We’ve spent the last couple of days on the fascinating Snow Country Culture Workshop Autumn Edition, during which time we have learned how to use rice straw to make various rope and storage, harvested daikon radishes, and made mochi in a traditional autumn festival. The tour started in Yukiguni Ryokan in Tsunan. Tsunan sits on the 37 degree parallel north latitude, which is the same as Athens, Sicily, and San Francisco. You don’t associate those places with the 3+ meters of s

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

Najomon is a marvelous museum facility in Tsunan town just off Route 117. It has masses of information about the Naeba-sanroku Geopark area, agriculture, and Jomon history. It is all about learning, and also offers some different workshops that allow you to experience some local skills and traditions, such as making sweets, weaving, and being artistic making sculptures with nuts and twigs. The museum itself has displays of earthenware discovered in the region, as well as many

Kyororo is an amazing facility in Matsunoyama. The building itself is part of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field and is a huge iron structure that is changing color as it rusts. It is home to the Echigo-Matsunoyama Museum of Natural Science that does a great job of explaining the local nature. The outside of the facility is impressive. The inside is a paradise for kids. There is so much to do and it is all very hands on. There are boxes you can put your hands into and try to figure