Tendo City Nabe Battle 2026 – Japan

Overview

The Tendo City Nabe Battle is held every autumn and sees numerous restaurants fight it out, peacefully, to be crowned as having the region’s number one hot pot dish.

Now in its 27th year, this beloved winter food battle has become one of Yamagata Prefecture’s most anticipated culinary events. Held at Tendo Onsen Road Station, a roadside rest stop in an onsen town with a footbath, musical fountains, and a souvenir shop, the festival brings together around 40 restaurants serving up unique nabe offerings, each vying for the coveted title of Nabe Shogun, or King of the Festival.

Tendo City itself is famous for two things: it is the city of manufacturing shogi battle pieces, producing over 90 percent of Japan’s shogi pieces, and it is one of Tohoku’s renowned hot spring towns. The combination of steaming hot pots and steaming onsen creates a perfect winter warming experience. Visitors come not just to eat but to vote, with the crowd’s votes determining the champion.

The venue, Road Station Tendo Onsen, is a popular toll road rest stop and visitor center that transforms during the festival into an open-air nabe arena, with rows of stalls, bubbling cauldrons, and the aroma of soy sauce, miso, beef, and taro filling the cold mountain air.

What Makes This Food Event Special

What makes the Tendo City Nabe Battle special is its competitive yet community-driven format set in an onsen town.

Battle Format with Voting: Unlike typical food festivals where you simply eat, here you participate as a judge. Numerous restaurants fight it out peacefully, each presenting their best nabe recipe. Visitors purchase small bowls, taste, and then vote for their favorite. The restaurant with the most votes is crowned Nabe Shogun and gains regional fame. This competitive element raises the quality, as chefs bring their absolute best.

40 Restaurants in One Road Station: With 40 restaurants serving unique nabe offerings in one location, the diversity is astonishing. From traditional Yamagata imoni to Brazilian nabe, game meat nabe, and innovative fusion creations, you can taste the entire culinary spectrum of Yamagata in a single afternoon.

Onsen Town Setting: The festival is held at Tendo Onsen Road Station, which has a footbath where you can soak your feet while eating hot pot. After tasting, you can visit nearby Tendo Onsen ryokan for a full bath. The combination of internal warming from nabe and external warming from onsen is uniquely Tohoku.

27 Years of Tradition: Now in its 27th year, the battle has history and local pride. Past winners like Sakata’s Dongara Jiru have gone on to become regional specialties. Locals return year after year to see if their favorite shop will reclaim the title.

Gateway to Yamagata’s Food Culture: Yamagata Prefecture prides itself on food quality so much that it named its airport Oishii Delicious Yamagata Airport. The festival showcases Yamagata-gyu brand beef, local taro, leeks, konjac, and high-quality local sake, all in nabe form.

Food, Cuisine & Specialties

The cuisine is nabe, but the variations reflect Yamagata’s mountain and coastal bounty.

Yamagata Imoni – The Soul Food: The most iconic Yamagata nabe is imoni, a taro and beef stew that is the autumn natural scene of Yamagata. Traditional Yamagata imoni uses taro root, beef, leek, konjac, burdock root, carrot, onion, Japanese radish, and tofu, flavored with soy sauce, sugar, sake, and mirin. It has a similar taste to sukiyaki. At the Nabe Battle, each restaurant’s imoni is slightly different, with some using American beef, others using Yamagata-gyu.

Dongara Jiru and Seafood Nabe: A specialty from nearby Sakata, Dongara Jiru is a hearty cod and fish scraps soup with miso, a former Nabe Shogun winner. Seafood nabe featuring crab, cod, and local fish from the Sea of Japan is common, with broths made from fish bones and miso.

Yamagata Beef and Taro Nabe: Yamagata-gyu beef, known for its marbling and flavor, is featured in many nabe, paired with satoimo taro that becomes creamy when simmered. This combination is luxurious and warming.

Kimchi, Miso, and Soy Variations: Beyond soy sauce based imoni, there are miso-based nabe, spicy kimchi hot pots, and soy milk nabe. Some stalls offer Chinese cabbage, meat dumplings of duck, and Japanese noodles added to the pot.

Game Meat and International Nabe: Reflecting Tendo’s adventurous spirit, some restaurants offer bear hot pot, duck nabe, and Brazilian nabe with sausage and beans, reflecting Tendo’s small international community.

Side Specialties: The Tendo Onsen Road Station itself offers additional local foods like Tendo La France, a pear variety that is Yamagata’s specialty, shogi piece shaped manju buns, and sake tasting from local breweries.

Chefs, Restaurants & Food Vendors

The vendors are local restaurants, not celebrity chefs, which is part of the charm.

40 Local Restaurants: The core participants are around 40 restaurants from Tendo City and surrounding Yamagata cities including Yamagata City, Sakata, Tsuruoka, and Yonezawa. These include ramen shops, izakaya, ryokan kitchens, and specialty nabe restaurants. Each brings its own family recipe and competes fiercely but friendly.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Teams: The Chambers of Commerce from Yamagata and Sakata often enter teams. For example, the Chamber of Commerce in Yamagata traditionally serves a classic imoni with taro, beef, and leek for a small fee, while Sakata’s team serves Dongara Jiru.

Onsen Ryokan Chefs: Chefs from Tendo Onsen ryokan such as Tendo Hotel, Takinoyu, and Matsunoyu bring their kaiseki expertise to nabe, using high-quality dashi and presentation.

Shogi Piece Craftsmen Vendors: Some stalls are run by shogi piece craftsmen who also cook, linking Tendo’s two famous industries.

Road Station Tendo Onsen Food Court: The permanent food court at the road station expands during the festival, offering additional local foods like imoni croquettes, La France soft cream, and grilled meats.

Nabe Shogun Past Winners: Previous winners set up special stalls showcasing their winning recipes, allowing visitors to taste the championship nabe that earned the King of Festival title.

All vendors cook in large aluminum and bronze pots, with steam rising dramatically, and serve in small bowls perfect for tasting and voting.

Food Experience

The experience is interactive, warming, and community-focused.

Tasting and Voting: You purchase tickets and exchange them for small bowls of nabe at each stall. You can taste many different nabe types in small portions, comparing broths and ingredients. After tasting, you vote for your favorite by dropping a ticket or chopstick into a voting box. The voting process creates excitement and friendly rivalry among vendors.

Footbath While Eating: One unique feature of Road Station Tendo Onsen is its free footbath. You can sit on benches, soak your feet in hot onsen water, and eat hot nabe at the same time, warming from both inside and outside. Musical fountains add to the ambiance.

Nabe Cauldron Spectacle: At some stalls, especially those serving imoni, large cauldrons are used. While not as large as the 6-meter pot used at Japan’s largest Imoni Festival in Yamagata City that cooks 3 tons of taro, the Tendo pots are still impressively large and photogenic.

Cold Air and Hot Steam: The festival is held outdoors in the crisp autumn air. The contrast of cold cheeks and hot broth is delightful. Vendors call out energetically, and crowds huddle around steaming pots.

Family-Friendly: The road station has indoor seating, souvenir shops, and a visitor center, making it comfortable for families with children and elderly visitors. Children enjoy mild, less spicy nabe with beef and taro.

Souvenir Shopping: Between tastings, you can shop for Tendo shogi pieces, La France pears and products, local sake, and crafts.

Date & Schedule

Location: Tendo Onsen Road Station

Official Period: Mid-November 2026 (Dates TBD)

The Tendo City Nabe Battle is held every autumn, typically in late November, and is considered one of Yamagata’s major autumn to winter food events.

Typical Schedule Based on Previous Editions:

Duration: The festival is typically a two-day weekend event, often Saturday and Sunday, running from late morning to mid-afternoon.

Daily Hours: Stalls generally open around 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM and serve until 3:30 PM to 4:00 PM. The busiest time is noon to 2:00 PM. Arriving early ensures shorter lines.

Voting and Announcement: Voting takes place throughout both days. On the final day, votes are counted in the afternoon and the Nabe Shogun King is announced on stage, with a small ceremony awarding the winner.

Stage Events: Throughout both days, local performances including taiko drumming, folk dance, and shogi-related events may take place on a small stage near the road station.

Weather: The festival is held outdoors and in the covered areas of the road station, proceeding rain or shine. Cold weather is expected and is part of the experience, as hot nabe tastes best in the cold.

Visiting this event? Don’t miss out on these amazing activities and local experiences while you’re here.

Location & Venue

The venue is a unique roadside station that is itself a tourist attraction.

Tendo Onsen Road Station – Michi no Eki Tendo Onsen: The full name is Road Station Tendo Onsen, located at the edge of Tendo City. It is a toll road rest stop that functions as a tourist information center, souvenir shop, food court, footbath, and event space. The address is in the Tendo Onsen area, easily accessible from central Tendo.

Facilities: The road station has a large parking lot, clean toilets, a souvenir shop selling La France products and shogi pieces, a food court, a footbath where visitors can soak feet for free, and musical fountains that perform periodically. During the festival, additional tents and stalls are set up in the parking lot and surrounding plaza.

Tendo City Context: Tendo City is located in central Yamagata Prefecture, known as the city of shogi pieces and onsen. The road station is on the main route connecting Yamagata City and Tendo Onsen town.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere is casual and local, with a mix of travelers stopping on the road and dedicated food festival visitors. The backdrop of mountains and the sound of fountains create a relaxed onsen town vibe.

Getting to the Event

Getting to Tendo Onsen Road Station is straightforward via train and car.

By Train: The nearest major station is Tendo Station, served by the JR Ou Main Line and Yamagata Shinkansen. From Yamagata Station, take the Ou Main Line to Tendo, about 15 minutes. From Tokyo, take the Yamagata Shinkansen Tsubasa from Tokyo Station to Tendo Station, about 2 hours 50 minutes. From Tendo Station, the road station is about 10 minutes by taxi or local bus, or 25 minutes on foot. During the festival, shuttle buses often run from Tendo Station to the road station.

By Car: Driving is common for road station events. From the Tohoku Expressway and Yamagata Expressway, take the Yamagata-Kita Interchange and follow Route 13 and local roads to Tendo Onsen. The road station has a large free parking lot that accommodates festival crowds, though it fills up quickly on weekends. Paid parking is also available nearby.

By Bus: Highway buses from Sendai and Yamagata City stop near Tendo Onsen area. Local buses connect Tendo Station and Tendo Onsen.

Accessibility: The road station is fully accessible with flat paved surfaces, accessible toilets, and ramps. The footbath area has seating. The festival area is suitable for wheelchairs and strollers.

Where to Stay Nearby

Tendo Onsen is a full hot spring resort town, so staying overnight is highly recommended to combine nabe with onsen.

Tendo Onsen Ryokan and Hotels: The Tendo Onsen area has many ryokan and hotels, including Tendo Hotel, Takinoyu, Matsunoyu, Hohoemi no Yado, and many others. These offer onsen baths, some with private open-air baths, and dinner featuring Yamagata cuisine. Prices typically range from $90.00 to $200.00 per night per person including dinner and breakfast. Tendo Hotel is 3.5 star property 0.8 km from Road Station Tendo Onsen and is highly rated for cozy rooms, friendly staff, and private onsen.

Business Hotels in Tendo City: Business hotels such as Hotel Alpha-One Tendo and Route Inn Tendo are near Tendo Station and offer budget-friendly stays from $55.00 to $85.00 per night without meals.

In Yamagata City: Yamagata City, 20 minutes away by train, offers more options including Hotel Metropolitan Yamagata, Richmond Hotel Yamagata Ekimae, and others from $70.00 to $150.00 per night.

Booking Tips: Late November is autumn foliage and onsen season, so Tendo Onsen ryokan are popular. Booking 1 to 2 months ahead is recommended, especially for weekends. Many ryokan offer nabe battle packages including shuttle to the road station.

Things to Do Before or After the Event

Tendo City offers many attractions beyond nabe and onsen.

Shogi Piece Making Experience: Tendo produces over 90 percent of Japan’s shogi pieces. Visit the Tendo Shogi Museum and try carving your own shogi piece, or watch craftsmen at work. You can see the history of shogi matches and buy souvenir pieces.

Tendo Onsen Bathing: After eating many bowls of hot pot, enjoy a relaxing soak in one of Tendo’s many onsen baths. Takinoyu and Matsunoyu offer day-use bathing for around $6.00 to $10.00.

Yamadera Temple: One of Yamagata’s most famous sights, Yamadera Risshaku-ji Temple, is a mountainside temple complex with 1,015 steps leading to a stunning view. It is about 20 minutes by train from Tendo.

La France Pear Picking: Tendo is famous for La France pears, a Western pear variety. Visit orchards for picking experiences and try La France soft cream, juice, and sweets at the road station.

Ginzan Onsen Day Trip: Ginzan Onsen, meaning silver mountain hot spring, is a stunning snow-topped town with historic wooden ryokan lining a river, about 1 hour by car from Tendo. It is especially beautiful in winter.

Yamagata City and Kajo Park: Visit Yamagata Castle ruins at Kajo Park, which has beautiful autumn foliage and museums.

Restaurants & Local Food to Try

Beyond the festival nabe, Tendo and Yamagata have distinctive foods.

Imoni and Imoni-kai Culture: Try imoni at local restaurants throughout autumn. Imoni-kai gatherings where people gather along riversides for imoni parties are a Yamagata tradition. Many restaurants serve imoni with Yamagata beef from $10.00 to $18.00.

La France Products: Try La France pears fresh, as well as La France soft cream, La France juice, La France cakes, and La France sake at the road station and local shops. Prices from $3.00 to $10.00.

Yamagata Soba and Ramen: Yamagata is famous for soba noodles and has unique ramen styles including cold ramen and tori chuka chicken Chinese noodles.

Yamagata Beef: Yamagata-gyu is a branded wagyu beef known for its flavor. Try it as steak, sukiyaki, or in nabe at local restaurants for $20.00 to $40.00.

Shogi Manju and Sweets: Sweets shaped like shogi pieces, including manju buns and cookies, are popular souvenirs from Tendo, priced $5.00 to $12.00 per box.

Local Sake: Yamagata is one of Japan’s best sake prefectures, with breweries like Juyondai, Hatsumago, and Dewazakura. Sake tasting is available at the road station and local liquor shops.

Dietary & Food Allergy Information

Nabe contains diverse ingredients, so allergen awareness is important.

Allergen Information: Most nabe contains soy sauce, miso, and fish or meat-based dashi. Seafood nabe contains fish, shellfish, and crab. Beef and taro imoni contains beef and taro. Kimchi nabe may contain shrimp paste and pork. Some nabe contains chicken, duck, or game meat. Always ask vendors about specific ingredients.

Gluten: Most nabe broths contain soy sauce which contains wheat. Some contain wheat noodles. Gluten-free options are limited but plain vegetable and meat nabe without noodles may be safer, though cross-contact is likely.

Vegetarian and Vegan: Most nabe contains fish dashi and meat, so vegetarian options are limited. Some vegetable-based nabe with kombu-only broth may be available. Ask for vegetable-only options.

Halal: Halal options are not typically available as most broths contain sake, mirin, and non-halal meats. Vegetarian nabe may be closer but certification is unlikely.

Language Support: Vendor menus are primarily in Japanese with pictures. Some English information may be available at the road station’s tourist information center. Translation apps help.

Ticket Information

The Tendo City Nabe Battle uses a ticket system that makes tasting affordable.

Admission: Entry to the festival grounds at Tendo Onsen Road Station is completely free. You only need to purchase tickets for the nabe you wish to taste. The venue itself is a public road station with free entry, footbath, and facilities.

Nabe Pricing Based on Previous Editions: Pricing has been stable, with small bowls ideal for tasting.

General Hot Pot Ticket: $2.00 per bowl when purchased on the day. This is for most nabe types including imoni, miso nabe, soy sauce nabe, and kimchi nabe. Based on previous editions, the Chamber of Commerce in Yamagata’s imoni was 300 yen per bowl.

Advance Ticket Offer: 2 tickets for $3.30 when purchased in advance at convenience stores and participating shops around Tendo City. Advance tickets are sold at convenience stores and other places around the city before the festival.

Special Nabe: Some premium nabe such as crab soup and Yamagata-gyu beef nabe may be slightly higher, around $3.70 to $5.00 per bowl, similar to crab soup priced at 550 yen per cup at similar festivals.

Voting: Voting is included with purchase; you receive a voting token with each bowl.

Payment: Tickets are purchased with cash at booths near the road station entrance. Some advance sales accept electronic payment. Bring yen in cash for smooth transactions.

No Reservation Needed: No advance reservation for entry is required. Simply arrive, buy tickets, and start tasting.

Official Event Information

Event Name: Tendo City Nabe Battle, also known as Heisei Nabe Battle, Reiwa Nabe Battle, and Tendo Nabe Gassen

Location: Tendo Onsen Road Station, Michi no Eki Tendo Onsen, Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Access: 10 minutes by taxi from Tendo Station on JR Ou Main Line and Yamagata Shinkansen, with shuttle buses during festival

Format: Competitive nabe battle with around 40 restaurants, public tasting and voting to crown Nabe Shogun King of Festival

Organizer: Tendo City Commerce and Tourism Division, Tendo City Tourism Association, and Road Station Tendo Onsen

Official Website URL as Text: en.japantravel.com/yamagata/tendo-city-nabe-battle/68445

Additional Official Information as Text: city.tendo.yamagata.jp and japan47go.travel for Tendo Onsen cooperative information

Contact: Tendo City Commerce and Tourism Division, tourist information at Road Station Tendo Onsen

Video

Location

FAQ