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The Ise Grand Shrine is the most important Shinto complex in Japan. Dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu-Omikami, the complex is made-up of multiple shrines—a total of 125—and other structures cent...

Located on the Kii Peninsula, the ‘Kumano Kodo’ is one of only two – along with the Camino de Santiago in Spain – religious pilgrimage routes in the world to have been afforded World Heritage status....

Known as ‘shukubo’ in Japanese, temple lodgings often surround important temples throughout Japan. Intended to provide accommodation to pilgrims, most shukubo are open to guests of any faith or b...

Visiting and staying in a traditional ‘onsen’ (hot spring) town is something of a must-do activity when coming to Japan. Making use of Japan’s abundance of natural thermal water, many hot spring town...

Now known as the ‘Minami Nagano Sports Park’, the Olympic Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the XVIII Olympic Winter Games. While the stadium and Olympic Cauldreron remain, the sta...

Especially in winter, when people are in Shiga Kogen to ski, snowboard, or enjoy other snow activities, you can strain your muscles quite a bit. Chalet Shiga, located in the middle of the ski resorts ...

Located around 5km from Nagano Station and accessible using public buses, M-Wave was one of several Olympic venues used in the city during the 1998 Winter Games. During the Olympics, M-Wave hosted sp...

The distinctively named ‘Big Hat’ hosted ice hockey during the 1998 Winter Olympics. Today, the venue remains one of the busiest in Nagano City regularly hosting big events including music performanc...

During the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, The White Ring hosted figure skating and short-track speed skating. Today, the venue continues to house an ice-skating rink, open to the public. Since Nagano hos...