Things to Do in Chubu, Japan
Central Japan: Mount Fuji, the Japan Alps, historic post towns and the Sea of Japan coast.
183 destinations across 9 prefectures
Festivals in Chubu
© Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Takayama Matsuri
14 to 15 April 2027
Gifu · Float procession
© Koichi_Hayakawa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Nagaoka Fireworks
2 to 3 August 2027
Niigata · Fireworks festival
© 信州高原青馬写真クラブ / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Lake Suwa Fireworks
15 August 2027
Nagano · Fireworks festival
© Kropsoq (talk) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Katakai Fireworks
10 to 11 September 2027
Niigata · Fireworks festival
Suggested Itineraries
Places to Visit in Chubu
Mount Omuro
A Grassy Volcano in Ito You Can Only Climb by Chairlift
A 580-meter scoria cone in Ito, a protected natural monument that nobody may climb on foot. A six...
Saruhashi Bridge
Saruhashi: The Pierless Monkey Bridge 31 Meters Above the Katsura River
A wooden-clad footbridge 30.9 meters long that crosses the Katsura River gorge about 31 meters ab...
Kitadake
Kitadake: Japan's Second-Highest Peak, With No Cars at the Trailhead
At 3,193 meters, Kitadake in the Southern Alps is second only to Fuji, and the only place on eart...
Michi-no-Eki Shinshu Tsutaki-juku
Hot spring and Suwa sake at the Yamanashi border
A Route 20 stop just inside Nagano from the Yamanashi border, named after an old Koshu Kaido post...
Mount Asama
An Active Volcano Where the Alert Level Decides How Far You Climb
The 2,568-meter volcano that smokes behind Karuizawa, on the Nagano and Gunma border. The crater ...
MOA Museum of Art
Seven Escalators Up a Hill to Korin's Plum Screen Above Atami
A private museum on the hill above Atami Station with about 3,500 works of mostly East Asian art,...
Michi-no-Eki Fujikawa-juku
Purple barley at an old Tokaido post town
A Route 1 station in Okazaki styled after the townhouses of Fujikawa-juku, the 37th of the Tokaid...
Minobusan Kuon-ji
Nichiren's Mountain Temple, Up 287 Steep Stone Steps
Head temple of the Nichiren Shu school, where Nichiren lived from 1274 and where his ashes rest. ...
Hotakadake
Hotakadake: Japan's Third-Highest Peak, Two Days from Kamikochi
A horseshoe of rock peaks around the Karasawa cirque, topped by Okuhotaka at 3,190 m, the highest...
Michi-no-Eki Arai
A big food stop shared by Route 18 and the expressway
On Route 18 in Myoko, next to the Arai parking area and smart interchange of the Joshin-etsu Expr...
Michi-no-Eki Echizen
A crab museum and sea-view baths on the Echizen coast
A seaside station on Route 305 built around Echizen crab, the male snow crab Fukui is known for. ...
Michi-no-Eki Marine Dream Nou
Red snow crab stalls beside a Sea of Japan fishing port
A Route 8 station next to Nou fishing port, known for Kaniya Yokocho, a row of stalls boiling and...
Lake Nojiri
Lake Nojiri: Ice Age Elephants Dug from the Lakebed by Volunteers
Nagano's second-largest lake after Suwa, near the Niigata border, where Naumann elephant fossils ...
Okazaki Castle
The Castle Where Tokugawa Ieyasu Was Born, Rebuilt in 1959
Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who founded the Tokugawa shogunate, was born in this castle. The concret...
Lake Yamanakako
The Highest and Largest of the Fuji Five Lakes, Where the Winter Sun Sets on the Summit
The largest of the Fuji Five Lakes and, at about 980 metres, the highest, on the east side of Mou...