Tokamachi
十日町市37°08′ N 138°45′ ECityPop. 44,976Niigata
Tokamachi suits travellers who want deep-snow country with hegi soba and contemporary art in the rice terraces, and its trade-off is distances that call for a car.
Photo M Murakami · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Who should base here
Base in Tokamachi for the snow festival or the Echigo-Tsumari art in summer, with a car for the outlying villages.
Eat in Tokamachi
Things to do in Tokamachi
Tokamachi is a weaving town in the snow country west of Uonuma, with 44,976 people at the end of September 2026. Its looms gave the region hegi soba: weavers used funori seaweed to stiffen thread, and Kojimaya's founder tried the same seaweed as a binder for buckwheat in the 1920s.
Two Kojimaya houses still serve it. The Sohonten sits out in the Kawanishi fields, and the Honten is eight minutes on foot from Tokamachi Station's east exit.
In February the Tokamachi Snow Festival fills the town with residents' snow sculptures, set for 19 to 21 February in 2027. The Echigo-Tsumari Art Field spreads across the city and Tsunan, and MonET near the station stays open through winter. Kiyotsu Gorge's walking tunnel lies to the south.
Quick answers about Tokamachiよくある質問
Is Tokamachi a good place to stay?
Base in Tokamachi for the snow festival or the Echigo-Tsumari art in summer, with a car for the outlying villages.
Within 12 km
Places to eat and drink nearby食
Within 12 km