Nagano Hidden Gems
일본 알프스가 자리한 산과 온천의 고장. 세계에서 유일하게 온천에 몸을 담그는 야생 원숭이, 국보 마쓰모토성, 해발 1,500m의 가미코치까지. 젠코지의 신앙과 신슈 소바까지 더해져, 사계절이 뚜렷하고 풍경이 광활하다.
29 spots
Zenkoji Temple — Pilgrimage to the Hidden Buddha
Zenkoji Temple (善光寺) guards Japan's first Buddhist statue, a golden Amida triad carried from Korea in 552 AD. The statue…
Matsumoto Castle — Black Fortress of the Alps
Matsumoto Castle (松本城) is one of Japan's five National Treasure castles and the oldest surviving original wooden donjon…
Kamikochi Valley — Alpine Sanctuary at 1,500m
Kamikochi sits at 1,500 meters in a glacial valley carved between 3,000-meter peaks. The road in closes mid-November thr…
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park — Wild Macaques in Hot Springs
Jigokudani Yaen-koen (地獄谷野猿公苑, 'Hell Valley Wild Monkey Park') is the only place in the world where wild Japanese macaqu…
Daio Wasabi Farm — Japan's Largest Wasabi Fields
Daio Wasabi Farm (大王わさび農場) is Japan's largest wasabi cultivation facility, covering 15 hectares of terraced fields fed b…
Nozawa Onsen — Ski Village with 13 Public Bathhouses
Nozawa Onsen (野沢温泉) is a 700-year-old hot spring village that doubles as one of Japan's premier ski resorts. The village…
Shibu Onsen — Nine Bathhouse Pilgrimage Town
Shibu Onsen has operated for 1,300 years as a hot spring village, and walking its cobblestone alleys at night under gas…
Bessho Onsen — Kamakura of Shinano
Bessho Onsen (別所温泉) is a quiet hot spring town with a remarkable concentration of Kamakura-period (1185–1333) temples, e…
Hakuba Valley — 1998 Olympic Ski Resort
Hakuba Valley (白馬) is a collection of 10 interconnected ski resorts in the Northern Japanese Alps, host of alpine skiing…
Shinshu Soba — Nagano's Buckwheat Noodle Tradition
Nagano Prefecture (historically called Shinano or Shinshu) is Japan's premier soba-producing region, thanks to its high…
Obuse Chestnut Sweets — 200-Year Confectionery Heritage
Obuse grows chestnuts the way Napa grows grapes — with obsessive attention to terroir, varietal selection, and centuries…
Shinshu Apples — Orchard-Fresh Fruit Capital
Nagano Prefecture is Japan's second-largest apple producer (after Aomori), with the Nagano Basin's climate and volcanic…
Nagano Wine Country — Cool-Climate Viticulture
Nagano Prefecture has emerged as one of Japan's premier wine regions, with its high elevation (600–900m), volcanic soil,…
Tsumago-juku — Edo-Period Post Town Frozen in Time
Tsumago was a post station on the Nakasendo, the mountain road that linked Kyoto and Tokyo during the Edo period. When t…
Magome-juku — Hillside Post Town on the Nakasendo
Magome-juku (馬籠宿) is another Nakasendo post town, built on a steep hillside with dramatic views of the Kiso Valley and M…
Nakamachi Street — Merchant Quarter with Black-Walled Kura
Nakamachi (中町通り) is Matsumoto's former merchant district, lined with traditional kura storehouses built in the late 1800…
Matsumoto City Museum of Art — Yayoi Kusama's Hometown
Matsumoto City Museum of Art (松本市美術館) is dedicated primarily to Yayoi Kusama, the avant-garde artist known for her polka…
Hokusai Museum — Master's Final Years in Obuse
The Hokusai-kan Museum (北斎館) in Obuse displays works by ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) created during the…
Hotaka Mountain Range — Alpine Climbing Challenge
The Hotaka Range runs along the spine of the Northern Japanese Alps, a series of 3,000-meter peaks connected by knife-ed…
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route — Roof of Japan Traverse
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route (立山黒部アルペンルート) is a 90km mountain sightseeing route crossing the Northern Japanese Alps…
Karuizawa Resort Town — Mountain Retreat Since 1886
Karuizawa (軽井沢) is Japan's original resort town, established in 1886 when Canadian missionary Alexander Croft Shaw built…
Shiraito Falls — Silk-Thread Waterfall in Forest
Shiraito Falls (白糸の滝, 'White Thread Falls') is a 70-meter-wide curtain waterfall where hundreds of thin streams cascade…
Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre — Kengo Kuma Architecture
The Matsumoto Performing Arts Centre (まつもと市民芸術館, opened 2004) is a striking contemporary building designed by architect…
Togakushi Shrine — Five Shrines in Mountain Forest
Togakushi Shrine (戸隠神社) is a complex of five Shinto shrines scattered across the forested slopes of Mount Togakushi, con…
Utsukushigahara Open-Air Museum — Sculpture at 2,000m
Utsukushigahara Open-Air Museum (美ヶ原高原美術館) is Japan's highest art museum, located at 2,000 meters elevation on the Utsuk…
Nagano Oyaki — Steamed Mountain Dumplings
Oyaki (おやき) are Nagano's traditional steamed dumplings made from buckwheat or wheat dough filled with local vegetables,…
Happo Pond — Mirror Lake Reflecting the Alps
Happo Pond (八方池) is a small alpine pond at 2,060 meters elevation on the Happo-one ski resort's summer hiking trail, fam…
Yudanaka Onsen — Gateway to Snow Monkeys
Yudanaka Onsen (湯田中温泉) is a traditional hot spring town serving as the gateway to Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. The town…
Matsumoto Timepiece Museum — Japan's Mechanical Clocks
The Matsumoto Timepiece Museum (松本市時計博物館) houses one of Japan's largest collections of mechanical clocks, watches, and t…