was the thirty-third of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendà Â. It is located in the present-day city of Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Niekawa was originally written as ç±巠(niekawa, "warm river") because there were onsen in the area, which made the river warm. However, the kanji were eventually changed to the ones used today.
Originally built in the Tenbun period (1532-1555), it was the first of 11 resting spots along the Kisoji (æ¨æ½路), which stretched to modern-day Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture. It also marked the dividing point between the lands of Owari Han and Matsumoto han. It became part of the Nakasendà  during the Edo period.