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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)

Culture and History

The population of Nagano is 2,214,356.

Cities

  • Matsumoto — featuring one of Japan's top 3 castles and lots of wasabi
  • Nagano — the prefectural capital and site of the 1998 Winter Olympics
  • Ueda

Other destinations

  • Hakuba — Popular winter area with 7 major ski resorts
  • Karuizawa — Famous mountain resort and a popular summer getaway
  • Kiso Valley — The scenic villages of Magome and Tsumago
  • Obuse — Museums, temples, chestnut confections, hot springs and lots of cultural events and festivals
  • Suwa — Resort town with a large lake and access to the Yatsugatake Mountain Range
  • Yamanouchi — Ryokans, Japanese atmosphere, and snowbathing monkeys.

Understand

Talk

Travel to Nagano (prefecture) - Visa Requirements

By train

The Nagano Shinkansen line, a branch of the Joetsu line to Niigata, connects to Tokyo in around 2 hours.

Buses to Nagano (prefecture)

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.

Tours and Getting around Nagano (prefecture)

Nagano (prefecture) tourist attractions and sightseeing

  • Nagano's Zenkōji temple is a major draw for pilgrims.

Nagano (prefecture) city tours

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.

In 1998, Winter Olympics took place in Nagano.

Nagano (prefecture) Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

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.

Nagano (prefecture) nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

Nagano (prefecture) cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Get out

Destinations in Nagano (prefecture):

This page was last edited by Jani Patokallio. Based on work by Peter Lics, Paul N. Richter, Stacy Hall and Colin Jensen, Wikitravel user(s) Episteme, Texugo, Thewayoftheduck and InterLangBot and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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