Destination - Niigata Prefecture! (Part 1)

 I'll skip the part where we got up a 4:00 am to to catch the first train in the morning and how we met up with Shige and then Yuko & Suzuki-san to ride in their car to meet Hiroko at a toll road service station and then made the long drive north to Niigata... yeah, I'll skip all that and start at Murasugi Onsen in Agano city.

Murasugi Onsen is a hot spring area tucked away in the forest, embraced by the five peaks of Mt. Gozu. With other hot springs in the area it forms the Gozu Hot Spring Area.

This is a radium hot spring foot bath. This is what we came here for.

Put some money in the hole in the stone next to Emi and then in you go.

What a great way to relax. And, the radium hot spring water is supposed to be good for what ails you.

Suzuki-san was absent from the picture because he went to get his Geiger counter to measure how radioactive the water is!

Onsen information sign.

Next we made a short drive to our inn in Sasakami Village. 

The Inn's website is https://chinseikan.com/

This is the room that Emi and I sleep in. It was also used as the party room every night. We stayed here for 3 nights.

The second day: After breakfast I went for a walk around our Inn.

This is the window in our room from the outside.

This is a local public bath house.

The Kehoji Temple is next to our Inn.

When I returned to the Inn Hiroko was waiting outside. 

The first plan of the day for us was to visit the Tsubame-Sanjo area for shopping.

Tsubame-Sanjo is famous for their high quality stainless steel products. 

What kind of place is Tsubame-Sanjo ?

We went to 2 different places for shopping. 

First: A local products center https://www.tsjiba.or.jp/kankou/english/index.html

Second : Stock Busters! https://enjoyniigata.com/en/spot/16003

I didn't take any pictures because I was having so much fun shopping!

Time for lunch! So, we visited the Teradomari Street Market

The Teradomari Street Market is located on the coast of the Japan Sea and is famous for their seafood. Internet info here Teradomari Market

We decided to eat in this fish market.

First we walked around to see what they had for sale.

So many delicious things to chose from.

Finally decisions were made and a variety of seafood was purchased.

The market provides an area with tables and chairs for eating.

The sashimi was fantastic!

Our lunch was a big success! We were all very satisfied with the food and the atmosphere in the market.

Next in part 2 we'll be visiting Yahiko Shrine; a shrine that is so old nobody knows how old it is (Its roots trace back more than 2,400 years).

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike