Hakusan Park is a Dutch-style promenade garden neighbouring Hakusan Shrine. This beautiful garden with ponds, artificial hills, trees and flowers has been selected as one of Japan’s best 100 city parks. Visitors can enjoy the garden’s seasonal beauty with its springtime cherry blossoms and summer lotus flowers, autumn leaves and snowy winter scenes.

The Air Gardens, located between the Hakusan Park and the Ryutopia (Niigata City Performing Arts Centre), is designed to represent islands in the water. It is a popular cherry blossom viewing location. When the cherry blossoms are at their best, the illuminated gardens are utterly fantastic. The Air Garden is also a popular spot for families with its children’s playgrounds.

The Enkikan, a former merchant house of the Meiji period partly relocated and reconstructed, has been turned into be a community space for learning traditional cultural activities such as tea ceremony. The building is open to the public and visitors can enjoy a cup of matcha tea (300 yen). The stunning lotus pond is definitely worth a visit!