Japan. by Japanese.Japan, judged by a Japanese
A wide snow-covered ski slope with small distant skiers and a white lodge, bare wooded hills behindA wide river through the city at dusk, a lit glass tower at left and a lamp-lined bridge in the foregroundYellow lilies above a calm sea at sunset, a grassy rock islet joined to the shore by a dark spit

Niigata

Niigata: Places to Visit

Food · Things to do · Where to stay

Most visitors to Niigata go to Echigo-Yuzawa for skiing and hot springs, to Niigata city, and on to Sado Island. The JR Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo or Ueno reaches Echigo-Yuzawa in about 80 minutes and Niigata Station in about two hours.

Sado is reached from Niigata Port to Ryotsu Port, in about 1 hour 7 minutes by jetfoil or 2 hours 30 minutes by car ferry; schedules vary with the season and the weather. Myoko is on the JR Hokuriku Shinkansen, and Niigata Airport has domestic and international flights.

Places in Niigata

  • Echigo-Yuzawa — Twelve ski fields that draw about two million skiers and snowboarders a year, with hot springs and local sake; about 80 minutes from Tokyo.
  • Niigata city — A port city with the Shinano River running through its centre; ferries to Sado leave from here.
  • Sado — An island reached by jetfoil or car ferry from Niigata Port, home to the Sado Gold Mine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • Myoko — Ski resorts, among them Myoko Suginohara, on the JR Hokuriku Shinkansen.
  • Tokamachi — Known for its rice terraces and its long history of silk and hemp production.