NIIGATA, a city of Japan, with a population of about 34,000, the chief town of the province of Echigo, and one of the ports open to foreign trade since 1869, lies in 37° 57' N. lat. and 139° E. long., on the west coast of the island of Nippon, on a narrow strip of sandy ground between the left bank of the Shinano and the sea, which though quite at hand is shut out from view by a low range of sandhills. It occupies an area of rather more than one square mile, and consists of five long parallel streets intersected by cross-streets, which in most cases have canals running down the middle and communicating with the river, so that the internal traffic of the city is mainly carried on by water. The houses are usually built with gables to the street, and roofs and verandas project so as to keep the windows and footpaths from being blocked up by the heavy winter snows. In August 1880 nearly half of the town was destroyed by fire; but in the following year most of the public buildings were restored. The college, founded in 1870, was handed over to the authorities in 1878 (with an English department, an engineering school, a geological museum, and various laboratories); and the large hospital was rebuilt on a more spacious scale and in European style in 1878. There are large public gardens in the city; many of the canals are bordered with trees; and an air of tidiness and comfort prevails throughout the un-Europeanized quarters. Niigata has a greater junk traffic than any other town on the west coast of Japan, but it has been found quite unsuited in its present state for foreign commerce. The mouth of the river is obstructed by a bar with only 12 feet of water at high tide, and in autumn and winter the squalls are so violent that only very powerful steamers can safely anchor in ...