Chubu

Chūbu (中部) is the central region of Japan's Honshu island. This area is located at the border between West Japan and East Japan, there are many high-altitude mountains such as Mount Fuji and the Japanese Alps. Food culture is different for each region. Understand Chubu means "middle region", accurately reflecting its position straddling the two Japanese poles of Kansai and Kanto. Often ignored by foreign tourists, many of Chubu's best attractions are in the mountains, particularly the Mount Fuji and the Japanese Alps. Prefectures The Chūbu region covers a large and geographically diverse area of Honshū which leads to it generally being divided into three distinct subregions: Tōkai, Kōshin'etsu, and Hokuriku. Tōkai(東海) Located the southern Pacific coast. Chubu Region Aichi mostly urban sprawl around Nagoya Gifu home to the northern Japan Alps and many hot springs Shizuoka - home to the famous Mount Fuji and the scenic Izu Peninsula Hokuriku(北陸) Located northwest of the Chubu region. Fukui Ishikawa Home to the historic city of Kanazawa Toyama Kōshin'etsu(甲信越) Located east of the Chubu region. Niigata famous for Koshihikari rice and sake Nagano Prefecture famous for its winter skiing, the Olympics, and Matsumoto Castle Yamanashi at the foothills of Mount Fuji Cities Kanazawa's historic Higashi-Chayamachi teahouse district Hida-Takayama - attractively preserved town and a good starting point for trips to the Japan Alps Inuyama Matsumoto Kanazawa - stylish historic city Nagano - Japan's winter sports capital Nagoya - Chubu's largest city by far Niigata - Major port city on the northern coast Shizuoka Toyama Other destinations Hot springs in the Oku-Hida Onsen Villages Gero Onsen - one of Japan's Three Famous Hot Springs Japan Alps - the largest and tallest mountain chain in Japan Mount Fuji - the world's most photographed mountain with great views from the Fuji Five Lakes Oku-Hida Onsen Villages - 5 remote hamlets full of stunning scenery and some of Japan's best hot springs Ono - historic castle town in Fukui prefecture Sado Island - place of exile home to gold mines and the yearly Earth Celebration Shirakawa-go - a well-preserved historic village and World Heritage Site Sekigahara - the site of the famous battle that ushered in the Tokugawa Shogunate Yuzawa - popular ski and hot spring resort, the setting of Yasunari Kawabata's Nobel Prize-winning Snow Country Talk There are many people who speak in each dialect in this area. For example, some Niigata people use ra instead of standard copula da such as ～raro instead of ～daro ("isn't it?"). Shizuoka people use ～dara instead of ～daro. In Ishikawa and Toyama, people use dara as an abuse word meaning "idiot". Get in By plane Chubu Centrair International Airport, Japan's third major international gateway, is located on an artificial island 30 minutes south from Nagoya. Most larger cities around the region have airports, but they generally only serve domestic flights. By train True to the name, the Tokaido Shinkansen bisects the southern Tokai region, connecting to Tokyo in the east and Osaka and Kyoto in the west. Access to the northern parts is harder: Nagano can be reached from Tokyo on the Nagano Shinkansen, but the Hokuriku Shinkansen onward to Kanazawa remains under construction. Get around See In the Oku-Hida region around Takayama, check out the traditional gasshō-zukuri houses, with a roof shaped like hands in prayer to protect against snow from accumulating. There are many famous temples in Nagano, notably Zenkōji, considered an official national treasure. In Nagoya, there is Nagoya castle, although it's just a modern concrete reconstruction. Mount Fuji's view is great. Do Winter sports - in the winter, cold, dry air from the Asian continent meets moist Pacific air, the result is a large amount of snow that falls in the Koshin'etsu district, also known as Snow Country (雪国 Yukiguni), since it receives some of the heaviest snowfall in Japan. This makes Chubu Japan's undisputed winter sports capital with attractions like Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, and Yuzawa, easily reached from Tokyo. Hiking - the Japan Alps have some great hiking. Mount Fuji in Shizuoka is a symbol of Japan and a popular tourist attraction, both for viewing and climbing. Eat Chubu's regions all have their local specialities. Some include: Hotaru ika (lit. "firefly squid") in Toyama Tempura shrimp in Nagoya Hatchō miso (八丁味噌) in Okazaki Drink Chubu is sake country and Niigata, renowned for its koshihikari rice, produces some of the best in the country including famous labels like Kubota (久保田), Koshinokanbai (越乃寒梅) and Hakkaisan (八海山). Shizuoka is famous for green tea and Aichi specializes in, oddly enough, oranges. This is a usable article. It gives a good overview of the region, its sights, and how to get in, as well as links to the main destinations, whose articles are similarly well developed. An adventurous person could use this article, but please plunge forward and help it grow!