With some awesome road trip options in the surrounding area, renting a car makes good sense. Without one, it wouldn’t be half as easy to experience all that Shiroishi, 18 miles away, has to offer. Among your first few stops here ought to be Zao Fox Village, Shiroishi Castle and Sumaru House. Locals will also likely point you in the direction of Yonezawa, 20 miles away. If you only have time for one thing here, let it be Uesugi Jinja Shrine. (But we’d also highly recommend Keji Maeda’s Tomb and Matsugasaki Park.)