Mishimadani Onsen

Mishimadani Onsen is a hot spring facility in Nagaoka city, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, in the Chuetsu region of central Niigata where the Shinano River — Japan's longest river — flows through the Echigo plain between the mountains of the Uonuma district and the Sea of Japan coast, in a prefecture celebrated for exceptional rice cultivation, nihonshu (sake) brewing from the region's pure cold water and rice varieties, and the enormous snowfall that defines both the difficulty and the particular aesthetic beauty of Niigata's winter culture. Nagaoka itself is one of Niigata's major cities, associated with the spectacular Nagaoka Fireworks Festival — regarded by many as Japan's finest fireworks display — and with the tradition of resilience exemplified by the annual fireworks ceremony of peace that commemorates the city's near-total destruction in the 1945 Allied bombing raids. Mishimadani Onsen provides mineral spring bathing in the Niigata tradition, drawing on the geothermal resources of the Echigo Mountain region to offer the warm thermal bathing that is particularly cherished in Niigata's heavy snowfall winters.