#tokamachi

[takeuchiitsuka]

#9667 Copyright © Takeuchi Itsuka. All Rights Reserved.

[disease]

"A WOMAN IN A STRAW RAINCOAT" // 1956 HIROSHI HAMAYA 濱谷 浩 | TOKAMACHI, NIIGATA [gelatin silver print | 30 x 20 cm.]

[hildeeveraert]

Kiichi Asano, Tokamachi, 1957

[msp-j]

十日町市（旧川西町），信濃川左岸の河岸段丘より　越後山地　Echigo Range from the post-harvest rice paddies on the river terrace of the Shinano-gawa River.

[charlieinjapan]

Last weekend I went birdwatching for the first time in Matsunoyama, about an hour from #joetsu in the city of #tokamachi. Cold rain was unexpected but our group of nine didn’t let it bother us. More than bird 🦅 watching, it was bird *listening* as many species were heard and not seen. These birders can hear a fragment of a chirp and tell you exactly what creature made it. Where I see a grey blob darting across the sky, they say, “red headed finch!” Great to see the beginnings is spring when it is further along down where we live. The sprouts you see next to the snow are called “Fuki-no-toh” and is a tempura treat...#joetsu #visitjoetsu #springvegetables #tokamachi #matsunoyama #springinjapan #birds #birdwatching (at 十日町市立里山科学館 越後松之山「森の学校」キョロロ) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw9hAHuDCmX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1cbs1vjqrqdp

[happy-geology]

リチャード・ディーコン作「マウンテン」の遠望 大地の芸術祭・越後妻有トリエンナーレ2006の出展作 十日町市

A distant view of Mountain (center), an outdoor-installed sculpture by Richard Deacon CBE, born 1949. An invited work to the 3rd Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2006. Tokamachi city, Niigata, Japan.

[perikali]

ATG Kindergarten and Nursery / HIBINOSEKKEI + Youji no Shiro + Kids Design Labo

Completed in 2021 in Tokamachi, Japan. Tokamachi is an area of severe wilderness where cold air from the land and warm currents from the Sea

A lovely kindergarten located in Tokamachi, Japan.

[redheadinjapan]

Camping at Outlands *Activity Archive*

At the beginning of October, I took my first trip out of Niigata. Well, out of Niigata city since we were still in Niigata prefecture. As a welcome party to the new ALTS, a group of us went camping at Outlands, a campsite further south in Niigata prefecture. The camp was built by hand and is very nice. Plus, there were tons of new people to meet and things to do.

Outlands is a campground in Tokamachi that was built almost entirely by one man. He’s spent more than 15 years working on the campsite to make it what it is today. There are wooden cabins, with electricity, and flat areas for tents. For our trip, renting a cabin spot was 1000 yen per person while renting a tent was 2500 yen for three people. You can also bring your own equipment, but if you do choose to rent, they will set the tent up for you. They also have sleeping bags and mats you can rent for 500 yen, but the pads aren’t much and the sleeping bags are pretty light. They’re probably okay for the summer but not quite enough for the beginning of October, especially once night fell. I definitely wish I had brought a blanket with me. They don’t have pillows though, so make sure to bring one. They do have bathrooms and wifi, as well as showers, but the showers cost a couple hundred yen to use and since we were only there one night, it was easier to shower before we left.

Outlands is in Tokamachi, a smaller city in the southern part of Niigata Prefecture. Depending on where you start and what transportation you use, the trip can be as long as a couple hours. I caught a ride with some friends, and from Niigata city, it was a little less than a two-hour drive (though we had a little trouble getting on the highway). There is a train station, Gejo Station, that’s about a 20-minute walk from the campsite. The train ride from Niigata city is definitely closer to two hours or more, but you have to be careful because the trains you need to catch don’t come very frequently, and depending on which ones you take, you can easily rack up a bill of 5,000 yen each way.

While there aren’t many things to do while camping at Outlands, we found plenty to keep us interested. The Niigata AJET council (a group that plans these events for JETs) had a bunch of activities for us. One thing they set up was a scavenger hunt with clues to different places around the campsite. One of the clues sent us to a little shrine down a path with a “birthing room” that I assure you is probably creepier inside than you’re thinking. There was also a tie-dye station if you brought a white shirt. After a dinner of burgers and potatoes grilled by AJET (we could pay 1000 yen for a food ticket, or bring our own), there was a big trivia game with some truly tricky questions, and before the night came to a close there was karaoke in one of the buildings as well.

The following day started with early morning yoga, which I chose to miss in favor of getting some extra sleep since I’d had a fitful sleep due to the temperature. We did have to be out by 10 am though, so eventually, I had to get up. Even though we had to pay for a special ticket for dinner, they gave out onigiri for breakfast for free. As long as we left before 10am, we could leave whenever we were packed and ready, back to our lives in our own separate parts of the prefecture.

Camping at Outlands was a great experience, and it was a great way to meet people from all over Niigata prefecture (I even met someone I studied abroad with). I also heard the campsite was also near a nice onsen and some other touristy spots that some people visited afterward, but I didn’t get the chance to go this time. Maybe next time I’ll see what else is in the area.