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Niigata is the capital of Niigata Prefecture and the largest city on Honshu's Sea of Japan coast, a port at the mouth of the Shinano River, famous for the Bandai Bridge, its merchant villas and Furumachi geisha, and the rice and sake of the surrounding plain. Ferries leave here for Sado Island.
Niigata grew as a river port where the Kitamae trading ships called, and its merchants grew rich on rice and shipping. It was one of five ports named for foreign trade in the treaties of 1858, and opened in 1869. A major earthquake struck in 1964, but the 1929 Bandai Bridge stood firm. Today the city is home to about 750,000 people and spreads over a wide farming plain.
Cross the Bandai Bridge into the old town, visit the Meiji customs house and assembly hall, and stroll the gardens of the Saitō villa and Hakusan Park. Watch the sunset over the sea from the Toki Messe deck. Head out to the Itō family mansion, the birds of Fukushimagata or the hot springs of Iwamuro.
Bandai Bridge carries National Route 7 across the Shinano River in central Niigata and is the symbol of the city. Its six-arch concrete span, faced with granite, opened in 1929, is 306.9 meters long and stood firm in the 1964 Niigata earthquake. It became an Important Cultural Property in 2004.
Former Niigata Customs House was built in 1869 in Chūō-ku, Niigata, after the port opened to foreign trade under the treaties of 1858. Mixing arches and red tiles with namako plaster walls and a small tower, it is an Important Cultural Property beside the Minatopia city history museum.
Niigata Prefectural Government Memorial Hall is the old prefectural assembly hall in Chūō-ku, Niigata, completed in March 1883 and used for some 50 years. Designed by the local master carpenter Hoshino Sōshirō in Western style with an octagonal tower, it is an Important Cultural Property.
Hakusan Park lies beside Hakusan Shrine in Chūō-ku, Niigata, and was one of the first 25 city parks in Japan, created under an 1873 government decree. Its 7 hectares hold a lotus pond, a plum grove and the Enkikan merchant house, and it became a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 2018.
Former Saito Family Villa was built in 1918 in Chūō-ku, Niigata, as the summer house of Saitō Kijūrō IV, a wealthy port merchant. Its stroll garden, laid out on the coastal dunes, and its fine rooms were saved by a citizens' campaign, and the garden became a Place of Scenic Beauty in 2015.
Northern Culture Museum is the mansion of the Itō family, rich landowning farmers, in Kōnan-ku, Niigata, with main buildings raised between 1882 and 1889. Opened after the war as Japan's first postwar private museum, with help from an American officer, it shows gardens, tea houses and art.
Former Ozawa Family House is the home and shop of the Ozawa family, merchants active from the late Edo period, in Chūō-ku, Niigata. A typical Niigata townhouse grown into a rich merchant's compound, with guest rooms and storehouses, it was given to the city in 2002 and recalls the Kitamae ships.
Furumachi is the old town of Niigata, a central district north of the Bandai Bridge centered on Furumachi-dōri. It is the home of the Furumachi geigi, geisha once about 400 strong and ranked with those of Kyoto's Gion and Tokyo's Shinbashi, who still perform the Ichiyama school of dance.
Toki Messe is a convention center on Bandaijima at the mouth of the Shinano River in Niigata, opened on 1 May 2003 and planned by Fumihiko Maki's firm. It is the tallest building on the Sea of Japan coast, and its 31st-floor observation deck looks over the city to Sado Island on clear days.
Niigata City Aquarium, called Marinepia Nihonkai, stands on the seashore of Chūō-ku, Niigata, in a building opened on 27 July 1990. One of the largest aquariums on Honshu's Sea of Japan coast, it keeps about 600 species and 20,000 animals and is known for its work with Humboldt penguins.
Fukushimagata is a lagoon in Kita-ku, Niigata, protected as a sanctuary for more than 220 kinds of migrating birds, among them the taiga bean goose, a Natural Monument. More than 450 kinds of plants grow here, including the rare prickly water lily, and a waterside park surrounds it.
Iwamuro Onsen is a hot spring town in Nishikan-ku, Niigata, on the old Hokkoku road, known for its salty, sulfurous black water. Legend says it was found when a wounded wild goose healed in its waters. It grew as an inn town for pilgrims to Yahiko Shrine and keeps Niigata's oldest geisha tradition.
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