The First Major Urban City of Japan Sea

The Shinanogawa-River system runs through Niigata, Gunma and Nagano Prefectures. In Niigata, the name of the river is Shinanogawa-River, but moving upstream to Nagano Prefecture, the name changes to Chikumagawa-River. With a basin of 11,900㎢, it is the third largest river in Japan.

Niigata City is located at the mouth of Shinanogawa-River.

And in the 1600s the city was a prosperous commercial shipping relay. In the latter part of the 1800s, when Japan opened her doors to the world, Niigata became one of the five largest ports in Japan. Formerly, Niigata Port was known as a major shipping center, servicing the Japan Sea, transporting, and reshipping goods to the outer northern parts of the country. On the one hand, commodities were transported inland by means of Shinanogawa-River. Afterwards merchandise would be shipped to Niigata Port to be preserved in storage rooms made from snow brought from Nagaoka.

On April 1st 2007 the City of Niigata was granted special rights by government ordinance*(SEIREISHITEITOSHI).

Niigata, standing at the mouth of Shinanogawa-River, opens its doors to Asia and Russia by means of land, sea and air.

*SEIREISHITEITOSHI = a city of 500,000 or more granted special rights by government ordinance