* [[Suwa]] - Resort town with a large lake and access to the Yatsugatake Mountain Range
* [[Suwa]] - Resort town with a large lake and access to the Yatsugatake Mountain Range
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*[[Tomi]]
* [[Ueda]]
* [[Ueda]]
Revision as of 08:30, 29 August 2011
Nagano Prefecture (長野県 Nagano-ken; [1]) is located at the center of Japan. It is surrounded by 8 prefectures. (Niigata, Toyama, Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, Yamanashi, Gunma, Saitama)
Nagano — the prefectural capital and site of the 1998 Winter Olympics
Azumino — north of Matsumoto and famous for Daio Wasabi Farm, views of the surrounding alpine landscape and the incredible number of museums and galleries
Chikuma — just south of Nagano City, on the middle reaches of the Chikuma River, surrounded by mountains
Matsumoto — featuring one of Japan's top 3 castles and lots of wasabi
Yamanouchi — Ryokans, Japanese atmosphere, and snowbathing monkeys.
Understand
Talk
Get in
By train
The Nagano Shinkansen line, a branch of the Joetsu line to Niigata, connects to Tokyo in around 2 hours.
By Bus
Buses from the Shinjuku long-distance bus station run about once an hour. The trip takes about 3-1/2 hours; fare is ¥4000 one-way or ¥7200 round-trip. [2] There is also a similar bus to Matsumoto here, it just goes via Kofu.
123bus[3] is a company which provides daily bus services between Osaka and Nagano. With English online booking service.
Get around
See
Nagano's Zenkoji temple is a major draw for pilgrims.
Do
There are many mountains in Nagano, so there are many places to ski. There are also many campsites and onsen, in easy to access locations.
Go see the Japanese Macaques in Jigokudani yaenkoen, you'll be able to get really near to them. Watch out as they can be a bit aggressive! Take the limited express metro to Yudanaka from Nagano, there'll be buses that take you there.
In 1998, Winter Olympics took place in Nagano.
Eat
In culinary terms, Nagano is best known for its soba (buckwheat noodles), known as Shinano soba (信濃そば) or Shinshū soba (信州そば), with those from Togakushi considered by some the best in Japan. Miso (fermented bean paste), a staple of the Japanese diet is also a famous Nagano product. Among foods characteristic to the region are oyaki, small grilled doughballs filled with vegetables or meat, and on the unusual side, basashi (raw horse meat) and inago (locusts).
Apples are one of the special products of Nagano. The taste of Nagano apples is sweet and juicy. The yield of apples in Nagano is the second largest in Japan.
