Apr 162014
 

Good afternoon from the Itoigawa Global Geopark! It’s becoming warmer every day in Itoigawa. The snow is melting from the mountains, feeding the many rivers and streams of the Geopark.

The largest of these rivers is the Himekawa, which flows from Omachi City in Nagano to the Sea of Japan in Itoigawa. The river cuts through the Northern Alps and a wide variety of stones can be found along its banks and those of its tributaries.

Visitors to the Stone Park enter at the mouth of the river, represented here

Visitors to the Stone Park enter at the mouth of the river, represented here

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation, and Tourism’s Takada River and National Highway Office has, in cooperation with the Itoigawa Geopark, created the Himekawa Fureai Stone Park. This park has been designed as a model of the Himekawa River and its main tributaries. As visitors walk  on the promenade, they can see examples of the types of stones which are found along that river.

Limestone

From limestone in Himekawa…

Jadeite…to the jadeite of Kotakigawa…

Yakuseki…to yakuseki…

Andesite

…andesite and more!

Stroll through the Himekawa Fureai Stone Park during your next visit to Itoigawa and witness the beauty and diversity in the earth you walk upon.

-Ishikoro