Leisure / Outdoors Spots in Niigata Area

Area

Niigata
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Category

Leisure / Hobbies

Leisure / Outdoors

Vision Yoshida

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Tsubame-shi Yoshida Honjo 153-1

"A training center next to Tsubame-shi General Gymnasium Yoshida, 15 minutes from Makikata-Higashi Interchange on the Hokuriku Expressway. In addition to a 25-meter pool where you can enjoy athletic swimming, it has a lazy river pool, a gym with exercise machines, and an all-weather indoor play area. Their popular Chibikko Dreamland playscape has retractable walls so they can open up in the summer for ""outdoor"" fun. It has an earthen floor and you can go outside by passing through a tunnel and going down a slide. Use of the playscape is free of charge."
Octopus Shore Hunting Tours

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Iwafune-gun Awashimauramura Hi No Miyama 1491-8 Awa Shima Tourist Information Office

Tour participants can enjoy octopushunting, an autumn tradition on Awashima Island. Tours are held three times a day on Saturdays and Sundays from September through October. Anyone elementary school aged and older can master the unique local technique, which involves dangling a bamboo pole with a red cloth wrapped on one end in front of an octopus and scooping it out of the water when it latches on with its tentacles. Because hunting is conducted on a shallow shore, you don’t need a particularly robust coat or other heavy ocean fishing gear. Contests are sometimes held to see who can catch the largest octopus, with the top catchers receiving awards and local specialty products as prizes. An advance application is required, so be sure to apply with plenty of time before the day you intend to go.
Koide Park

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Uonuma-shi Aoshima 1609

A hill park which turns into a bustling ski slope on winter. The park is also known for its abundance of colorful flours, including springtime cherry blossoms as well as mountain azaleas, scarlet sage, marigolds, and cosmos. A renowned photo destination for taking pictures of the Three Mountains of Echigo, many amateur photography lovers come here year-round. Particularly in spring during the cherry blossom season, large numbers of people gather at the hilltop rest house to take pictures backed by the majestic natural beauty of Uonuma. Park facilities include an all-season ski jump and walking paths, and many people come here to go for a stroll, enjoy a picnic, go birdwatching, and take in a little forest therapy.
Toden Alpine Hut Free Rest Area

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Uonuma-shi Shimoritate Aka No Kawa Omote Kokuyurin

A rest area in the Touden Mountain Villa Annex, Niigata prefecture's only mountain hut in the Oze region. Take a break while mid-hike and enjoy the view of Mt. Hiuchigatake and Mt. Shibutsu. From the open area in front of the building on a clear day you can witness Mt. Shibutsu rising from the morning mists like a white rainbow. On rainy days you can rest inside the building to warm up. The open area looks over the Ozegahara and is filled with all sorts of people having a mid-walk lunch, checking their maps, or looking over the pictures that they've taken.
Aikawa Folk Museum

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Sado-shi Aikawasakashitamachi 20

A museum where visitors can learn about the Aikawa Area, location of the Sado Gold Mine, a model mine which contributed to the modernization of Japanese industry. Opened in 1956, museum exhibits include minerals from the mine and information on local Sado folk customs. The museum’s elegant building was once used as the Sado branch of the Bureau of Imperial Estates, which managed imperial assets under the Meiji Constitution. Look for the imperial chrysanthemum crests found everywhere on the structure. The museum displays archeological materials concerning the mine and the Sado magistrate’s office, implements used by Aikawa “yujo” ladies of the night as well as works of art featuring them, and folk custom materials from a town which developed along with the mine.
Tassha Bathing Beach

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Sado-shi Tassha

A beach that gets its name from a Japanese folktale called Sanshodayu. The mother and her son called Zushio reunitedon the beach and were pleased to see each other in good health (tassha) in the story. It's on a broad and quiet cove on Senkaku Bay with amazingly transparent water. As it's protected by a weir and wave-breaking tetrapods, it remains relatively calm even on days with high waves so you can still have fun in the sea. Because it's just 10 minutes from downtown Aikawa City, the popular beach gets crowded with families and young people in season. The beach is gravel rather than fine sand, so wearing beach sandals comes recommended.
Tsugamijima Park

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Sado-shi Ryotsu Ogawa

This park encompasses an island which belongs to the district of Ogawa, a community which thrived as a port for small cargo vessels from the Edo period onward. Tsugamijima Shrine, a Shinto shrine which enshrines guardian gods of the sea, stands on the island beyond the red-lacquered Tsugami Bridge. The main shrine building, situated past the torii gate, was widely worshipped and thought to provide protection to the local cargo ships sailing the sea, and to grant business prosperity. It is said that the shrine was once located behind the settlement but was moved to the island in the Genroku period, where it still enshrines the three ocean gods known as the Sumiyoshi Sanjin to this day. The Zenpoji Temple stands behind the shrine. During the area’s age of light cargo sailing vessels, the temple served as a private lighthouse, and today it continues to watch over the community and the people who come here to shore fish.
Himesayuri Path

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Sanjo-shi Morimachi

Maiden lilies, a flower known as “himesayuri” in the local dialect and a designated near-threatened species on the Ministry of the Environment’s Red List, have grown an masse amidst the hills and fields of the Shitada area since ancient times. Takajo Castle Ruins in Mori-machi is particularly famous for its groups of maiden lilies. A hiking course connects the mountain climbing trailhead in Mori-machi with the Takajo Castle Ruins, and many maiden lilies grow throughout this area. The trail bustles with mountain climbers during the peak blooming period from mid-May to early June. The Takajo Castle Ruins can be reached in about an hour, and visitors appreciate the ease with which one can get here when the mood strikes.
Bashoen Garden

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Santo-gun Izumozaki Machi Sumiyoshicho 556- Ko

In this garden stands a stone monument inscribed with a copy of the entirety of the text of famed poet Matsuo Basho’s “Ginga no Jo” (“Preface to the Milky Way”) written in his own hand. A line from this poem, composed in 1689 while making the journey he would ultimately describe in his “Narrow Road to the Interior,” is particularly famous: “turbulent ocean / extending out to Sado / the Milky Way.” The monument as well as a statue of Basho stands on the grounds of a residence which once belonged to the Torii, a family whose members served as town elders in Izumozaki. Various sights connected to Basho, including the birth home of Ryokan, a priest and poet Basho greatly respected, are located in the area, and even today many amateur haiku lovers make their way here. There is a mailbox in the garden which visitors can use to submit haiku poems; once a year, the best are selected for compilation into a collection.
Hokkoku Kaido Tsumairi Kaikan

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Santo-gun Izumozakimachi Amaze 166

“Tsumairi” is a Japanese architectural style in which the entrance is placed on one of the sides, or “tsuma.” During the Edo period, buildings were taxed based on the width of their frontage, resulting in large numbers of these long, narrow tsumairi houses standing side by side. Echigo once boasted the highest population density in the country, and Izumozaki flourished as a post station town on the old Hokkoku Highway. This facility, standing on a piece of flat ground sandwiched between a small hill and the Sea of Japan, reproduces the traditional layout of a tsumairi home and serves as a rest area for tourists and as a community gathering space. Inside, visitors can learn more about traditional architecture and its historical background, as well as tourist destinations in Izumozaki. Many tourists stop here to take a break in between exploring the town.
Tenryo Izumozaki Jidaikan

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Santo-gun Izumozaki Machi Amaze 6-57

A cultural facility adjoining Roadside Station Echigo-Izumozaki Tenryo-no-Sato. Inside, the facility contains a recreation of a townscape consisting of homes and businesses designed in the distinctive “tsumairi” style of Izumozaki, enabling visitors to go back in time and experience what the area looked like when it was a brilliant and bustling “tenryo” town under the direct control of the shogunate government. Through lighting and audio; and recreations of a magistrate’s ship and office, kitamaebune cargo ship, and Edo period townscape, visitors can immerse themselves in the majesty and atmosphere of the Edo period. Visitors can also decorate and create their own original paper balloon by pasting colored paper to a blank paper balloon, see a recreation of the birth home of the priest and poet Ryokan, and learn about the many writers and artists who visited and depicted Izumozaki.
Hoshi to Mori no Uta Museum

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Tokamachi-shi Inaba 1099-1

This art museum was built in 1996 as part of social work conducted by the Maruyama Komusho company. Based on the idea of bringing relaxation and warmth to the city, the museum is surrounded by Japanese beech trees and displays pieces by artists connected to Niigata Prefecture. Literally translating to “Star and Forest Song Museum,” the facility’s distinctive name alludes to the centerpieces of its collection –“Forest of the Stars,” a woodblock print by Joichi Hoshi; Living National Treasure Akitsugu Amata’s “Sword of the Big Dipper,” a Japanese sword; and “Poetry of the Forest,” a sculpture by Nika Association member Hidemasa Fujimaki. Visitors say that being surrounded by the museum’s relaxing atmosphere warms the heart. The museum has no standing exhibition, instead only holding four special exhibitions each year.
Outland Handmade Camping Village

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Tokamachi-shi Shimo Kumi 4341-2

For over 20 years, this campground in the middle of the woods has continued to make everything by hand. Surrounded by the campground’s distinctive atmosphere, visitors can get away from the everyday and enjoy outdoor activities. The campground’s log houses, handmade by the owner, have actually been submitted as works of art in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, an international art festival held in Echigo-Tsumari that is one of the largest in the world. The campground continues to carefully craft everything in it with attention to minute detail by hand, including not only the log house exteriors and walking paths but also the interiors and facilities. Another great thing about the campground is its reasonable fees for tent sites and rental equipment.
Echigo-Tsumari Daigonji Kogen Campground

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Tokamachi-shi

A campground situated on the Daigonji Highland sprawling midway up Mt. Amamizu. Here visitors can enjoy the great outdoors of this lush highland area; a farm, pond, and iris garden can also be found on the highland. The campground has facilities suitable for a variety of camping styles, including spacious tent sites, cottages, and bungalows. You can even rent a camping set consisting of everything you need, all made by the Snow Peak outdoor equipment company, making it easy even for absolute beginners to have fun camping. Also a plus: the campground offers a full array of activities, including standup paddleboarding on the pond, Nordic walking, and backcountry biking.
Another Singularity

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Tokamachi-shi Bo 913

This work of art was entered in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale. One of the world’s largest international art festivals, the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is held once every three years in Echigo-Tsumari (Tsunan Town and Tokamachi City, Niigata Prefecture), one of Japan’s snowiest areas. Housed inside of a vacant home in Tokamachi, a city experiencing depopulation and population aging, the piece represents the beginnings of the universe. The home in which the piece is displayed has had its walls removed, leaving the pillars, beams, and other structural components exposed. The figure of a person emerges from a complex matrix in the center of 682 cords attached to the floor, walls, and celling. The piece was created by British artist Antony Gormley.
Otate Park (Otate Site)

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Joetsu-shi Gochi 1-23-11

The Otate was a compound the mighty lord Uesugi Kenshin built for Kanto shogun deputy Uesugi Norimasa when the latter fled to Echigo after he was defeated by Hojo Ujiyasu, then-lord of Odawara Castle. It is believed that it was also used as a government office after Kenshin later inherited the post of Kanto shogun deputy. The compound is thought to have been vast, equivalent in area to 1. 6 Tokyo Domes, but today only its heart remains as a park. The compound was also the site of the Siege of Otate, a great uprising which tore Echigo Province in two as two men fought to succeed as the head of the Uesugi clan after Kenshin’s sudden demise.
Ito Vineyard

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Niigata-shi Konan-ku Nishino 145

A vineyard located three minutes from the Niigata Airport Interchange on the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway. Surrounded by rice paddies, the vineyard cultivates an abundant variety of grapes on its vast grounds. The farm has a tatami mat rest area where visitors can relax after having fun grape picking. Many families bring along a bento box lunch to enjoy here. The farm grows standard Kyoho giant grapes, Pione, Oriental Star, Shinano Smile, and many other grape varieties, and part of the fun is discovering which your favorite is.
Niigata Prefecture Archaeological Research Center

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Niigata-shi Akiha-ku Kanazu 93-1

Filled with an abundance of natural beauty, Niigata Prefecture also encompasses over 13,000 archeological sites, making it of high scholarly value as well. Located in Kanazu, an area dotted with ancient burial mounds, botanical gardens, and art museums, here in this museum and research facility, visitors can come in contact with real history. The facility studies and researches archeological artefacts, provides professional training, and holds archeology classes and engages in other public education activities. Inside, the facility is filled with excavated artefacts on display, enabling visitors to experience their history up close. The center’s outdoor training yard is used to host ancient magatama comma-shaped stone jewel making and traditional fire starting activities for school fieldtrips.
Meruhen Glass Museum

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Niigata-shi Nishikan-ku Echizenhama 4715

This creativity space is in a remodeled kominka (old house) in Echizenhama. They exhibit and sell glass burner-work figures and accessories by glass artist Naoko Matsuda. The gallery makes use of the old parlor room, and displays a variety of pieces by different artists to allow a close up look at their beauty and unique perspectives. There is also a cafe space where you can enjoy lunch, cake, and a variety of drinks. They also offer a variety of classes open to lone guests, as well, where you can try making “porcel-arts” or herbarium bottles yourself.
Tsurui Museum of Art

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Niigata-shi Chuo-ku Higashiodori 1-2-23 Hokuriku Building 1F

This art museum was created by a businessman born and raised in Niigata based on a desire to leave behind the art he had collected as cultural assets for his native Niigata. The museum has no standing exhibit, instead holding four special exhibitions each year displaying pieces from the around 16,000 works of art in its collection. Pottery makes up the majority of this collection. The museum possesses a large number of pieces by the great masters Itaya Hazan, Tomimoto Kenkichi, and Yaichi Kusube, and a porcelain vase decorated with a depiction of a bird created by Itaya is a designated Important Cultural Property. The collection also includes many other rare and valuable pieces, including Japanese paintings by Taikan Yokoyama and Literati paintings by Ike no Taiga.

Niigata

Murakami / Shibata Niigata / Aga Yahiko / Sanjo Nagaoka Yuzawa / Uonuma Myoko / Joetsu Sado

Leisure / Hobbies Leisure / Outdoors

Amusement Park / Theme Park Pool Beach Park / Green Space Aquarium Museum / Science Museum Zoo Orchard Art Museum Art Gallery / Gallery Botanical Garden Event Complex Facility / Commercial Facility Camping / Auto Camping Hiking / Walking Boat Pier Fishing / Fishing Pond / Managed Fishing Ground Fishing Equipment / Fishing Bait Shop Other Leisure Facility / Other Outdoors Facility

Niigata Areas

Found along the northwestern coast of Japan, Niigata prefecture is celebrated for its high-quality rice and breathtaking nature, most notably its spectacular mountains, whose white peaks draw in snow sports lovers from far and wide over the winter months. Hit the slopes at Yuzawa, pick out your favourite modern artist at Echigo Tsumari, or take a ferry over to Sado Island for an extra adventure.