Yonezawa is a city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 February 2020, the city had an estimated population of 81,707 in 33,278 households, and a population density of 150 persons per km2. The total area of the city is 548.51 square kilometres (212 sq mi). Yonezawa is most famous for its local delicacies and for being a castle town that was once home to the Uesugi clan, including the daimyō Uesugi Yozan.

Date Masamune was a regional ruler of Japan's Azuchi–Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyō in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all the more iconic for his missing eye, as Masamune was often called dokuganryū (独眼竜), or the "One-Eyed Dragon of Ōshū". As a legendary warrior and leader, Masamune is a character in a number of Japanese period dramas.