The area surrounding Niigata City offers tourist attractions such as Iwamuro Onsen (hot springs), Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, and Yahiko Shrine, tourist events such as Niigata Festival, Niigata City Marathon, and Hana Matsuri (flower festival), and local delicacies such as Italian food and rice balls.
Niigata, which prospered as a port of call for Kitamae-ship, has now developed into the largest port town on the Sea of Japan side of Honshu. The area surrounding Niigata City is also blessed with nature, and as a result, there are many national parks such as Bandai-Asahi National Park, Oze National Park, and Joshinetsu Kogen National Park, as well as national and prefectural natural parks.
The area surrounding Niigata City is famous for Mt. Yahiko, Yahiko Shrine, the most important shrine in Echigo, and Yahiko Hot Springs, which are located in front of Yahiko Shrine, and Yahiko Village is one of the most popular tourist spots in Niigata, attracting visitors all year round.
Yahiko Shrine, the No. 1 power spot in Echigo, has long been known by the honorific title "Oyahiko-sama. Located at the foot of Mt. Yahiko, which rises in the center of the vast Echigo Plain, the shrine is dedicated to Amakazanomikoto, who brought agriculture, fishing, and salt manufacturing to the country. The Otorii gate was erected in 1982 to commemorate the opening of the Joetsu Shinkansen bullet train line, and is now considered a symbol of Yahiko.
The current shrine pavilion was rebuilt in 1916 after being destroyed by a large fire in 1902. The precincts of Yahiko Shrine are approximately 13 hectares in size, surrounded by 4,000 to 5,000 year-old zelkova cedars, and behind the main shrine is the 634-meter-high sacred mountain, Mt.
Behind the main shrine is Mt. Yahiko, a sacred mountain 634 meters above sea level. The shrine grounds include the Maiten (dance hall), Saikan (shrine hall), Ema-den (shrine hall for votive tablets), Sanshuden (hall for the worship of the gods), Kudo Tower (drum hall), Treasure House, Shrine Office and Deer Park, where more than 10 deer are kept to remind people of the past. There is also a chicken coop, where ten kinds of domestic native chickens are raised.
Yahiko Hot Spring Village has two hot springs: Yahiko Sakuigo Onsen and Yujinja Onsen, both of which are rich in hot water. (Kannonji Onsen was also a popular hot spring source, but the supply of hot spring water has now been suspended due to a drop in the spring water level caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.)
Yahiko Sakuigo Onsen is a simple sulfur hot spring with clear, colorless, soft water that is said to be effective against adult diseases. It is also effective for adult diseases, neuralgia, muscle pain, stiff shoulders, bruises, chronic digestive diseases, oversensitivity to cold, fatigue, and women's diseases.
Yujinja Hot Spring is the origin of Yahiko Hot Spring, and is effective for neuralgia, muscle pain, joint pain, frozen shoulders, bruises, chronic digestive diseases, hemorrhoids, recovery from illness, and fatigue, as well as for improving one's health.
Lake Hyouko is a registered wetland under the Ramsar Convention, and is famous throughout Japan as a swan migration site.It is an artificial lake created in 1639 as an irrigation pond, and was called "Hyouko" (gourd lake) because the shape of the pond at that time resembled a gourd. It is designate...»
This lagoon is designated as a national wildlife sanctuary (mass migratory area) where more than 220 species of migratory birds, including the greater white-fronted goose, which is a national protected species, fly in every year. The surrounding area is maintained as a park. The area is a treasure ...»