With some awesome road trip options in the surrounding area, renting a car makes sense. Without one, it wouldn’t be half as easy to soak up all that Yamagata, 16 miles away, has to offer. Lina World should be high up on your list here. Yamagata Castle and Kajo Park are interesting attractions too. Don’t skip Yonezawa either! Just 20 miles away, Uesugi Jinja Shrine, Keji Maeda’s Tomb and Matsugasaki Park are essential stops here.