Nagano

Nagano is a city in Nagano prefecture, at northern part of main island of Japan.

The city is surrounded by mountains, and the expressway there goes in middle of Japanese alps, so there are many tunnels.

Nagano is a peaceful city, a city with a very different mood than crowded cities such as Tokyo or Yokohama. Currently the population is around 380 000.

Winter Olympics in year 1998 created many reasonable cost hotels in the area. The olympic games had very large impact for the city. Many roads, for example a ring road going to the mountains was created for marathon runners.

A several athletes and athletic minded people live here, and practise long distance running on the mountain roads which have a very fresh hair.

Although the strong presence of the olympics might suggest otherwise, Nagano was originally however a temple town. Zenkoji is biggest Buddhist temple in Nagano.

It is very beautiful and unique temple. Inside the temple is a wooden, smiling buddha statue that can be touched by everyone. The wooden surface of the statue has became glossy because of so many hands rubbing it constantly. A beautiful garden surrounds Zenkoji temple.

There are also several hot springs in the area, especially in Yamanouchi Town. Yudanaka and Shibu Onsen are popular spots and feature wild snow monkeys, macaques. The monkeys are also a theme for park called Jigokudani Yaen Koen "Jigokudani monkey park".

It is possible to go to Nagano by Shinkansen or Highway Bus from Tokyo. Highway buses leave usually from Shinjuku station.

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