A dictionary from that time period entitled Wamyo Ruijusho refers to the area to the south of what is now Yamagata City as a province called “Yamagata.” At that time, “Yamagata” was written with different kanji (Chinese characters) than it is today, meaning “place with mountains.” The reason why this area was called ...

History. The area of present-day Yamagata was part of Dewa Province. During the Edo period, it was a castle town and the center of Yamagata Domain under the Tokugawa shogunate. The city of Yamagata was founded on April 1, 1889 as the capital of Yamagata Prefecture with the creation of the modern municipalities system.