Nagaoka: Water, the Wellspring of Abundance

Located in the heartland of Niigata Prefecture, the city of Nagaoka is blessed with an abundance of water. It lies on the banks of the Shinano River, the longest river in Japan, which is fed by snowmelt from the nearby mountains. The city's Settaya district is known for its traditional producers of sake, shoyu (soy sauce) and other fermented foods, for which the water is drawn from underground water sources below the city. Yamakoshi, up in the mountains, has become famous for its scenic rice terraces and the beautifully colored nishiki-goi carp that are bred and raised in the area. Here, too, people have prospered thanks to the plentiful water from the annual snowfall. On this edition of Journeys in Japan, photographer Tom Miyagawa Coulton meets the people of Nagaoka for whom water is the wellspring of their livelihood.