Niigata Prefecture

Understand

Niigata used to be divided into the provinces of Echigo (越後), on the mainland, and Sado (佐渡), a large island off the coast.

Read My Mother is a Tractor, by Nicholas Klar. A former English teacher with a witty and informative take on Japanese society. Written from the depths of the Niigata countryside.

Tourist Information Site Enjoy Niigata is the prefecture's official multilingual guide site.

Getting there

By plane Niigata Airport handles international (KIJ IATA) flights from Korea (Seoul daily on Korean Air), China (Shanghai and Xian three times weekly on China Eastern, Harbin four times weekly on China Southern), and Guam (twice weekly on Continental). There are also frequent domestic flights from Osaka (¥25,100 one way), Sapporo (¥28,700 one way), Fukuoka (¥31,700 one way), and other cities.

By train The Joetsu Shinkansen line connects Niigata to Tokyo in around 2 hours, passing through Yuzawa on the way. Alternatively, the Nagano Shinkansen line connects Nagano to Tokyo also in around 2 hours. From Nagano one can take an express or local train onwards to Myoko and Joetsu in Niigata Prefecture

See

Every year, around the last ten days of July, there is a big fireworks display in Kashiwazaki, which is well known for the ones which are shot off over the Japan Sea. Moreover, the number of the fireworks shot off there is about 15,000 shots and those are so beautiful.

Niigata Garden Road Niigata Garden Road (にいがた庭園街道, Niigata Teien Kaido, partly bilingual site) is an itinerary of 150km composed of 29 Japanese gardens and traditional buildings in the northern Niigata area, established in 2019.

Do

Niigata is the heart of Japan's Snow Country, which means it's a great place for skiing (see above destinations).

Eat

Niigata is famed for its koshihikari rice, generally considered one of the best grades in the country.

Drink & nightlife

Thanks to its famous rice and abundance of mountain streams, Niigata produces some of the best sake in the country, and the local Echigo Toji guild pioneered the tanrei karakuchi style (light, beautiful, and dry) that has become the gold standard for good sake. Famous local labels include Kubota (久保田), Kikusui (菊水), Koshinokanbai (越乃寒梅) and Hakkaisan (八海山).

Go next

Yamagata Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture Tochigi Prefecture Gunma Prefecture Nagano Prefecture Toyama Prefecture