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JAPAN

Niigata

Snow, rice, sake, and a wild blue coast.

Popular keywords#Nature & scenic views#Architecture#Hot springs & wellness#Workshops & kilns#Protection from misfortune#Contemporary art#Local sightseeing & town walks#Antique & Buddhist art#Museum
ELK（投稿者） · CC BY-SA 3.0

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NiigataArt & Crafts, Museums · 15 entriesSadoShrines & Temples, Museums · 14 entriesTokamachiArt & Crafts, Contemporary Art · 13 entriesNagaokaShrines & Temples, Museums · 9 entriesJoetsuShrines & Temples, Architecture · 6 entriesYahikoShrines & Temples, Nature & Scenery · 5 entries
FEATURENiigata now (autumn)New rice is harvested as vivid foliage fills places such as Yahiko Park.See the feature Raita Futo · CC BY 2.0
Discover Sado IslandExplore mining heritage and performing arts unique to Sado Island.Walk Rice TerracesWalk among terraced paddies such as Hoshitoge in changing seasonal light.Taste Niigata SakeVisit local breweries and compare sake made in one of Japan's great rice regions.

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JAPAN GUIDE

Things worth knowing about Japan

No worries even on a first trip to Japan. Useful things to know, explained clearly.

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Q. What do people get wrong about IC cards (Suica, PASMO) in Japan?

This answer is a draft. It stays unpublished until legal review and source verification are complete. The answ…

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Q. What do people get wrong about coin lockers and luggage forwarding in Japan?

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Q. What do people get wrong about Golden Week, Obon and New Year travel?

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REGIONAL SPECIALTIES

Meet the Japan you don't know yet.

It is not only the big cities. The regions are full of charm, and special experiences you can only have in each place are waiting.

Obata Sake Brewery ManotsuruEchigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary ArtEchigo Ichinomiya Yahiko Shrine

Value Village

Japan's value, to the world.

Regional culture, tradition, food, sightseeing, nature and people. A directory that delivers the appeal of each to the whole world.

About Value Village
Value VillageLocal Value, Global Reach.
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INSTAGRAM / 6

Official and local Instagram photos

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THINGS TO DO / 6

Things to do in this prefecture

Choose from what you can only do here.

01Ski Echigo-YuzawaSki or snowboard at snow resorts easily reached from the bullet train.See related entries →Abasaa · Public domain02Taste Niigata SakeVisit local breweries and compare sake made in one of Japan's great rice regions.See related entries →Rebirth10 · CC BY-SA 4.003Discover Sado IslandExplore mining heritage and performing arts unique to Sado Island.See related entries →Tyutyanya · CC BY-SA 4.004Walk Rice TerracesWalk among terraced paddies such as Hoshitoge in changing seasonal light.See related entries →Siriusplot · CC BY-SA 3.005View Kiyotsu GorgeView dramatic rock walls and the river from the gorge tunnel.See related entries →Koichi_Hayakawa · CC BY 4.006See Nagaoka FireworksWatch enormous fireworks spread across the night sky above the Shinano River.See related entries →Yasaiyasai · CC BY-SA 4.0

NEED TO KNOW

At a glance

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BEST TIME TO TRAVEL

What each season brings

LOCAL FOOD / 12

Local food

What people have long eaten in this place. We collect the dishes themselves, not restaurants.

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Hegi Soba

Soba made from buckwheat flour using the seaweed funori as a binder, gathered into bite-sized bundles and arranged in a serving box. The condiments are green onion, sesame and mustard, and the mustard is placed on top of the noodles rather than dissolved in the dipping broth.

Area：Throughout the prefecture

Source：Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), "Our Regional Cuisines"

Kanzuri

A seasoning made by spreading salted chili peppers out on snow and drying them in the sun, then grinding them and mixing them with rice koji, yuzu and salt, and fermenting and aging the mixture for about three years. It is used as a condiment for hot pots, sashimi and grilled chicken skewers.

Area：Joetsu region (Myoko)

Source：Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), "Our Regional Cuisines"

Igoneri

The seaweed igogusa is boiled until it dissolves, strained, and chilled until set. On Sado it is spread into a sheet and rolled up, cut into thin strips and eaten with green onion and ginger on top and soy sauce; on the mainland side it is cut from the sheet and eaten with ponzu or vinegared miso.

Area：Throughout the prefecture

Source：Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), "Our Regional Cuisines"

Kurumafu no Nimono

Ring-shaped kuruma-fu wheat gluten, made by winding the dough around a rod and baking it, is rehydrated in water or hot water and simmered with eggplant, green beans and other vegetables. Even after soaking up the broth it keeps a chewy texture and does not fall apart easily.

Area：Kaetsu region

Source：Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), "Our Regional Cuisines"

MICHI-NO-EKI / 42

Michi-no-Eki roadside stations

RestInformationLocal links

Rest facilities registered by Japan's national government. Each has parking and toilets open 24 hours, and by definition includes a facility that sells local products. This is where the making and the food of this prefecture can actually be bought.

There are 42 stations in this prefecture in all (national registry).

Source: MLIT register of Michi-no-Eki

LOCAL ACCOUNTS / 2

People posting this area

Japanese-language accounts that post about this area.

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CITIES & TOWNS / 22

Find by city or town

Sorted by number of entries. Start from the name of a town.

Niigata 15Sado 14Tokamachi 13Nagaoka 9Joetsu 6Yahiko 5Tsubame 5Murakami 5Shibata 4Ojiya 4Itoigawa 3Myoko 2Sanjo 2Minamiuonuma 2Kashiwazaki 2Agano 1Sekikawa 1Yuzawa 1
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INTERESTS / 14

Find by interest

Only the interests found in this prefecture.

Yahiko Jinja · Yasaiyasai · CC BY-SA 4.0

Shrines & Temples34 entries

Yahiko Jinja ／ Kasugayama Jinja

To the list Tarai Bune · rhodnite · CC BY 2.0

Nature & Scenery62 entries

Tarai Bune ／ Kiyotsu Gorge

To the list Echigo-Yuzawa · Abasaa · Public domain

Hot Springs14 entries

Echigo-Yuzawa ／ Tsukioka Onsen

To the list Shiobiki Sake · 水だらけのプール · CC BY-SA 4.0

Historic Districts12 entries

Shiobiki Sake ／ Teradomari Fish Market

To the list Akashi Chirimen · Yasuyuki_Kawano · CC BY 4.0

Architecture9 entries

Akashi Chirimen ／ Former Saito Family Villa

To the list Sado Gold Mine · Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0

Museums14 entries

Sado Gold Mine ／ Toki Forest Park

To the list Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art · Ozaki baka · CC BY-SA 4.0

Art & Crafts47 entries

Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art ／ Bandaijima Art Museum

To the list Nagaoka Fireworks · Kropsoq · CC BY-SA 3.0

Contemporary Art7 entries

Nagaoka Fireworks ／ Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale

To the list Tsuiki Copperware · Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0

Craft Experiences41 entries

Tsuiki Copperware ／ Tojiro Open Factory

To the list Teradomari Fish Market Street · Paul McMahon · CC BY 2.0

Culture & History5 entries

Teradomari Fish Market Street ／ Ryugakubo Pond

To the list Echigo-Tsumari Art Field · Drph17 · CC BY 4.0

Festivals2 entries

Echigo-Tsumari Art Field ／ Ushi no Tsunotsuki

To the list Iwatsuka Confectionery · Rebirth10 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Food & Markets28 entries

Iwatsuka Confectionery ／ Niigata City Agri Park

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Experiences3 entries

Tochio Family Ski Resort ／ Izumozaki Ichigo Batake

To the list Sado Yawata Onsen · 番記者 · CC0

Stays7 entries

Sado Yawata Onsen ／ Maiko Snow Resort

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HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights of this prefecture

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Shrines & Temples
Yahiko

Yahiko Jinja

Its deity is said to have taught the people of Echigo how to grow rice and make salt. Rice and salt: the sake and the preserved foods of this land both rest on those two. Worship here is two bows, four claps, one bow, the same form as at Izumo Taisha and Usa Jingu.

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SMILE NEWS / 136

Smile news from Japan and the world

Stories that lift your spirits a little, collected with their sources.

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Niigata

48 Murakami townhouses open their heirloom folding screens

In the old merchant quarter of Murakami, Niigata, the Machiya Byobu Festival is showing folding screens handed down in local merchant families. In its 26th year, 48 houses are taking part, and visitors can enjoy the screens and the townhouses until October 15.

source: Niigata Nippo
Patagonia National Park, Chile

Women rangers return Darwin's rheas to the wild in Chile

In Chile's Patagonia National Park, a women-led ranger team returned 13 Darwin's rheas to the wild in April 2026. Working with the Rewilding Chile Foundation, they care for the birds around the clock; surveys once estimated only about 11 to 15 remained.

source: Mongabay
Matusadona National Park, Zimbabwe

New 210-million-year-old dinosaur species named from Zimbabwe's Lake Kariba shore

A new dinosaur species, Musango matusadonaensis, has been described from rocks about 210 million years old in Matusadona National Park on the shore of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. The bipedal, not-yet-adult animal was about 4.5 metres long, and the find suggests Zimbabwe's dinosaur fauna differed from South Africa's.

source: Phys.org (The Conversation)

INSTAGRAM

Explore on Instagram

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#新潟県Niigata Prefecture

SEASONS & EVENTS

Seasons & events

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BEFORE YOU GO

Before you go

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Q1Q. What do people get wrong about IC cards (Suica, PASMO) in Japan?Q2Q. What do people get wrong about coin lockers and luggage forwarding in Japan?Q3Q. What do people get wrong about Golden Week, Obon and New Year travel?

TRAVEL

Transport & stays

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Photos of Niigata

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NiigataEnlarge ↗
NiigataImai · CC BY-SA 2.1 jp · Original image and source ↗Display size adjusted. The enlarged view shows the whole photo.
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Niigata河田鷹介 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Original image and source ↗Display size adjusted. The enlarged view shows the whole photo.

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ELK（投稿者） · CC BY-SA 3.0