Japan's national stone: You might be able to pick up jade...? Itoigawa City, Jade Beach
- Niigata
- Sightseeing
What is Jade?
Jade is a gemstone composed mainly of a mineral called jade pyroxene, which is famous for its light green color, but also comes in white, light purple, blue, and black, and is one of the most popular gems in Japan since ancient times. It was selected as the national gemstone by the Japan Mineralogical Society on September 24, 2016, because it is produced only in subduction zones* such as Japan. The largest production area in Japan is Itoigawa City and its vicinity in Niigata Prefecture (Otari and Hakuba villages in Nagano Prefecture and Asahi Town in Toyama Prefecture), and some other areas such as Gunma and Saitama Prefectures.
Subduction zone: A place where the plate covering the surface of the earth is subducted.
Let's look for jade!
Jade is selected as a national stone, but did you know that you can easily find jade with a shovel or rake? As introduced earlier, the area around Itoigawa City in Niigata Prefecture is the largest jade production area. It is believed that the Hime and Aomi Rivers flowing through Itoigawa City carry rough jade stones from the mountains to the sea, and there is a place in Itoigawa City where the jade is washed up by the waves. The name of the place is Jade Beach. It is not a sandy beach, but a beach made of gravel and pebbles, where you can find jade if you are lucky enough to search patiently with a shovel or rake. It is difficult to distinguish them from jade because many of them are beautiful stones like gravel that have been scraped by the waves.
Incidentally, this article introduces jade, but it is said that you can also pick up quartz and agate in addition to jade around the jade coast, and they are easier to find than jade.
I could not find any of them....
There are areas such as Kotaki River Jade Gorge and Aomi River Jade Gorge where collecting is prohibited, so please check in advance.
Second try!
Heavy rain had fallen on the Sea of Japan side until the previous day, and jade tends to wash up the day after rough weather.
In the hot and humid cloudy weather, we sat on the gravel for about an hour silently digging and searching, but again, we could not find anything that looked like jade.... As I thought, it is not easy to find.
However, unlike last time, I was able to pick up translucent stones like quartz and crystal.
If you don't find jade, enjoy the beautiful Sea of Japan before you leave!
The deep blue of the Sea of Japan will sharpen your mind as beautifully as jade.
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Location
[Jade Coast] 2-4 Oshiage, Itoigawa City, Niigata Prefecture
Nihonkai Observatory] 2-12 Omachi, Itoigawa City, Niigata Prefecture
Access
Jade Coast】 5 minutes walk from Echigo Tokimeki Railway Echigo Oshiage Jade Coast Station.
Nihonkai Observatory】About 25 minutes on foot from Jade Beach or about 6 minutes on foot from JR Itoigawa Station.
*The contents and services in this article are subject to change.