Kisakata in Nikaho City is a celebrated scenic destination made famous by the haiku poet Matsuo Basho, who visited during his journey recorded in "Oku no Hosomichi" and composed the verse comparing Matsushima — laughing in its beauty — to Kisakata, which seemed to weep. The area was once a lagoon scattered with countless small islands, lauded alongside Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture as one of Jap…

象潟は古来より歌人たちに愛された景勝地で、松尾芭蕉が元禄2年（1689年）に訪れ「奥の細道」に詳しく記した。文化元年（1804年）の象潟地震で地盤が隆起し、潟湖が陸地化した後も独特の景観は国の名勝・天然記念物として保護されている。