Photo Journal: Sasagawa Nagare, Niigata’s Remote Coastline
Sasagawa Nagare is a short span of coastline that stretches for 11 kilometres (seven miles) on the northernmost coast of Niigata Prefecture. The wild and desolate Hokuriku shoreline, home to remote Japanese communities, offers a glimpse of a rapidly disappearing Japan.
Clinging to the northwestern edge of Honshu, Route 345 threads its way north along the narrow coast between the Echigo Plain and the Sea of Japan, on the way to the three sacred mountains of Dewa. Passing the old castle town of Murakami, you come on to the stretch of coast called Sasagawa Nagare. Here, dense green mountains tumble down to meet the sea while stray pines cling to the jagged rocks that dot the shoreline.
The vibrant blue waters and white sands of the thin beaches lend this strip of coast a postcard prettiness, but it is the evidence of the sheer hardness of life in this beautiful place that makes Sasagawa Nagare so compelling. Isolated and crumbling villages cling to the narrow shore. The houses are bleached grey, eaves striped with lines of persimmon and wild salmon curing in the salt wind. The dwindling population, mostly elderly, gather thick clumps of dripping black seaweed. The iodine reek of their harvest mixes with the scent of woodsmoke in the wind. The vending machines have started to rust.
This area represents the quieter side of Japan, the last outpost of civilisation before you reach the dark and unknowable mountains of the deep north – where shamanism thrives, and Buddhism is regarded with suspicion as a recent import. Today, you might be able to reach Sasagawa Nagare from Tokyo in less than three hours, but this achingly beautiful stretch of shoreline retains the atmosphere of a place left – utterly, irrevocably – in the past.
Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.
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Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.
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