"NIIGATA CITY" a Niigata Travel Page by KevinMichael

Niigata city is a relatively nice place to live. I've been living here for more than 14 years and my students often tell me that I know things like a Japanese person would. They have a habit of saying from time to time `Yokushiteru ne. As it is, in many ways, I have experienced many aspects of Japan that many Japanese haven't. For example, I've eaten a wide variety of strange things in Japan that a number my students are yet to try (live squid, horsemeat, jingus khan, etc.). In Aug of 99, my brother and I climbed to the top of Mt. Fuji and I might add, I'll never do it again. But, I did it. And that's what matters, right.

Niigata has almost everything. It has large movie theaters, lots of shopping malls, excellent restaurants (so many that I'll never be able to visit them all), wonderful people, nice places for walking, the comfort of a small town feeling where people know people but, the advantages of a city in that there is a night life.

Personally, I've participated in a variety of cultural ceremonies and I've been on a range of sports teams: baseball, indoor soccer, Judo, and more. For those interested in sports there are gyms, baseball teams to join, martial arts, skiing, hiking, biking, tennis, swimming, and badminton.

For more information on Niigata go to: External Info from enjoyniigata.com

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Foreign Population:
According to the Niigata English Journal as of January 2008,
there are 1,091 North & South Koreans, 1,556 Chinese, 141 Americans,
340 Philippines, 30 Canadians, 88 Brazilians, 961 other foreign nationals, and 2 stateless foreigner residents living in Niigata city. Frankly, I think they're way off on that count as I know quite a few of the Canadians here and I can't imagine I know most of them (as the above information would imply).

April is a good time to enjoy the cheery blossoms in bloom. At this time, the people of Niigata like to come out and sit along the riverside and drink lots of sake (Nihonshu). It`s a good time to have fun with your friends.

The Cherry Tree (Sakura)
(Sakura no hanna wa. Miwa tasu kagiri.) {Cherry flowers are everywhere you look} So goes the famous koto song written about Japan`s cherry blossoms. The cherry tree is one of Japan`s most celebrated trees.

These kind of cherry trees don`t bear the kind of cherries we can eat.
So the tree is grown purely for its ornamental value. In Niigata, the cherry trees adorn the Shinano River and many of Niigata`s temples.

Historically known as the snow country, one of Niigata's key attractions is for winter sports activities. Niigata Prefecture is known as one of the best locations in Japan for skiing and snowboarding and the like. In Niigata city, we get snow some years but, not as much as we used to.