Travel Destinations in Nagano

Matsumoto Castle

Japan's Premier Black Castle

One of Japan's five National Treasure castles, famous for its striking black exterior and alpine ...

Tsumago-juku

Japan's best-preserved Nakasendo post town where cars are banned from the historic center, offeri...

Jigokudani Monkey Park

Snow Monkeys Bathing in Hot Springs

The world-famous site where wild Japanese macaques bathe in natural hot springs, especially photo...

Zenko-ji

Zenko-ji Temple

One of Japan's most important and popular temples, home to the first Buddhist statue ever brought...

Obuse

A charming small town in northern Nagano famous for the Hokusai Museum, beautifully landscaped st...

Kamikochi

Kamikochi Alpine Valley

Japan's premier alpine valley in the Northern Japan Alps, featuring the crystal-clear Azusa River...

Suwa Taisha

Suwa Taisha - One of Japan's Oldest and Most Revered Shrines

One of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan, spread across four buildings around Lake Suwa and famo...

Karuizawa

Highland Resort Town with Shopping and Waterfalls

A highland resort town in eastern Nagano known for cool summers, outlet shopping, and nearby wate...

Narai-juku

Narai-juku - The Best-Preserved Nakasendo Post Town

The best-preserved of the Nakasendo's eleven post towns in the Kiso Valley, with a kilometer-long...

Togakushi Shrine

Five-Shrine Complex with a Cedar-Lined Approach

A Shinto shrine complex of five shrines at the base of Mount Togakushi, with an Okusha approach l...

Bessho Onsen

Historic Hot Spring Town Known as the Kamakura of Shinshu

A historic hot spring town outside Ueda City, nicknamed the Kamakura of Shinshu for its concentra...

Senjojiki Cirque

Glacial Cirque in the Central Alps by Ropeway

A glacial cirque at about 2,600 metres in the Central Alps above Komagane, reached by the Komagat...

Utsukushigahara

Highland Plateau with an Open-Air Sculpture Museum

A highland plateau at about 2,000 metres straddling Matsumoto and Ueda, home to an open-air sculp...

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 ...

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...