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Niigata (新潟市; -shi) is the capital city of Niigata
Prefecture in the Chubu region of
Japan. It
became a free port following the Meiji Restoration, and today is the
largest city along the Sea of Japan coast.
As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 776,365 and the
density of 2,282.46 persons per km². The total area is 649.95 km².
The city was founded on April 1, 1889.
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Niigata Northern Culture Museum
Picture: A reconstructed house of a peasant rice farmer in the
grounds of the Northern Culture Museum, Niigata. Foregrounds shows a
rice paddy with rice plants a few weeks old. Picture by
Andrew Dunn
Getting to Niigata
By train
Niigata is the terminus of the Joetsu
Shinkansen line to
Tokyo. The fastest trains take just over 2
hours and cost ¥10,270 one-way. The
Shinkansen is also a fast and
cost-effective way to access Niigata from Osaka,
Kyoto, and Kobe (5
hours and about ¥22,000 each way, with a change of trains in
Tokyo).
A cheaper way to reach Niigata from Tokyo is to
take the Moonlight Echigo from Shinjuku, which makes a 6-hour run
leaving Tokyo at night and arriving in Niigata very early in the
morning. The train costs ¥5,910 each way, but is more popular during
Seishun 18 Ticket seasons when the price can be as low as ¥2,000.
The Hokuetsu limited express runs from Toyama and
Kanazawa five times a day (3.5 hours,
¥8,280 one way from Kanazawa).
Trains to and from the north are fewer and farther between. The most
convenient service is the Inaho limited express to Akita, which runs
three times a day (4 hours, ¥7,020 one way). Local trains also run up
and down the Japan Sea coast, but only run every two hours or so
toward the northern part of the prefecture.
By plane
Niigata Airport handles international flights from the Russian Far
East (Vladivostok twice weekly on Vladivostok Air; Khabarovsk twice
weekly; Irkutsk once weekly), Korea (Seoul daily on Korean Air), China
(Shanghai and Xian three times weekly on China Eastern, Harbin four
times weekly on China Northern), and Guam (twice weekly on
Continental). There are also frequent domestic flights from
Osaka (¥25,100 one way),
Sapporo (¥28,700 one way), Fukuoka
(¥31,700 one way), and other cities.
By bus
Niigata Transit (http://www.niigata-kotsu.co.jp/kengaikousoku/) runs
highway buses to Ikebukuro Station in Tokyo (5.5 hours, ¥5,250 one
way), Nagoya (7.5 hours, ¥7,800 one way), and overnight to Osaka and
Kyoto (8 hours, ¥8,450 each way), as well as to a number of other
cities.
By boat
Sado Kisen (http://www.sadokisen.co.jp/) operates frequent services to
Ryotsu on Sado Island. Rapid ferries cost ¥5,960 and cover the
distance in one hour, while larger car ferries cost just ¥2,060 but
take 2.5 hours.
Ferries to Vladivostok appear to be discontinued until further notice,
but as of 2005 there are still regular services from Toyama.
(Article
based on
Wikitravel article
by Wikitravel users Sekicho. Based on work by Paul N. Richter and
Wikitravel user(s) Jpatokal. Based on work by Anonymous user(s) of
Wikitravel. Article used under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.)
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