Enjoying Niigata http://www.enjoyniigata.com/en/index.html

Perhaps you have heard a city called Niigata. Niigata is the largest city on the Japan Sea coast, and in Japan, Niigata is also referred to as ‘Snow Country’. Niigata is famous throughout Japan for its delicious food.

Niigata prefecture http://www.pref.niigata.jp/seisaku/kokusai/english/

http://www.niigata-ia.or.jp/english/1prof/pro-nia01.htm

Niigata Prefecture is located at the center of Honshu Island, the main island of Japan. Ranked as the fifth largest prefecture, it covers an area of 12,579 km2 (roughly equivalent to 3.3 percent of Japan's total land area) with a coastline extending to 600 km. The north-west islands of Sado and Awashima also form part of Niigata Prefecture. The Prefecture also features four major mountain ranges with peaks exceeding 2,000 m: the Echigo, Mikuni and Joshinetsu Mountain Ranges, and the Nippon Alps. Japan's longest waterway, the Shinano River, and the Agano River originate from these mountains. The Niigata Plain, which is one of the largest in Japan, and the Takada Plain comprise rich fertile soil that has made Niigata Prefecture a major food producer and supplier for Japan. Niigata is notable for having distinct seasons with temperature ranging from below zero Celsius in January to 35.70 Celsius in August. Its average annual precipitation is 1,822.2 mm. Niigata's population size is estimated at 2,489,782 people (1999), making Niigata the fourteenth most populated Prefecture in Japan. It also noteworthy to mention that Niigata lies on the same latitudinal line as San Francisco in the United States, Seoul in South Korea, and Athens in Greece.

Symbols of Niigata http://www.pref.niigata.jp/seisaku/kokusai/english/symbol/symbol.html

Niigata Museum of History http://www.nbz.or.jp/eng/index.html

The Niigata Prefectural Museum is intended as a place for visitors to learn about the anthropology, archaeology, folklore and history of Niigata prefecture.  In addition, the museum is also dedicated to the archaeology of the Jomon Period in Japan, and its study in Japanese and global context.  The museum functions as a center for the following activities: 1) research and investigation into the archaeology of the Jomon culture; 2) research and investigation into the anthropology, archaeology, and history of Niigata prefecture; 3) procurement and preservation of cultural materials from Niigata prefecture; 4) exhibitions of anthropological, archaeological and historical materials; and 5) local and international seminars and education programs.

Niigata Educational System

Niigata Prefecture has an excellent educational infrastructure encompassing both public and private institutions. There are 165 kindergartens, 645 elementary schools, 255 junior high schools, 127 high schools and 25 schools for students with special needs. Three national universities are located in Niigata: Niigata University, Nagaoka University of Technology and Joetsu University of Education. Two other institutions deserve special mention: International University of Japan (located at Yamato Town), which is an international graduate school whose mission is to educate young men and women to serve as leaders of the international community in the new millennium; and, the Niigata campus of Southern Illinois University (located at Nakajo Town), which is the first branch campus of a United States university established in Japan at the invitation of the local government.

Niigata Culture

Niigata Prefecture celebrates many local festivals. Major local events include the Sado Island Matsuri, celebrated for the whole month of April, which enables visitors to witness the classic Tsuburosashi and Okesanagashi Dance Parades and to listen to the rhythms of the Ondeko Drum. Each year on the 6th of July, the traditional two day Shinto festival, the "Murakami Shrine Matsuri" begins in Murakami City. The "Nagaoka Matsuri" starts on the night of August 1st and lasts for three days. A parade is held on the first night and the remaining two nights are celebrated with fireworks display. The "Niigata Matsuri" begins on the 7th of August and lasts until the 9th. A portable shrine called Omikoshi is carried out of the Sumiyoshi Shrine into the streets and around the entire City with group street dances reputed to be the largest in Japan. The festival concludes with a magnificent two-hour fireworks display. The "Kenshin-ko Matsuri", a two-day festival starting on the 16th of August, is celebrated in honor of the great samurai hero Uesugi Kenshin (1530-1578). Tokamachi, a town famous for its kimono manufacturing industry and its heavy snowfall, celebrates "Tokamachi Snow Festival" on the second weekend of February. In addition to these local festivals, Niigata Prefecture is host to 436 cultural treasures acclaimed by the national and prefectural governments. These include the "Sasagawa Mansion and Grounds" that reflects the vast wealth of past large landowners, the five-storey pagoda at Myosenji Temple in Mano Town and the "Ashigaru-Nagaya", an old samurai bunkhouse. The Tenjuen in Niigata City is one of the first authentic Chinese gardens built in Japan.

http://www.enjoyniigata.com/en/culture_traditional/area02.html

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