Japanese garden Shimizuen Garden, located in Shibata City in Niigata prefecture, is a symbol of the Echigo area as a Daimyo garden. The best time for seeing the Autumn leaves is between early November to mid-November, where it becomes the perfect garden for taking photos. A “go round” style garden made by the Shibata clan in the Edo period, and you can find the Chinese character for “water” written in cursive script in the center of the garden’s large pond. 
In addition, the castle town of Shibata is famous for its tea ceremony culture. It is said that the successive lords of the Shibata clan had put an emphasis on the tea ceremony, and you can find many tea houses (such as Kirian Tea House, Dojinsai Tea House, etc) each with their own design and taste around the pond in the garden. The insides of the tea rooms are not usually open to public viewing, but when tea party events are held the rooms are sometimes opened up. When on site, taking a look by walking around is fine too, but if you can make a stop, sit down and check the scenery from a lower perspective too. The views you will get will have a different expression to the ones you get from a standing position.