Located in the northwest of the main island of Japan, Niigata Prefecture is divided into four geographic areas: Joetsu in the southwest, Chuetsu in the center, Kaetsu in the northeast, plus Sado Island.

Until 1869, Niigata Prefecture was called Echigo – a name still used with pride – while Sado Island was an independent province. The countries merged in 1876, during the second prefectural integration after the Meiji Restoration.

The city of Niigata is currently served by an international airport, the seaport, high-speed and regional trains as well as numerous highways. The city is also full of extraordinary local culture, rich agricultural land and a wide range of local products.

A port city located at the mouth of the Shinano River, Niigata was one of the largest rice producers on the Japanese coast during the Edo period, and the city still houses vestiges of its past today, such as traditional restaurants or traces of geisha culture. Formerly a major port of call, the city retains its important role as a center of business and cultural exchange.

45 km off the coast of Niigata, Sado Island delights nature and hiking enthusiasts with its beautiful jagged coastlines, its two mountain ranges and its central plain. It is also a cultural and historical destination: land of exile for many intellectuals hostile to the government in the Middle Ages, and source of a local aristocratic culture – including a real craze for Noh theater. The discovery of the Sado-kinzan gold mine on the island during the Edo period caused a rush that left a lasting mark on the landscape. This mine still produced several tons of gold and silver annually until the end of operations in 1989.

Sado is also world famous for its Japanese drums taiko and its traditional show Ondeko around these drums and people disguised as demons. Each village has developed its own style and the most beautiful shows are presented during festivals.

An essential agricultural prefecture, Niigata is one of the main growers of the Koshihikari and Gohyakumangoku rice varieties. Koshihikari is a table rice whose cultivation benefits from water coming from the mountains at the time of snowmelt, rich in nutrients, as well as from the significant temperature range between sowing and harvest periods. These elements give Koshihikari rice this unique taste which makes it the country's favorite rice.

Gohyakumangoku is sake rice ( sakamai ). It is distinguished by its large grains and especially by its large and well-centered starched core which makes it ideal for resistance to polishing. Its high starch content also ensures vigorous and stable fermentation. A sake made from Gohyakumangoku rice is generally light and fresh, typical of the Niigata style of sake, and contrasts with the richer, full-bodied sakes made from Yamada Nishiki rice.

Niigata is also renowned for its considerable fishing resources. Water from snowmelt joins the rivers in spring and feeds excellent plankton in the region's two major rivers: the Shinano and the Agano. The nutrients are also consumed by the region's fish, particularly small fish and white-fleshed fish, many species of which are highly prized for their refined flavor.

If sake is the fruit of complex know-how and millennia-old mastery in Japan, in Niigata the secret comes down (almost) to a single word: snow. The snowfall there is in fact two to three times higher than the annual national average. Niigata is therefore renowned both for the quality of its rice and for the purity of its water, 2 crucial elements in the manufacture of sake.

Most of Niigata's 90 sake houses concentrate their efforts on high-quality artisanal production, producing just 8% of the sake made in Japan.

Niigata is also home to the Sake Research Institute, a pioneering institute at the forefront of innovation established in 1930, a professional forward-looking organization whose sole mission is to improve the quality and variety of Niigata sake. This involves research on the koji mushroom, the development of new varieties of rice, and even temperature control during the fermentation phase.

For example, the Institute recently developed a new variety of sake rice called “Koshitanrei” which is expected to become the flagship rice for sake producers in Niigata, particularly for their Ginjo and Daiginjo sakes.