I had 3 Weeks in Japan, so why did I spend 4 days in Niigata which is a relatively unpopular tourist destination while completely skipping popular cities like Hiroshima, Kobe, & Osaka? Because I had the incredible opportunity to have my friend be my own personal tour guide and stay in her home there.
Matsuhama Market
We spent the morning exploring the Matsuhama Market with it’s various fish, vegetable, meat, and fruit vendors and was so cool that I felt it deserved it’s own post. Or you can just cheat and look at the pictures above, but my feelings will be hurt. Just a little.
Matcha & Gardens at The Old Saiko Residence
In the afternoon, we headed over to The Old Saiko Residence which is a beautiful traditional old house with an absolutely picture perfect Japanese garden in the back. We took our time sipping real, freshly whisked matcha and sponge cake, chatting and enjoying the tranquility of the garden.
信吉屋元祖支那そば Ramen
Now it was time for lunch, so we headed to this famous ramen shop: 信吉屋元祖支那そば (which I believe would translate to something like Shinkichi-ya Ganzo Shina Soba). The husband and wife owner were some of the sweetest, happiest people I ever met. They didn’t speak any English, but again, I was lucky to have a translator who could convey just how oishi (delicious) their ramen was. They even gave us some pork chasu to take home with us!
On our way back to our car, we passed by a small shop selling some grilled fish skewers and stopped to buy some. He threw in some extras for me to try. I couldn’t believe how sweet and generous every single person we talked to today were. I’ve never felt so welcomed and so much gratitude.
Imayotsukasa Sake Brewery
We then headed to Imayotsukasa Sake Brewery to take our tour. While they do have an American on staff who occasionally conducts tours in English, we took a Japanese tour with one of the master brewers himself and my friend translated for me. This brewery has a long, rich family history and some of the beams of the building dated back to the original 1767 brewery. After the tour, there was of course – sake tasting!
After our sake, we stopped to get some coffee from Niigata Coffee Donya, an adorable coffee shop in a shipping container. Because I will go to the most hipster coffee shop wherever I go in the world!
Dango
Now, no trip to Niigata would be complete without having some Dango – dumplings made from rice flour (mochiko) – yes, very similar to mochi. Niigata is especially famous for its Sasa Dango which is flavored with mugwort and wrapped in bamboo leaves. I loooove the chewy consistency of mochi, so I really enjoyed our dango snacks.
After a very full day of sightseeing (& snacking) we headed back home with all the treats gathered from the market, the ramen shop, and the grilled fish vendor and enjoyed an amazing dinner of our spoils. It was absolutely perfect – literally small tastes of all the love and generosity that we had collected throughout our perfect day. I was completely overwhelmed with gratitude and joy for this very oishi meal and experience.
Want to see what else I did during my 4 days in Niigata? Read about my other days: