Getting to Tokamachi Access from the Airport NIIGATA- By Train (JR Tokamachi Station) TOKAMACHI Approx.30 minutes Haneda Airport JR Tokyo Joetsu Shinkansen Station Approx. 80 minutes JR Approx.70 minutes Hokuhokusen Tokamachi Narita Airport Echigo-Yuzawa Approx. 40 minutes Station Station Bus or Taxi Joetsu Shinkansen Niigata Airport JR Niigata Approx. 30 minutes Station Approx. 50 minutes By Car Shutoko Expressway - Kan-Etsu Expressway Haneda Airport Approx. 3 hours R253 Muikamachi I.C Approx. 30 minutes Shutoko Expressway - Kan-Etsu Expressway Tokamachi Narita Airport Approx. 3.5 hours City Niigata Kan-Etsu Expressway Echigo- R117 Niigata Airport Approx. 20 minutes Airport I.C. Approx. 1 hour Kawaguchi I.C. Approx. 40 minutes Tourist Guidebook Bus Echigo Kotsu TEL 025-757-2103 NIIGATA- Niigata Airport Tokei Bus TEL 025-599-2312 TOKAMACHI Niigata Airport I.C Taxi Niigata Snow Tokamachi Taxi TEL 025-752-3184 Hokuriku Expressway Jikkou Taxi TEL 025-752-3146 Akashi Taxi TEL 025-757-3360 Nagaoka JCT Nagaoka Showa Transport TEL 025-768-2237 Kashiwazaki Echigo-Kawaguchi I.C Tobu Taxi TEL 025-597-2254 ounTOKAMACHtryI Shinetsu R117 honsen Kashiwazaki I.C Koide I.C Naoetsu C Hokuhokusen Rental Cars Matsudai Tokamachi Miyuki Rental Cars TEL 025-757-0008 Joetsu I.C Prefectural R253 Road Muikamachi I.C Toyota Rental Cars TEL 025-752-6100 Joetsu JCT Iyamasen Shiozawa Ishiuchi I.C ※Taxi and car rental are great ways to get around Tokamachi City. ⬅Kanazawa Echigo Tokimeki Joetsu Myoko Yuzawa I.C Tetsudo R117 Echigo- Yuzawa Tourist Information ⬅Osaka Tokamachi Tourist Information Joetsu Kan-Etsu Joshinetsu Hokuriku Shinkansen Expressway TEL 025-750-1277 Expressway Shinkansen Nagano Matsudai and Matsunoyama Onsen ⬅ Tourist Information TEL 025-597-3442 Ueno Michi no Eki ‘Cross 10’ Tokyo Narita Airport TEL 025-757-2323 Haneda Airport Tokamachi Tourism Information center TEL 025-757-3345 Country Code（JAPAN）, +81 For tourism Tokamachi City Tourist Association（9:00-17:00） inquiries,contact: 「Tokamachi Tourist Information」 251-17 Asahi-Cho Tokamachi, Niigata, 948-0079 TEL 025-757-3345 FAX 025-757-5150 Tokamachi-Tourism Search http://www.tokamachi-tourism.jp/ *The information in this brochure is current as of 3/31/2016. There may be changes, so please confirm before visiting. ●Publisher : Tokamachi City ■ Snow Country □ The Four Seasons of □ Echigo-Tsumari Art Field □ Experiences in □ Local Cuisine in □ Festivals and Events in □ Onsen and Accommodation in TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI 400 300 200 100 0 （㎝）1984 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2014 Matsunoyama Onsen Village Tokamachi Snow Festival A kamakura（ Snow Hut） Record Maximum Snow Depth by Year（ 1984 to 2014） Setoguchi Snowscape Shibatoge Onsen Tokamachi Kimono Queen Snow Fireworks Sledding Tsumari Pork（Shabu Shabu） Snow Walls on a Road A Snow Plough As a natural means of relaxation and stress relief, bathing in an onsen has long First held in 1950, the Tokamachi Snow Festival is a spectacular celebration In the Snow Country, there are many traditional pastimes that take full A crucial part of life and culture in Tokamachi has always been how we cope been treasured as an important part of Japanese culture. These natural hot which brings colour to the long and cold Snow Country winter. It’s the largest advantage of the regions heavy snowfall. Kamakura “snow huts” are built by with the winter’s heavy snowfall. In the past, we had no machines or springs are found throughout Tokamachi, and each one has a different winter event along the Sea of Japan coast, and features a fantasy-like show piling up snow into a dome shape, and then hollowing out the inside to make mechanical tools to clear the snow from our roads and roofs, so people combination of minerals providing different health benefits. With open-air with live music from popular artists, a kimono fashion show, and lights and a space for people to gather together, chat and enjoy meals. Perhaps the laboured using only show shoes and basic wooden tools. Since then, we have baths perched high in the mountains, and baths blanketed in deep white snow, fireworks – all unfolding upon a gigantic stage built from snow. perfect place to enjoy some of Tokamachi’s local cuisine, such as Tsumari developed the technology to efficiently clear the snow, protecting the city’s Tokamachi’s onsen offer a therapeutic and uniquely Japanese experience. Pork? Other much loved pastimes include sledding, snow stacking, and transport system throughout the winter. creating snow sculptures. Snow Country NIIGATA JAPAN Tokamachi is located in the southern region of Niigata Prefecture, roughly 2 hours by train and 3 hours by car from Tokyo. During the winter, the snow which falls throughout the region can accumulate to heights of between 2 and 3 meters. On a clear winter’s day, the snowy landscape has a serene beauty which soothes the human spirit. When the snow melts, crystal-clear water filters through the mountains and forests, helping to grow delicious vegetables, plants and rice. Snow Country In living together with the snow, Tokamachi has nurtured a culture, T KAMACHI industry and custom unique to the Snow Country region. Hoshitoge no Tanada Snowscape The Hoshitoge terraced rice fields are particularly famous within Japan. As the four seasons transition with the flow of time, so too does the scenery of Hoshitoge change – creating a very mystical and spiritual atmosphere. The winter snowscape is especially wonderful, but be sure to check weather and accessibility information before visiting to avoid disappointment. 2 3 □ Snow Country ■ The Four Seasons of □ Echigo-Tsumari Art Field □ Experiences in □ Local Cuisine in □ Festivals and Events in □ Onsen and Accommodation in TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI Snow Country NIIGATA JAPAN e FouT rKAM SeACHasoI ns of Autumn is a season of colour and harvest, savoured through the eye and the tongue. In Tokamachi’s satoyama rice paddies, grains of rice ripen bountifully. Autumn Their golden colour is the sign of a delicious harvest. Susuki grass glitters silver and gold on the mountains. Tokamachi welcomes a both beautiful and delicious autumn. Plants begin to sprout om the earth in unison, nally awakened om a long winter’s sleep. Spring As the snow melts, swelling the rice fields, flowers bloom, the wind ruffles new leaves as insects being to stir; far and wide the breath of spring breezes gently. This is the call of spring which Snow Country Tokamachi has long awaited. e winter is a story woven with snow, bearing the warmth of the people. The fall colours fade, and so begin the preparations for the winter. Winter The snowscape stretches to the horizon on a clear winter’s morning; beautiful enough to take your breath away. Amid our struggles throughout the winter, our hearts learn to love and enjoy the snow. Blue skies, white clouds and green mountains: the coming of the season of the sun. In the summer, Tokamachi becomes an outdoor kingdom. Japan’s longest river, the Shinano River, and its banks abundant in greenery, Summer frame the stage for white water rafting, canoeing, trekking, cycling and camping. A summer medley of outdoor activities and experiences. 4 5 □ Snow Country □ The Four Seasons of ■ Echigo-Tsumari Art Field □ Experiences in □ Local Cuisine in □ Festivals and Events in □ Onsen and Accommodation in TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI For Lots of Lost Windows Rolling Cylinder, 2012 Akiko Utsumi (Japan) Carsten Höller (Belgium/Sweden) Kikyogahara-Uruoi Park (1463-1 Kikyogahara-ki, Tokamachi, Niigata) Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of (Photo by Tsutomu Yamada) Contemporary Art, KINARE (6 Hon-cho, Tokamachi, Niigata) (Photo by Tsutomu Yamada) Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science, Kyororo Takaharu Tezuka + Yui Tezuka (Japan) 1712-2 Matsuguchi, Matsunoyama, Tokamachi, Niigata (Photo by Tsutomu Yamada) Shedding House Junichi Kurakake & volunteers from the Nihon Kiss & Goodbye University College of Art Sculpture course (Japan) Jimmy Liao (Taiwan) 776 Toge, Tokamachi, Niigata (Hoshitoge) Echigo Mizusawa St.（Baba-ko, Tokamachi, Niigata） (Photo by Tsutomu Yamada) (Photo by Gentaro Ishizuka) Echigo-Tsumari Reverse City T KAMACHI Pascale Marthine Tayou (Cameroon/Belgium) Matsudai NOHBUTAI Area (3743-1 Matsudai, Tokamachi, Niigata) (Photo by Takenori Miyamoto + Hiromi Seno) The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is a contemporary art festival that Art Field restructure happens once every three years in Tokamachi and neighbouring Tsunan Harumi Yukutake (Japan) Town. With over 350 artworks and events dotted throughout the whole 3428 Babaoi, Tokamachi, Niigata (Photo by H. Kuratani) region – also known as the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field – this event is one of the world’s largest outdoor art festivals. The projects created by both Japanese and international artists are expressions of the values of rural life shown through the medium of contemporary art. A number of artworks are can be viewed all year round, even outside of the festival season. The artworks and facilities introduced here are permanent instalments. (There are artworks that cannot be viewed during the winter season or maintenance periods. Please check before visiting). Snow Country NIIGATA JAPAN Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Museum of Contemporary Art, KINARE House of Light Tsumari in Bloom Hachi & Seizo Tashima Museum of Picture Book Art Hiroshi Hara+Atelierφ(Japan) James Turrell (USA) Yayoi Kusama (Japan) Seizo Tashima (Japan) 6 Hon-cho, Tokamachi, Niigata 2891 Ueno-Ko, Tokamachi, Niigata Matsudai NOHBUTAI Area (3743-1 Matsudai, Tokamachi, Niigata) 2310-1 Sanada-ko, Tokamachi, Niigata (Photo by Osamu Nakamura) (Photo by Tsutomu Yamada) (Photo by Tsutomu Yamada) (Photo by Takenori Miyamoto + Hiromi Seno) 6 7 □ Snow Country □ The Four Seasons of □ Echigo-Tsumari Art Field ■ Experiences in □ Local Cuisine in □ Festivals and Events in □ Onsen and Accommodation in TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI TOKAMACHI Tokamachi is also famous for its agriculture: it produces Experience Experience ‘koshihikari’ brand rice and many local vegetables.