Nagaoka

長岡市ながおかしNagaoka-shi

Castle town of fireworks and resilience on the Shinano

Nagaoka is the second-largest city of Niigata Prefecture, a former castle town on the Shinano River in the Chūetsu area. It is famous for its fireworks festival on 2 and 3 August, one of the three greatest in Japan, and for a history marked by the Boshin War, the 1945 air raid and the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake.

Overview

Nagaoka lies in the middle of Niigata Prefecture where the Shinano River leaves the hills and enters the Echigo Plain. It was the seat of the Makino clan's Nagaoka domain for more than two and a half centuries and remains the commercial and industrial centre of the Chūetsu area, with machinery and precision-engineering firms and a technical university.

The city's identity is bound up with recovery from disaster. Nagaoka was burned in the Boshin War of 1868, largely destroyed by an American air raid on 1 August 1945, and badly damaged by the Chūetsu earthquake of 2004. Its fireworks festival, held on 2 and 3 August over the Shinano, commemorates the war dead and the victims of the air raid and has become a symbol of that resilience.

Mergers since 2005 have extended the city from the Sea of Japan coast at Teradomari to the mountain village of Yamakoshi, birthplace of ornamental koi, and to rural sake-brewing districts such as Koshiji.

Landmarks

Yamamoto Isoroku Memorial Museum
山本五十六記念館Yamamoto Isoroku Kinenkan
Museum on the life of the admiral, born in Nagaoka, near his birthplace.
Kawai Tsugunosuke Memorial Museum
河井継之助記念館Kawai Tsugunosuke Kinenkan
On the site of Kawai's house, telling the story of Nagaoka in the Boshin War.
Aore Nagaoka
アオーレ長岡Aōre Nagaoka
City hall, arena and covered public square by Kuma Kengo, clad in local cedar.
Yūkyūzan Park
悠久山公園Yūkyūzan Kōen
Hill park with the Makino family shrine and thousands of cherry trees.
Echigo Hillside Park
国営越後丘陵公園Kokuei Echigo Kyūryō Kōen
National government park in the hills, known for its rose garden.
Teradomari fish market street
寺泊魚の市場通りTeradomari sakana no ichiba-dōri
Row of fish shops and grills on the Sea of Japan coast.

Districts

Central Nagaoka
長岡駅周辺Nagaoka-eki shūhen
Post-war grid around the station, which stands on the site of the castle.
Yamakoshi
山古志Yamakoshi
Mountain district of terraced paddies and koi ponds, and of bull-sumo (ushi no tsunotsuki).
Settaya and Koshiji
摂田屋Settaya
Brewing districts: Settaya has old sake, miso and soy-sauce breweries; Koshiji is home to large sake makers.
Teradomari
寺泊Teradomari
Old port on the Sea of Japan coast, once a crossing point to Sado.
Tochio
栃尾Tochio
Hill town known for its large deep-fried tofu, aburage.

History

The Makino family took over Nagaoka in 1618 and ruled it until the Meiji Restoration. In the Boshin War the domain's minister Kawai Tsugunosuke sought armed neutrality, but fighting with the new government's army in 1868 destroyed the castle town. In 1870 the impoverished domain famously used a gift of a hundred bales of rice to found a school rather than distribute it as food, an episode known as Kome Hyappyō that became a byword for investing in education.

Nagaoka later grew as an industrial town, helped by the Higashiyama oil field. After the 1945 air raid it was rebuilt on a new grid. The Chūetsu earthquake of 23 October 2004 cut off Yamakoshi, whose population was evacuated by helicopter.

1618
Makino Tadanari becomes lord of Nagaoka and builds the castle town.
1868
Boshin War: Nagaoka falls after fierce fighting; Kawai Tsugunosuke is mortally wounded.
1870
The Kome Hyappyō episode: gift rice is sold to fund the Kokkan school.
1906
Nagaoka is incorporated as a city.
1945
An air raid on 1 August destroys most of the city centre.
1982
The Jōetsu Shinkansen opens with a stop at Nagaoka.
2004
The Chūetsu earthquake strikes; Yamakoshi is evacuated.
2005
Mergers with Yamakoshi, Tochio and other towns begin, extending the city to the coast.
2012
The Aore Nagaoka civic centre, designed by Kuma Kengo, opens by the station.

Culture

Nagaoka's civic culture draws on the Kome Hyappyō story and the idea of rebuilding through education. The fireworks are its great public event: large shells, the Phoenix display dedicated to recovery from the earthquake, and the white Shiragiku shells in memory of the war dead. In Yamakoshi, bull-sumo matches (ushi no tsunotsuki), an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, are held from spring to autumn, and the district is regarded as a birthplace of nishikigoi breeding.

Festivals

Nagaoka Fireworks Festival
長岡まつり大花火大会Nagaoka Matsuri Ōhanabi Taikai
Held every year on 2 and 3 August over the Shinano River, preceded on 1 August by a memorial for the air-raid victims.
Yamakoshi bull-sumo
牛の角突きushi no tsunotsuki
Bouts between bulls, stopped before either is hurt, held regularly from spring to autumn.

Food

Nagaoka ginger-soy ramen
長岡生姜醤油ラーメンNagaoka shōga shōyu rāmen
Soy-sauce ramen with a strong ginger note, a local staple since the post-war years.
Tochio aburage
栃尾の油揚げTochio no aburage
Thick, oversized fried tofu grilled and eaten with soy sauce and spring onion.
Sake
地酒jizake
Nagaoka has one of the largest concentrations of sake breweries of any Japanese city.
Grilled fish at Teradomari
浜焼きhamayaki
Fish and squid grilled on skewers at the coastal market stalls.

Getting around

Nagaoka Station is on the Jōetsu Shinkansen, about an hour and a half from Tokyo and around 20 minutes from Niigata.
The Shin'etsu Main Line runs from Nagaoka to Kashiwazaki and Naoetsu, and the Jōetsu Line to Ojiya and Uonuma.
Buses link the station with Yūkyūzan, the Settaya area and the outlying districts; Yamakoshi and Teradomari are easiest by car.

Day trips

Niigata City
新潟市Niigata-shi
Prefectural capital and ferry port for Sado, 20 minutes by Shinkansen.
Ojiya
小千谷Ojiya
Town of Ojiya chijimi ramie cloth, koi farms and hegi soba.
Echigo-Yuzawa
越後湯沢Echigo-Yuzawa
Hot-spring and ski town of Snow Country, 30 minutes by Shinkansen.
Sado Island
佐渡Sado
Gold-mining island reached via the ferry ports of Niigata or Naoetsu.

Other cities in the prefecture

CapitalNiigataNiigata-shiTreaty port and rice city at the mouth of Japan's longest river CitySadoSado-shiIsland of gold, exiles and Noh in the Sea of Japan

Frequently asked questions

When is the Nagaoka fireworks festival?

The fireworks are held on 2 and 3 August every year over the Shinano River, regardless of the day of the week.

What is the Kome Hyappyō story?

In 1870 the war-ravaged Nagaoka domain received a hundred bales of rice as aid; instead of distributing it, the retainer Kobayashi Torasaburō had it sold to fund a school, arguing that education would secure the future.

How far is Nagaoka from Tokyo?

About an hour and a half by Jōetsu Shinkansen.

What is Yamakoshi known for?

Terraced rice paddies, koi breeding and bull-sumo, and as the mountain village cut off and evacuated after the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake.

Sources

1.令和2年国勢調査 (opens in a new tab) — Statistics Bureau of Japan
2.長岡市ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 長岡市
3.Japan National Tourism Organization (opens in a new tab) — Japan National Tourism Organization