The Snow Country Region attracts thousands of skiers and snowboarders each winter who come to enjoy the great snow in the many ski resorts around the area. There are an increasing amount of visitors who are not coming for the winter sports but to experience winter and the deep Japanese snow. Sledging and snowshoeing have been popular attractions but this area has so much more to offer in terms of culture, history, food, and traditions. There is now a new site that has compile

What does a five thousand year old intricately decorated pot have to do with life today? Surprisingly, a great deal. This, and many other things, we learned this weekend on the Jomon Era & Snow Country Culture Tour. The tour started in Niigata City where Japan’s longest river, the Shinano, flows into the Sea of Japan. It then followed the course of this river all the way through the prefecture to the very border of Nagano where the Shinano become the Chikuma River. Along the

As well as the main Snow Country Tourist Information Office, each of the seven areas of the Snow Country Tourism Zone have their own Tourist Association (contacts for each of there here). All of these are working hard to ensure that visitors get to the see the best of the region. We’ve been lucky enough to get a sneak preview of a 5-star tour that they are trying to put together to highlight the unique way of life in the Snow Country Region. It is in the planning stage at the

We were very privileged the other night to witness a Shinto ceremony at a sacred waterfall where pilgrims purify their spirits while standing under the icy waters. If that doesn’t sound cold enough, it all happens in the early hours of the morning in the middle of winter. The pilgrims set off from a local temple and walk through the snow in the dark to a mountain shrine. Perfectly quiet and with snow falling it was magical. Passing through the gate we followed a little path t

This is simply one of the most amazing places to visit. Saifukuji Temple in Uonuma can be the highlight of any trip. The inside of the small prayer hall is decorated with the intricate carvings of some famous craftsmen including Uncho Ishikawa. The structure itself lets you know that something special awaits as a protective roof covers the small thatched Kaisando prayer hall. Fierce guardians are posted either side of the main gate to the temple grounds. The detail on these c

Eirinji Temple is an old temple in Uonuma, probably most well known for its carvings by Uncho Ishikawa. He carved the transoms between the pillars here and they are absolutely splendid. Each one is multi-layered and the back of each scene goes quite a way into the wood. It must have taken amazing skill to create and the details are really intricate. One of them has a lady peering out of the shadows of a hut and is carved so deeply into the wood that she is partially in the da