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.
Read about Day 1 in Niigata, Japan. Day 2 in Niigata, Japan started with breakfast & grape picking in the city of Niigata. From there we headed off for a day trip to another city in the Niigata prefecture: Murakami (1 hour North of Niigata by car or train).
Shiomiso Onsen
We started our Murakami adventure with a visit to beach-side Shiomiso Onsen where we were lucky because today the women’s onsen was this outdoor one overlooking the ocean (Japanese onsen typically have 2 different experiences and they alternate men/women so that both can experience the different ones if they return later in the day or another day).
Lunch at Sorate Komachi, Murakami
Post onsen, we grabbed a light lunch at Sorate Komachi (see on TripAdvisor) a cute little restaurant with a very friendly staff and a souvenir shop with locally made crafts – especially the lacquer that they are famous for in this region.
Sake Shops in Murakami
Did you know that the Japanese word for salmon is also “sake”? I sure didn’t, until visiting this town which is famous for it’s salted salmon (sake). Coincidentally, dried, salted sake goes great with the rice spirit sake. We visited a couple of sake shops and got to sample some. At Kikkawa which has been literally hanging & salting salmon for hundreds of years, we got to learn about the whole process.
Manju Treats
Before we got on the road back to Niigata, we stopped at a shop to pick up some wagashi (treats). These were Manju which is has a paste-like filling – traditionally of “an” or “anko” aka red bean paste, but can also be other flavors such as chestnut. But it’s different from Daifuku because instead of being wrapped in mochi (that sticky rice dough) it’s wrapped in a steam bun / spongey / cakey situation.
After our lovely day trip to Murakami, we returned back to the city of Niigata for a traditional Sukiyaki dinner which you can read more about in my post: Day 2 in Niigata, Japan