Location: Nagaoka
Top Things to do in Nagaoka
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10 Things to Do in Nagaoka That You Shouldn't Miss
Discover the best top things to do in Nagaoka, Japan including Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks, Echigo Hillside Park, Mt. Yahiko, Ao-re Nagaoka, Yamamoto Isoroku Memorial Hall, Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Nagaoka War Damage Exhibit Hall, Yukyuzan Park, Teradomari Aquarium, Kawai Tsuginosuke Memorial.
Restaurants in Nagaoka
1. Nagaoka Festival Grand Fireworks
Overall Ratings
5 based on 58 reviews
One of the three great fireworks festivals of Japan, this is the main event that heralds the finale of the Nagaoka Festival. It was selected in 2016 as No.1 fireworks events, as chosen by noted fireworks experts. A must-see is a super-massive ball of fireworks, the "star mine," which is a congeries of five different-colored fireworks launched from five angles, and select Ju-go tama balls crafted by each fireworks veteran, with crowd-pleasing designs. A total of 20,000 fireworks are launched, and attendees number close to one million. The Nagaoka Festival itself was launched in 1946 as the Nagaoka Recovery Festival, a prayer for recovery after the August 1, 1945 air raids.
2. Echigo Hillside Park
3. Mt. Yahiko
Overall Ratings
4 based on 64 reviews
Reviewed By toomanybeds - ME
Overrun with visitors, tacky shops and food places, needs an overhaul. Shrine underwhelming, park needs lots of TLC. Scenery could be nice. Visitor centre a beacon of good service.
4. Ao-re Nagaoka
Overall Ratings
4 based on 56 reviews
Reviewed By hdanieljp - Sao Paulo, SP
It's a modern event center close to the train station. Nagaoka's basketball games is played there, but you need to confirm schedule before.
There is many local stores around this city hall (like sake stores, souvenir shop) and the 2004 earthquake archive center is close too.
5. Yamamoto Isoroku Memorial Hall
Overall Ratings
4 based on 50 reviews
Reviewed By Pen_Princess - Berlin, Germany
This man is significant in US history for being the strategic planner behind the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But to know just that one fact is to miss a great deal of the story. Son of a school teacher, he actually admired Benjamin Franklin, loved the US and Americans, studied briefly at Harvard, was a military attache, traveled the world, and was a strong opponent of World War II. But when he was given his orders, he followed them and created the decisive strike that brought the US into the war. Ironically, he was killed by American fighter jets over New Guinea two years later.
While the memorial hall is physically small, the pieces are touching and deserve some time and attention. The wing and seat of the plane that killed him are there, along with family photographs and his personal memorabilia. Much of the material is in Japanese with no translation, so a Japanese reader would be a good friend to have along. A block or so nearby stands the memorial garden in his honor as well as the little house where apparently he was born and grew up, a humble wooden cottage with a few small rooms covered in tatami mats. The feel for entrance (summer 2015) is 500 yen.
6. Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art
Overall Ratings
4 based on 26 reviews
Reviewed By igirisunjin
I went to the museum when they had an exhibition of modern Japanese art mostly from the 1960s. Generally a nice museum. You can get there from the station on the number 8 bus. 800 yen entrance fee.
7. Nagaoka War Damage Exhibit Hall
Overall Ratings
4 based on 24 reviews
Reviewed By Pen_Princess - Berlin, Germany
Before I saw this exhibit, I had no idea that this quiet little city had been on the receiving end of B-29 bombers and incendiary devices. Niigata nearby had been scheduled for an A-bomb, but the Japanese surrendered before that had to happen. Nagaoka, due to its strategic location and supply lines, was one of many cities that was damaged a great deal by the Allies (the US in particular) in the summer of 1945.
The exhibit is presented on two levels. On the ground floor, street level, there are a number of artifacts from the period and recovered after the bombing. You can see a recreated bomb cellar, some clothing from the period, and a number of photographs from the the late 1930s and early 1940s. There is also a replica of the bomb and the individual pieces that fell to earth, ignited, and quickly burned the wood and paper houses to the ground - an estimated 80% of the city was destroyed. There is even a pocket watch permanently frozen and charred at the moment of impact.
On the third floor (separate elevator next door, ask the staff), there is a memorial hall with pictures of some of the victims. As always, these are poignant and moving. Like visiting similar places in Germany or Poland, a stop to this exhibit hall brings home in a direct and very personal way the actual consequences of military actions on the lives and property of civilians.
8. Yukyuzan Park
Overall Ratings
4 based on 28 reviews
9. Teradomari Aquarium
Overall Ratings
4 based on 32 reviews
Reviewed By Leejaesung - Jeju, South Korea
I really like this place. The tunnels take you through an aquarium with sharks and rays. Another highlight are the otters (make sure to come late in the day, because otters are a lot less active throughout the day). Petting baby sharks and rays is amazing, my personal highlight.
10. Kawai Tsuginosuke Memorial
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