Yamagata Zaō Onsen Ski Resort and Juhyō (Frost Covered Trees) aka Snow Monsters

Mount Zaō (蔵王山 Zaō-san^?) is a complex volcano on the border between Yamagata Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. It consists of a cluster of stratovolcanoes and is the most active volcano in northern Honshū.

Mount Zaō is one of the 100 famous mountains in Japan.
 
The Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort (山形蔵王温泉スキー場 Yamagata Zaō Onsen Skī-jō^?) is the largest ski resort in Tōhoku region, Japan, operated by Zao Onsen Tourism Association (蔵王温泉観光協会 Zaō Onsen Kankō Kyōkai^?).

The resort is mostly famous for its ski slopes in winter, but trekking is also popular sports in summer season.

One striking feature of Zaō's famous ski resorts is the snow monsters (樹氷 Juhyō^?) that appear in mid-winter. Strong wind over the nearby lake fling water droplets which freeze against the trees and their branches, until near-horizontal icicles begin to form. Falling snow settles on the ice formations, and the end result is a grotesque figure of a tree. The effect of a full forest of such trees gives visitors a ghostly impression.

Zaō Onsen (蔵王温泉^?) is a famous hot spring area on Mount Zaō in the northern part of Honshū, the main island of Japan. Records date back as far as 110 AD. A wounded warrior is said to have drawn an arrow out of his body and cleaned the wound at a spring only to find that the injury healed miraculously quickly and well.^{[citation needed]}

The sulfur springs of Zaō Onsen smell of rotten eggs, which only connoisseurs know to appreciate, and which saves Zaō from being overrun by tourists.

Although Mount Zaō stretches between Yamagata and Miyagi Prefectures, the town where Zaō Onsen is located was recently merged into Yamagata City. The hot spring is accessible via the Tōhoku Expressway.