Nagano Hidden Gems

Nagano is the highest prefecture in Japan and the only one bordering eight others, which historically made it a crossroads rather than a destination. The old Nakasendo highway ran through the Kiso valley connecting Edo and Kyoto, and Tsumago and Narai survive as post towns because the railway and then the expressway went elsewhere; Tsumago banned power lines and parked cars from its main street in the 1970s, which is why it photographs the way it does. Zenkoji in Nagano City predates the split of Japanese Buddhism into sects and therefore belongs to none of them, which is why it has drawn pilgrims of every school for over a thousand years. West of the city the Northern Alps rise past 3,000 metres, and Kamikochi, the valley at their foot, is closed to private cars entirely. Altitude runs through everything here: the growing season is short, the air is thin, and the nights are cold even in August.