Nagano City is the capital of Nagano Prefecture and was the site of the Olympic Winter Games 1998. The city evolved as temple town around Zenkoji, Nagano's most famous attraction and one of Japan's most popular temples.
Many major Japanese cities have evolved either as castle towns, harbor towns or temple towns. Nagano is a good example of a town which has developed around a temple of great importance. In Nagano's case, that temple was Zenkoji.
One of the most visited temples in Japan, Zenkoji was founded 1400 years ago and stores, what many believe to be the first Buddhist statue ever brought to Japan. A copy of the statue is shown to the public every six years for a few weeks. The next opportunity will be between April 5 and May 31, 2009.
Most recently rebuilt in 1707, Zenkoji's main hall has a tunnel in its basement in which visitors are trying to find and touch the "key to paradise" in complete darkness. The key is attached to the wall and grants enlightenment to anybody who touches it.
Yudanaka and Shibu Onsen are the two most prominent of more than half a dozen hot springs, clustered together in Yamanouchi Town in northern Nagano Prefecture. The area is most famous for its so called "snow monkeys", wild Japanese monkeys who are enjoying the naturally hot waters just like the human visitors.
Jigokudani Yaen Koen or "Jigokudani Monkey Park" is the chosen home of more than one hundred Japanese Macaques, Japan's indigenous monkeys. The park is located in a valley, named "Hell Valley" for the volcanic activities to be observed there, and features a hot spring pool for exclusive use by monkeys.
The monkeys enjoy bathing especially during the cold winter months, when the air temperature drops below freezing and the valley is covered by a thick layer of snow. But even in the summer they take occasional baths, sometimes allured by food thrown into the pool by park wardens.
Hot springs for use by humans can be found further down the valley. The Korakukan, a wooden onsen ryokan, stands just below the monkey park, while dozens of ryokan with hot spring baths are located in and around Yudanaka and Shibu Onsen. Shibu Onsen with its narrow streets offers a particularly nice atmosphere.
Several ski resorts are located not far from Yudanaka, mainly in Shiga Kogen (Shiga Highland), the site of some olympic ski competitions in 1998. If you continue beyond Shiga Kogen, you will get to the spectacular volcanic landscape around Mount Shirane and eventually to Kusatsu Onsen.
Hakuba, located in the Northern Alps of Nagano Prefecture, is one of Japan's most popular ski areas, offering good snow and several large ski resorts to choose from.
During the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, Hakuba gained world wide recognition as it hosted several olympic competitions, including alpine (downhill, super g, and combination) and nordic (ski jump and cross country) events.
Today some of the olympic facilities remain in use, such as the Hakuba Ski Jumping Stadium. There is also the Hakuba Olympic Village Memorial Hall, a small but interesting museum, located within walking distance of the ski jump.
Hakuba can be reached relatively easily not only from Tokyo, but also from the Nagoya and Kansai regions. While it is possible to do a day trip from Tokyo, Hakuba is best enjoyed overnight. In addition to skiing and snowboarding, there are hot springs (onsen) available around town.
Seven of the resorts (Happoone, Goryu, Hakuba 47, Iwatake, Hakuba Highland, Minekata and Sanosaka) have teamed up to offer the "Hakuba Happy 7" package, which gives you two 1-day lift tickets to be used at any of the participating resorts. The package costs 8500 yen or 7700 yen if you are staying at a local hotel.
