CITY OF NIIGATA / SADO ISLAND

The city of Niigata faces the Sea of Japan from the mouth of the Shinano River, Japan’s longest, which flows north through what is known as the Kanto-Koshinetsu region. This gastronomic city, known mostly for its abundance of fresh seafood, tasty rice and great variety of sake, is only two hours from Tokyo Station by shinkansen.

It is also notable for its rich history and port town culture. It prospered as a major port of call on the Sea of Japan for north-bound trading ships known as kitamaebune during the Edo Period (1603 to 1868), and has continued to play an important role as a logistics hub.

There are still many historical buildings in the city that are well preserved and open to the public. One is Niigata Saito Villa, a wooden building over a century old that boasts a large, beautifully designed Japanese garden landscaped to include a pond, a waterfall, 70 kinds of trees and shrubs, and natural rocks of varying shapes and sizes punctuated by stepping stones and stone lanterns.

The villa was built by Kijuro Saito IV, a notable merchant in the prefecture who made a fortune by operating cargo ships. The property has been designated a National Site of Scenic Beauty by the government.

The house was carefully designed to be integrated with the garden and makes ample use of windows. The view of the garden from each room is unique. Even when viewed from the same window, the garden shows a different “face” each season, with different types of plants in bloom at different times of the year, changing colors in autumn and blanketed in a carpet of snow in winter.

Niigata Saito Villa is accessible via the Niigata City Loop Bus, which serves sightseeing spots in the center of the city and offers a one-day pass for ¥500. By taxi, the villa is about 10 to 15 minutes from Niigata Station.

Right next to Niigata Saito Villa is Ikinariya, a ryotei (high-class restaurant) with a history going back 300 years. The restaurant has 11 rooms that are spread across several buildings on the premises and surrounded by a traditional Japanese garden.

In addition to Ikinariya, there are about a dozen ryotei, mostly in the city’s Furumachi district, where fine cuisine and entertainment provided by geisha (called geigi in the Niigata region) can be enjoyed. Niigata’s geigi culture started about two centuries ago to entertain sailors and people working at the port.

In Niigata, there are two basic categories of geigi: “furisode-san,” younger entertainers who wear furisode (long sleeve) kimono, and “tomesode-san,” veteran entertainers who wear tomesode kimono with shorter sleeves.

Upon reservation, geigi are dispatched to designated restaurants to perform classical Japanese dance and music while guests enjoy their meals. Guests can also pose for photos with geigi and experience traditional ozashiki-asobi (game playing).

Off the coast of Niigata Prefecture, there is a part of Japan with its very own culture and history in Sado Island.

The storied Sado Island Gold Mines in the western part of the island were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a cultural property this year. However, it is advisable to visit Kirarium Sado first, an information center near the Aikawa Gold and Silver Mine. The exhibits and videos at Kirarium Sado offer a comprehensive overview of the history of Sado’s mines and abundant information about locations to visit the remains of the mines and the neighborhoods where they were built.

There were two main locations for gold and silver mining in Sado other than the Aikawa mines: the Nishimikawa Placer Gold Mine and the Tsurushi Silver Mine. They are said to have been discovered at different times, but their exploitation began and flourished in the Edo Period.

During Edo, mining was done in the traditional way by hand using manual techniques and tools. People gathered from across the country to work at the mines, creating a fascinatingly diverse mix of cultures and people. At the Sodayu Mine, which is part of the Aikawa mines, visitors can walk inside a hand-dug tunnel in which statues, tools and pictures are displayed, while audio narration explains how the miners worked and lived.

Mumyoi clay used to make everyday commodities used by the miners, such as candle dishes, still remains at the sites, with the reddish clay now used to make Mumyoi-yaki pottery that produces a metallic sound when tapped because of its high iron oxide content. This pottery is a nationally designated Traditional Craft Product of the island.

Sado Island is about an hour from the port of Niigata by jetfoil and 2.5 hours by ferry. The shinkansen between Tokyo and Niigata is meanwhile covered by the JR East rail pass, which is sold for ¥27,000 and offers unlimited rides on designated rail lines for five consecutive days. There is also a discount bus and ferry pass for people who plan to explore both Niigata and Sado.

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This article is sponsored by the Niigata and Sado municipal governments.
For more information, visit Niigata’s Facebook page：https://m.facebook.com/visit.niigata.city.en/
or Sado Tourism Navi：https://www.visitsado.com/en/?utm_source=qrcode&utm_medium=tabloid&utm_campaign=TheBestofJapan