Spots in Murakami / Shibata Area

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Niigata
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Murakami / Shibata

Category

Roadside Station Sasagawa-nagare

Transportation

Nigata Pref. Murakamishi Kuwagawa 892-5

Roadside Station Sasagawa-nagare at the northernmost tip of Niigata Prefecture is located adjacent to Kuwagawa Station on the JR Uetsu Main Line, which is unusual for roadside stations. It is a tourist destination of the Sanpoku region, known for the sunset on the Sea of Japan (at Sasagawa-nagare). In addition to a retail corner, a restaurant, and a tourist help center. It features sunset stairway and a mini park.
Tokeien

4.0

6 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nigata Pref. Iwafunegunsekikawamura Shimoseki 906-3

Tokeien is a wooden house built in 1905 as a branch family house of Watanabe-Tei, a National Important Cultural Property. It is a two-story, Japanese hipped tiled roof house with all the style and architectural design from the Meiji period. Various furnishings and interior remain in the house such as the earthen floor, the hearth, and tea room, giving a sense of what life was like back then. Bento box meals, which can be reserved ahead of time, are popular and can be eaten while looking out across the beautiful garden. Local food events and tea ceremonies are also held here in the autumn. The nearest station is Echigo-Shimoseki Station.

関川村の豪商で大地主だった渡辺家の分家が明治時代に建てた屋敷。隣接する本家の渡辺邸より一周り小さい印象ですが、それでも立派なお屋敷です。現在では関川村が管理しているようで庭園も手入れが行き届いています。中にはカフェがあって庭園を楽しみながら蕎麦などの軽食を頂くこともできます。
Shibata Castle

Travel / Tourism

Nigata Pref. Shibatashi Otemachi 6

Shibata Castle (also known as Ayame Castle) is a designated National Important Cultural Property. The Castle is one of only a handful of surviving castles that were built using the Namako-kabe design (characteristic of castles in Northern Japan) whereby the joints between the stone blocks that form the walls are made as neat as possible by cutting the blocks precisely to shape using the Kirikomihagi technique, for improved aesthetic effect. The three-tiered Yagura tower, which was built instead of a conventional Tenshu-kaku (central tower), was a distinctive building decorated with three Shachihoko (legendary sea-creatures) on the roof; this tower was reconstructed in 2004 and is well worth seeing.
Koji Fukiya Memorial Museum of Art

3.5

6 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Nigata Pref. Shibatashi Chuouchou 4-11-7

This museum of art is a 15-minute walk from Shibata Station on the JR Hakushin and Uetsu Main Lines. This museum tells the story of Koji Fukiya, an artist and song writer in the Taisho period, whose modern style dominated the art world. He later became well-known as an animation director. The building is of modern construction, reminiscent of the Russian Orthodox Church, designed by Shozo Uchii, who also worked on the Setagaya Art Museum. The museum holds around 800 original works, autographed manuscripts and personal items, allowing visitors to walk through the life and works of Koji Fukiya.

市民文化会館の一画。駐車場は市役所第３駐車場。駐車券は受付で刻印後３０分以内退出無料。日曜昼下がり訪問。入館料５００円のところJAF会員優待施設につき４００円。「花嫁人形」で知られる郷土出身の作家所縁の展示館。花嫁人形のポスターをルーペに翳して見ると、確かに花嫁の左目の下に涙が浮かび上がります。正しく１リッターの涙。お一人様お局様には思わず絶句、感動の涙となること間違いナシ。
Salmon Park

3.5

4 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Murakami-shi Shiomachi 13-34

A park adjoining the Tanegawa River, a tributary of the Miomote River. Trees and flowers, an arbor, and a playground are arrayed around the park’s central grass lawn. Inside the park, visitors can see rainbow trout swimming in an artificial river. Visitors can also enjoy seasonal scenery, including cherry blossoms in spring and fireflies in summer. A statue in the park depicts Aoto Buheiji, a retainer of Murakami Domain in the Edo period who invented the Tanegawa system, the first system in the world to successfully naturally breed salmon. The adjoining Iyoboya Kaikan museum provides information on Murakami salmon, which records state were even officially gifted to the nobility in distant Kyoto long ago during the Heian period.

村上駅からバスを利用して中心地に行き、そこから歩いてイヨボヤ会館の隣にある公園です。近くには三面川が流れています。公園内には鮭のイラストされた場所などもあり、公園に流れる水は綺麗でした○
Shio no Yu Onsen Fureai Kan

4.5

3 Reviews

Accommodations / Hot Spring

Niigata Tainai Muramatsuhama 840-8

The famous Shio no Yu Onsen water, which pumps forth in huge quantities and is believed to be even more healthful for its salt content, is uses in two hot spring facilities here: Fureaikan and Sunset Nakajo. The salt-rich chloride springs are believed to be effective in treating cuts, burns, and chronic women’s diseases, and you can visit either facility you wish to partake in the baths. The large public baths can accommodate 30 people at once, so there's plenty of space. The wide windows offer a beautiful view of the sun setting over the Sea of Japan. You can refresh body and soul at the connected Sunset Nakajo hot spring facility.

温泉で350円はお安い。温泉は厚いが塩分濃度が高く、湯上りも全然湯冷めしません。風呂上りも汗だらだらでした。駐車場も広くて便利。
Gatsugi Yurihana Hot Spring

3.5

3 Reviews

Accommodations / Hot Spring

Nigata Pref. Murakamishi Gatsugi 862

This municipal bathhouse is located at the intersection of National Route 7 and National Route 345. Its reasonable pricing is one of its characteristics, and children not yet in elementary school can enter for free, making it suitable for the whole family to go together. The school building was closed in 1996, and then later renovated. It has large bathing rooms and outdoor baths. Because there are meeting rooms and accommodation facilities, this facility also functions as a place for the locals to mingle. It is a sodium calcium sulfate spring, and its weak alkaline properties are good for softening the skin.

新潟県と山形県の県境に近いかなり上の方にある温泉施設です。入浴料が350円とお安くなっているので利用しやすいです。しかも露天風呂までついているのでゆったりと入ることができます。お湯の温度も露天は42.5度、内湯は43度とちょうど入りやすい温度で設定してくれていました。
Iwafune Minato Fresh Fish Center

Shopping

Niigata Murakami-shi Senami Onsen 3-6-38
Roadside Station Kamihayashi

Transportation

Nigata Pref. Murakamishi Kokonokaichi 809

This roadside station is also known by the name of Honami no Sato. It is located on National Route 7, east of the Kamihayashi and Iwafune-ko Interchange on the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway. The countryside landscape is peaceful as far as the eye can see, with the Echigo mountains standing far to the east. It is also convenient as a base for sightseeing, with its proximity to sightseeing spots like seawater baths and the Omakuba Park lake, where swans can be seen flying in the winter. There is also a shop called Toretate Yasaiichi Kamihayashi here, where visitors can buy locally harvested vegetables and special products, such as Nihonshu, made from Iwafune rice, and locally-made miso.
Sasagawa Nagare

Travel / Tourism

Nigata Pref. Murakamishi Hamashimbo - Samukawa

The Sasagawa Nagare coast, which takes its name from Sasagawa village, is an 11-kilometer stretch of beautiful coastline that features clear blue seas and white sandy beaches. Visitors can enjoy a wide range of scenery, including reefs and caves featuring unusual rock formations created by erosion from the battering that they receive from the powerful waves of the Sea of Japan. The Sasagawa Nagare coast was designated a National Site of Scenic Beauty and a Special Natural Monument in 1927. The coast is about five-minute walk from either JR Kuwagawa Station, JR Imagawa Station or JR Echigo-Kanagawa Station.
Sennenzake Kikkawa

4.5

67 Reviews

Shopping

Nigata Pref. Murakamishi Omachi 1-20

Sennenzake Kikkawa is a long established store which sells salmon products located in Murakami City, Niigata Prefecture, famous for its salmon. Over 100 kinds of recipes involving salmon remain to this day. The store was founded in 1626 as a wholesaler of rice, but after handling fermented food products such as miso, soy sauce, and sake, the shop turned its attention to the production and selling of salmon products. There is a countless number of salmon hanging from the rafters in the extremely historical shop building with salmon and salmon roe products, produced without any additives, displayed within. Their most popular product is the salted salmon, cured for about one month.

今年の3月も、おひな様を見に来ました。ぶら下がっている新巻き鮭も圧巻です。江戸時代からのおひな様も惜しげなく展示されています。日本酒を一本買いました。
House of Insect, Tainai City

4.0

1 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Niigata Tainai Natsui 1204-1

A museum dedicated to looking, learning, and having fun. The museum is filled with insect specimens from around the world and informational panels, videos, and games which make it easy to understand the ecology of insects. Fun for adults and children alike, the museum holds a variety of events such as bug watching classes using microscopes, insect sample making, and watching as butterflies emerge from pupae. There museum’s areas where visitors can hold native Japanese rhinoceros beetlesand stag beetles, and feed swallowtail butterflies, are also popular.

北陸エリアでは、かなり珍しい昆虫に特化したミュージアムです。一般展示室では、新潟県内で生息する虫や、国内で見られる昆虫の数々を展示しています。家族づれの方々が、多いです。
Tainai Ski & Snowboard Area

Leisure / Hobbies

Nigata Pref. Tainaishi Atsutazaka 881-166

"This ski resort is located along Prefectural Route 53, in Atsutazaka, Tainai City. In addition to the beginners' area that has an 81-meter-long slope named ""Snow Escalator"" and its sled play area, there are also a variety of courses for intermediate and advanced skiers. It has a number of lodges, and, as well as providing set meals and noodle dishes, it also has famous deep-fried rice flour bread for sale on weekends and national holidays. The surrounding area is maintained with a hotel and mountain huts."
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.
Bicycle Rentals (Awashima Island)

Transportation

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

On Awashima Island, where there are no rental cars or taxis, rental cycles are a welcome means of transportation. Bikes can be rented from the tourist information center standing in front of the Awashima Kisen dock. The circumference of the island is around 23 kilometers. Taking around three hours to ride completely around the island, during the ride you can take in the vast natural beauty of Awashima, including sparkling blue ocean and green-covered hills. Some parts of the road consist of steep hills and there are no vending machines along the way, so it’s a good idea to bring along a little food and drink. Note that bikes cannot be reserved and are rented out on a first come, first serve basis.
Arakawa Gorge

Travel / Tourism

Niigata Iwafune-gun Sekikawamura Yusawa

This gorge lies along the Arakawa River in Bandai-Asahi National Park. It is the best spot in the prefecture for seeing autumn leaves, and it features other attractions, such as popular driving routes and Echigo-Sekikawa Hot Spring Village. It is considered one of the 100 Scenic Spots in Niigata Prefecture, and Takanosu Suspension Bridge, considered one of the 50 selected bridges of Niigata Prefecture, is considered the foremost viewing spot on the river. The autumn leaf season, from late October to early November, is a great favorite of visitors, giving them a view of brocade-like beauty. On National Route 113, the so-called Arakawa Narrows Autumn Leaf Line, drivers can see the natural “art” of the trees, as befits the name of the road.
Echigoshimoseki Yanagi To Seseragi-tori Street

Travel / Tourism

Niigata Iwafune-gun Sekikawamura Shimoseki

A picturesque townscape sprawling along the old Yonezawa Highway in front of the Sekikawa Village Hall. The area is still deeply colored by the history of Sekikawa, an area which once flourished because of the transport of goods on the Arakawa River. The particularly eye-catching house visible from in front of the village hall is the Residence of Watanabe Family, a designated Important Cultural Property. The former home of a wealthy merchant family which built its fortune through loans to feudal lords and land reclamation, it is said that at its peak the family owned 700 hectares of rice paddies and harvested 900 bales of rice. The area is dotted with precious examples of Edo period upper class farming family residences such as the adjoining homes of the Sato and Tsuno families.
Mt.Omine Tochidaira CherryForest

Travel / Tourism

Niigata Shibata-shi Kaiya 393

Mt. Omine is a 399 meter high peak in the Kushigata mountain range, the smallest range in Japan. It's a famous spot for hill cherry blossoms, and in 1934 the Tochidaira Sakura Jurin cherry forest was designated a National Natural Monument. There are over 40 varieties of cherry tree here, including North Japanese hill cherry, Kasumi-zakura cherry, and Okuchoji cherry, which can be differentiated as they spread up from midmountain to the peak. Some trees are naturally produced hybrids, and in spring they paint the mountain surface in a snowy blanket of petals. There is a well maintained trail up to the observation deck, and it's a popular hiking course from early spring into autumn.
Toyosaka Wakuwaku Farm Tsukioka Store

Shopping

Niigata Shibata-shi Tsukioka 408

A farmer’s market adjoining Tsukioka Wakuwaku Farm, a local production for local consumption and food education theme park. The market sells fresh vegetables and safe, healthy fruit picked locally in Niigata. All of the market’s products bear the names of the people that produced them, and customers appreciate the peace of mind and sense of security this provides when purchasing the market’s produce. The market also sells local liquors and confections from Niigata, and many people come here to buy gifts and souvenirs. Inside, visitors can also buy gelato made from fresh milk, a perfect snack to enjoy while taking a post-shopping break. Japan’s longest wooden swing set stands in the theme park’s main plaza. The 53-meter-long wooden swing set can be used by up to 50 people at once.
Yukido Chuo-dori Shop

Gourmet / Alcohol

Niigata Shibata-shi Tsukioka Onsen 231

This shop makes select Japanese and Western-style confections and is located in Tsukioka Onsen, a hot spring district which was established in 1915. The Chuo-dori location makes and sells Western-style sweets. Particularly popular are the Lemon Bijin; these vaunted confectionary masterpieces consist of two types of lemon chocolate covered with a thick, moist cake outer coating. The treat is a revised version of the shop’s lemon cake, a favorite from long ago, now reappearing as a seasonal item. The cake contains lemon peel, and a refreshing lemony fragrance fills the air the moment you peel back the wrapper. Sold in the middle of Japan’s sultry summer, customers are encouraged to cool the confection before enjoying it.

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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.