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Nagano
28 places
Holidays in Japan? Plan them with us.Over 2,000 real places, a day-by-day itinerary.FreeOpen the map →- Anraku-ji Its octagonal pagoda, unique in Japan, has been a National Treasure since 29 March 1952.
- Bessho Onsen (Ōyu) Its three public baths bear the names of three different men, among them Sanada Yukimura.
- Daiō Wasabi Farm Kurosawa Akira filmed ‘Dreams’ at its water mill, and the hut from the film is still there.
- Furusato Mizuhiki Kōgeikan Here is where 70% of Japan's mizuhiki is made: it grew out of hair ties that went out of fashion.
- Hakuba Happo-one Hermann Maier flew off the course here in '98, and still won two golds in the days that followed.
- Hakuba Olympic Ski Jump The only facility in Japan with a normal hill and a large hill side by side.
- Hokusai-kan At 83 Hokusai himself painted ‘waves’ and ‘dragon and phoenix’ on two festival floats.
- Ikushima Tarushima Jinja Its god is the earth itself: no statue, no inner building, only the ground.
- Jigokudani Yaen-kōen The monkeys do not get in to wash as we do, but only when it is more than 10 degrees below zero.
- Kamikōchi Since 1994 private cars have been banned, and you can only get there by bus or shuttle taxi.
- Karuizawa · Prince Shopping Plaza Opened in 1995, in ’97 it brought the outlet format to Japan: the first in the country.
- Matsumoto Castle The 1596–97 tenshu has the only moon tower still attached to a castle.
- Matsumoto City Museum of Art The polka-dot tulips of Kusama, born in Matsumoto in 1929, welcome you at the museum entrance.
- Matsumoto Fukashi High School (長野県松本深志高等学校) The classrooms from 1933, Gothic and modelled on Yasuda Hall (Tokyo), have been a cultural property since 2003.
- Matsushiro Underground Tunnel (Zōzan) Up to ten thousand workers a day dug 10 km of tunnels, and stopped at 75%.
- Narai-juku With a kilometre of terraced houses, it is the highest and longest post town of the Kiso.
- Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Matsuri On 15 January those not in their unlucky year attack with fire, and those who are in it defend.
- Old Usui Pass Viewpoint It is in Nagano, but the view is all towards Gunma: the three mountains of Jōshū and Mount Asama.
- Shibu Onsen ‘Nine’ and ‘toil’ are pronounced the same: taking the nine baths means washing away your troubles.
- Shiga Kōgen (Maruike) In 1947 US forces installed Japan's first ski lift here.
- Shiraito no Taki (Karuizawa) It falls three metres but spreads across seventy: water from Mount Asama, filtered over six years.
- Suwa Taisha (Kamisha Honmiya) It has no main building: its sacred body is the mountain behind the altar.
- Tateishi Park Selected as one of Shinshu's ‘100 sunsets’, the viewpoint has been open since 18 September 1956.
- Togakushi Jinja (Chūsha) The avenue to the shrine at the top runs between cryptomerias more than 400 years old.
- Togakushi Jinja (Okusha) The last 500 metres run between 200 cedars that are 250 years old, the widest 2.27 metres across.
- Tsumago-juku ‘Do not sell, do not rent, do not destroy’: the local pact behind the national law.
- Ueda Castle In 1600, 2,500 men held back a Tokugawa army of 38,000 for seven days.
- Zenkōji In total darkness beneath the altar you grope for a key: whoever touches it is said to be saved.