Nuttari Terrace

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Nuttaricraft shopsmarket streetNiigata Citycoffee

Photo: Asturio Cantabrio / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Nuttari Terrace isn't trying to be a destination restaurant, which is exactly why it's worth the detour.

Nuttari Terrace is a single short street of tiny shops in a former market row east of central Niigata. The row was built as a food market in the post-war years, declined to near-total vacancy, and was taken on from around 2010 by a group who leased the empty units cheaply to makers rather than redeveloping the site. What is there now is a glassblower, a coffee roaster, a bakery, a bookshop, a sake stand and a dozen others, each in a unit about the size of a garage.

It works because nothing was rebuilt. The shopfronts, the awnings and the alley width are the 1950s market's, and the street is short enough to walk end to end in three minutes. Individual shops keep their own hours, which is the one thing to plan around.

What to know before you go

When to go

Year-round; Fridays and Saturdays and the first Sunday of the month have the most shops open

Serving hours

Street open at all hours | Individual shops set their own hours | Morning market first Sunday of the month 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (April–November), winter market 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (December–March)

Closed: Many shops closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Time to allow

1–2 hours

Cost

Free

Finding the spot

Access notes

Nuttari-higashi 3-5-22, Chuo Ward, Niigata City. About a short walk from Niigata Station, or take a Niigata Kotsu bus to Nuttari-yotsukado and walk two minutes. Free to walk. Shops set their own hours and many close Tuesdays and Wednesdays; Fridays and Saturdays have the most open. A morning market runs on the first Sunday of the month, 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM April to November, replaced by a winter market 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM December to March.

Insider tips

**Friday or Saturday, or accept shutters.** Tuesday and Wednesday are the common closing days across the row and a midweek visit can find half of it shut. The street is too small to absorb that. **First Sunday for the market.** Stalls fill the alley and shops that otherwise keep short hours all open. It is the one day the place is busy. **Glassblowing and roasting happen in view.** Several units are workshops with a counter rather than shops with stock, and watching is expected. **Imayotsukasa brewery is a five-minute walk.** The 250-year-old sake brewery with free tours sits in the same district, which makes an easy pairing for a half day on foot from the station.

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