Last Updated: May 1, 2024

Yahiko & Its Ancient Shrine

One of Niigata’s Hidden Gems

This story was originally published on donnykimball.com and has been syndicated here on Medium.

Note: This article was first written during the early months of the pandemic. The info about the destination is still solid though….

— Donny Kimball

Ever since hearing of Yahiko several years ago, I’ve been itching for a visit. I first encountered this area of Niigata Prefecture while perusing the channels of several Tokyo Creative’s content producers. At that time, the company was going by the name Odigo and had yet to make the complete switch to an influencer marketing firm. Since my initial viewing, I’ve gone on to befriend many of these content creators who first turned me on to Yahiko. Alas, for one reason or another, it was only until quite recently that I was able to visit the town in person.

As of this writing, it’s July 2020 and we are still amidst the coronavirus pandemic. While the government continues to send mixed messages by kicking off its Go To Travel campaign to stimulate domestic tourism, the fact remains no one really wants we accursed Tokyoites visiting. While it pains me to say this, you can’t really blame them. After all, the country’s capital is the epicenter for the majority of new…