enjoy a health-giving meal prepared using these fermented foods of Shonai. After lunch, head to Sakata, a historical port town which flourished thanks to its exchange with Kyoto and Osaka along the Kitamaebune sea trade route. Visit the Homma Museum of Art associated with the Homma family, wealthy merchants from days of yore. Museum Director Tanaka himself will take you on a special guided tour of the museum’s Kabukuen Garden and 200-year-old Seienkaku Villa.