Nagano City is the prefectural capital located in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture and has flourished as the gate town of Zenkoji Temple. With the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line, the city can be reached from Tokyo and Kanazawa in under two hours. The Togakushi and Iizuna Plateaus, both at elevations of 1,000 meters, offer a variety of activities such as camping, trekking, cycling, skiing, and snowboarding, allowing visitors to enjoy nature all year round.

With its cold climate unsuited to rice-growing, buckwheat cultivation became the farming focus and a culture of eating soba, or buckwheat noodles, emerged. “Togakushi soba” is one of the three most famous soba varieties in Japan, and the cool, delicious water of the Togakushi region is a perfect complement to the smooth-tasting soba. The northern area of Nagano City is renowned for its apple-growing, with a 7 km apple tree line known as the “Apple Line,” which offers impressive scenery dotted with bright red apples in the fall.

Plane

Shinshu Matsumoto Airport → Matsumoto Bus Terminal (about 30 minutes by local bus) → JR Matsumoto Station (about 5 minutes on foot) → JR Nagano Station (about 1 hour by Limited Express Shinano)

Train

JR Nagoya Station → JR Nagano Station (about 3 hours by Limited Express Shinano)
JR Tokyo Station → JR Nagano Station (about 1 hour and 40 minutes by Hokuriku Shinkansen)

Top Attractions

Nagano City is home to many historical sites, including Zenkoji Temple, and those who venture to the outskirts of the city can enjoy spectacular nature in the form of mountains and countryside. The city offers an abundance of sightseeing options, including trips to historical sites, nature-indulging activities, and hot springs.

Zenkoji Temple／善光寺（Nagano）

• Nagano
• Nagano
• Cultural Experience
• Temples & Shrines
• Historical Sites

Zenkoji Temple dates back over 1,400 years and has been widely known and endeared since ancient times as a temple not affiliated with any particular religious sect, but rather welcoming to people of a...

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Togakushi／戸隠（Nagano）

• Nagano
• Nagano
• Onsen
• Cultural Experience
• Skiing and Snowboarding
• Beautiful Places
• National Parks
• Mountaineering & Hiking

Togakushi is located in the northwestern part of Nagano City and was once visited by many ascetic practitioners as a sacred site. The area is designated as Myoko-Togakushi renzan National Park, where ...

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