Niigata

Niigata is a famous rice-producing region. Tokamachi City is dotted with many rice terraces, giving way to vast, beautiful rural scenery. The Hoshitoge Rice Terraces are particularly famous, and are often called the best rice terrace in Tokamachi.

The Ponshukan Sake Museum is inside Echigo-Yuzawa Station. Here, you can enjoy famous Niigata products such as sake and rice to your heart’s content at sake tasting sessions and the souvenir stands.

This is the building of wealthy farmers. In everything from its architecture and gardens to its collection of art, this museum is full to the brim of Niigata tradition and art. The Northern Culture Museum is the former mansion of the Ito family, who were the lords of vast areas of land in Echigo. It is maintained and open to the general public as this museum.

Yahiko Shrine’s history goes back so far that it was featured in the Manyoshu, an ancient collection of Japanese poems. People affectionately call it “Oyahiko-sama.” It is popular for being the location with the greatest spiritual energy in Niigata.

Kiyotsu Gorge stands alongside Kurobe Gorge and Osugidani Valley as one of Japan’s three great canyons. A treasure house of academic resources, the gorge was made part of Joshin’etsu Kogen National Park in September 1949.

Opened in 1915, Tsukioka Onsen in Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture, boasts a hot spring with one of the highest sulfur concentrations in Japan. The rare, stunning emerald green sulfurous spring is called "the hot spring to make you even more beautiful," and is popular especially among women. The slightly alkaline water is mild on the skin, leaving it feeling moist for a long period of time after bathing.