2026-07-06 From Matsumoto to Niigata: A Half-Day Tour of Hakusan Park and Toki Messe#

On July 6th, we left Matsumoto and headed for Niigata. There is no direct high-speed train between the two places, so we had to first take a train to Nagano, then transfer to Takasaki, and finally change to a train bound for Niigata. We boarded the train to Nagano around 10:00 AM and didn’t arrive in Niigata until nearly 2:00 PM.

Because of the long journey, we originally didn’t plan any itinerary for the day. After arriving at the station, we headed straight to the hotel, but hotels in Japan usually don’t allow check-in until 3:00 PM. So, after dropping off our luggage, we went to the Starbucks at the train station for afternoon tea, planning to kill time until three o’clock before heading back to the hotel.

However, both my wife and I felt we still had plenty of energy at the time, and thought: why not take this opportunity to do a half-day city tour?

So I stayed at Starbucks while my wife went to the tourist information center to buy sightseeing bus tickets. She informed me that a bus would depart at 3:20 PM, but the boarding point was a bit far from where I was. I had to walk hurriedly to meet up with her, and fortunately, we made it just in time!

After a ten-minute ride, we arrived at our first stop: Hakusan Park.

Hakusan Park covers a vast area with beautiful scenery, featuring Hakusan Shrine, gardens, and a lotus pond. The lotus flowers were partially blooming at the time, making the scenery quite enchanting.

According to the itinerary planned for us by the tourist information center staff, there was a bus to the next stop at 4:05 PM, which made the schedule slightly tight.

Speaking of Niigata’s sightseeing buses, each vehicle has different special painted liveries. For example, the first one we took featured local delicacies, while the next one was cat-themed, depicting a feline protagonist from a famous anime.

The next stop was Pia Bandai. The staff suggested we stay here for over an hour, which is very reasonable for average tourists, as it brings together a seafood market and numerous restaurants. If you want to enjoy a sumptuous seafood feast here, an hour or so is absolutely perfect; but for the two of us vegetarians, it seemed pointless. We immediately searched online and found that just across the river within walking distance was the Toki Messe (Niigata Convention Center). There is a free observation deck on the 37th floor.

The view from this observation deck is indeed very good, it’s just a pity that the weather wasn’t great that day, and combined with the thick glass windows, the photography results were less than ideal. However, experiencing the magnificent view in person is the most important thing.

My wife originally intended to stay and wait for the sunset so I could take photos. But it was only around five o’clock at the time, and there was still quite a long while before the sunset past seven o’clock; plus, judging by my photography experience, with such weather conditions, the sunset scenery probably wouldn’t be much to look at. In the end, we decided to take a taxi straight back to the hotel to rest.