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Less than 30 minutes walk from Nagano Station, Zenkoji is one of Japan’s oldest and most important Buddhist temples. Built in dedication to the first known Buddhist statue to be brought to Japan, the...

Sitting quietly in the mountains bordering Nagano City and within the larger Myoko-Togakushi Renzan National Park, Togakushi is home to some of Japan’s most important Shinto shrines set among a...

Around 12km to the south of central Nagano City, Matsushiro is a small town known firstly for its samurai heritage while also home to an open-secret beneath its feet. Once the stronghold of the rulin...

The Japanese dedication to refined beauty and detail can be seen in many aspects of life but none more so than through its many traditional pastimes and activities. These experiences range from the s...

The world will turn its focus to Japan this autumn, as it hosts the Rugby World Cup from September 20th to November 2nd 2019. With 13 host venues spread throughout Japan – from Hokkaido in the nor...

Long known for its huge snowfall and world-class skiing, Nagano was the proud host of the 1988 Winter Olympics – a legacy which lives on today! As the first Games to include snowboarding as a medaled...

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...

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...