Nagano, Japan Travel Blogs

Summer Vacation and Stuff
Sep 4, 2004 (47 photos)

... we did in August was take part in an apple picking trip in Nagano. When we signed up we thought the plan was to drive to Nagano and spend the day picking apples and baking apple pies. Once we were on the bus we realized that apple picking wasn't the main ...

Hello Matsumoto!
Feb 20, 2005 (2 photos)

Stuck with no cash....
May 6, 2007 (13 photos)

... to visit international ATMs nomally found in large banks such as citi bank or the post offices. Not did I know when arriving in Nagano that all the international banks would be shut for three days. Therefore I couldnt go and see the snow monkey, which is ...

From the barrel of a smoking train
Feb 19, 2005

Mountain Fortress
May 4, 2007 (13 photos)

Refreshed after the previuos nights bathing experience, another crack of dawn start to drop my bag in the station locker and a 30 min walk to the castle in Matasumoto. A lot smaller than Himeji-Jo and less impressive, the best thing about the castle is ...

Black castle of the crows in the Japan Alps
May 3, 2004 (5 photos)

... ). In keeping with the attractions of the Japan Alps, today we spent the day in Matsumoto, the second largest city in Nagano prefecture. Matsumoto sits smack in the middle of Nagano, in a wide valley between the mountains. Apparently it can get quite ...

'The Wave' and a distinct lack of money!
May 26, 2009

... , we zoomed off to Obuse, near the Japanese alps, north west of Tokyo. This involved first getting the bullet train to Nagano, then getting a local train to Obuse, the smallest town in that area. It was a very attractive little place, with pretty houses ...

Hot springs, tea tricks and another year older...
Apr 2, 2007 (10 photos)

... . At this point I just want to say that I'm so amazed by all the support I've received during this transition to Japan.  It's been a very interesting trip so far, but one of the most isolating experiences as well.  I'm getting used to my ...

Matsumoto
Oct 18, 2006 (10 photos)

... we headed for the "Japanese Alps". We based ourselves in Matsumoto, and did seperate trips in the National Park. The autumn leaves that Japan is famous for lived up to their reputation. The highest peak we went up was about 2700 metres, but we cheated and ...

Hakone and Nagano
Jan 29, 2008

... the Hakone area in Japan which had some spectactular views of mount Fuji and just some really beautiful scenery all round. Today I went to Nagano and saw the snow monkeys, which were kawaii. Both days I've seen copious amounts of snow. So much snow. It's ...

Tokio-Matsumoto
Apr 3, 2008 (9 photos)

VOI ELÄMÄN KEVÄT! Nyt varoitus kaikille, jotka edes hiukan epäilevät, että saattaisi olla ahtaanpaikan kammoa tai jotain vastaavaa. Nimittäin ei ole sinun mestoja nämä kapselihotellit siinä tapauksessa, you have been warned! Minulla ei mitään tälläisiä ole aiemmin ollut ...

The Japanese Alps
Feb 25, 2006 (4 photos)

... of naked locals. Those are great, we are getting quite into them... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nagano, ospito' nel '98 le Olimpiadi Invernali, ora essendo qui ed essendo italiano la ...

Mountains!
May 26, 2007 (2 photos)

... who wants to walking the rain? ANd we couldn`t see the mountains anyway, so we slept in. Nice. Until 7am. So the Japan Alps were great. Actually, I`d say that the national park was one of the highlights of the trip so far - really spectacular. Although, ...

The first week in Matsumoto
Mar 5, 2007 (5 photos)

... great Balinese restaurant up there.  I think I'll be able to find it, seriously, how many Balinese places can there be in Nagano?  And then the next weekend I think I might shoot down to Tokyo and visit my friend Eric who's been here for three ...

Onward to Matsumoto
Feb 25, 2007 (10 photos)

Today at 4 pm I pulled into the station at Matsumoto and began the journey in my new home and city here in Japan.  But, first let me backtrack.... Training this last week in Okayama was intense, fulfilling and actually a lot of fun.  Five long ...

Kyoto - part two, Hiroshima and Nagano
Jun 25, 2008 (10 photos)

... none.  Lots of deer - one of which tried to eat Julie but I fought him off.  Yesterday, (Hiroshima to Nagano (9hrs on bullet trains - did you know the seats turn round so everyone faces the direction of travel?!). Arrival at our& ...

Again the Alps
Apr 4, 2008 (71 photos)

... Blauer Himmel und Sonnenschein und gleich viel waermer. Schnee habe ich auch keinen gesehen. Morgen geht es via der Winterolympiastadt Nagano (ohne Besuch, es gibt wenig zu sehen, im Winter kann man Skiurlaub machen) dann mit dem Shinkansen nach Tokyo. ...

Land of the Rising Sun
Apr 27, 2007 (10 photos)

... so where to start? Some of you may remember Rebecca, who I met in yoga class last summer? Well, she is teaching here in Japan and she convinced me (without too much difficulty, I must add) to come over and join her, while I knock off a few ...

Eternal salvation is the greatest!!
Mar 12, 2007 (10 photos)

... and walked up to the ticket kiosks.  Here was the challenge:  try to figure out how to buy a round-trip ticket to Nagano.  I figured enough by looking at the sign that it would cost around 1400 yen - not too bad.  I gave up doing it ...

World Heritage Caste in Matsumoto
Apr 5, 2009 (56 photos)

... temple and past some nice old streets in Matsumoto before getting back on the train to our next destination, which was Yudanaka, near Nagano (where the winter Olympics were held in the late 90's).  We stayed in a Ryokan for the first (and only) time ...

Official ALIEN
May 31, 2007 (21 photos)

Yep - I've been here 7 weeks and they have already registered me as an alien! Well, at least it means I can join the library and it is also the first step to getting a work visa. I don't really want to work, but it seems the easiest way to stay here for ...

Matsumotoooo! Matsumotoooo! Matsumotoooo!
Jun 9, 2008 (2 photos)

... the staff mad.  Not much here though, just another castle here amid the mountains.  It is the oldest wooden castle in Japan so one of the "big 4".  One interesting feature is the hidden 3rd floor - not visible from the outside - sneaky.

Winter Break 2005
Jan 8, 2006 (20 photos)

... to Canada in favour of a vacation with some of our friends here. So we booked a 4-day ski trip to Shiga Kogen in Nagano prefecture, the biggest ski resort in the country and the main site for the downhill ski events at the 1998 Olympics. In addition to ...

english ...big in japan...
Aug 11, 2009 (5 photos)

... then i take what they want to get rid of...funny behavior, theoretically it schould be possible to earn money that way. Otherwise japan is nice, very clean, not as ultramodern as you might think, also it seems that outside the citys 1500 dollar a month is ...

Peace, quiet, monkeys (and sake!) in the snow!
Mar 3, 2008 (9 photos)

Just arrived after our bullet train ride, which would you believe was right on time! Very quiet here, quite a culture change from Tokyo. We`ll be here for 3 nights, so will update more later. Off to see some `snow monkeys` tomorrow! Updated 2/3/08... ...

Snow Monkeys and winter hillside treks
Feb 5, 2009 (6 photos)

... this secret can only be obtained from 9-5pm and we naturally got there too late.  I love bullet trains in Japan.  We got from Nagano back to Tokyo in the space of an hour and a half and summing up enough energy we found our ludicrously small ...

Snow Monkeys in Nagano, Japan
Feb 18, 2007 (15 photos)

I'd been wanting to go see the Japanese macaques that soak in the hot springs to stay warm for a long time. Finally, I had the chance with my friends Suzanne and Keiki. A fun weekend!

Olympic city not so exciting
May 27, 2007 (6 photos)

Beck: OK, it`s not like we expected Nagano to be unusually exciting just because they had the Olympics here 9 years ago, but it really is a nothing little city. There`s a nice temple... and that`s it. Oh, there`s the monkey park, which takes about 3 hours ...

Ramblin' in Matsumoto
Mar 24, 2004 (4 photos)

Our first full day in Matsumoto was hope-filled for me. What would it bring that I hadn't had in my life before? As it turns out, an el Camino, an old castle, and a hamster on a leash. We walked from Kevin's house to downtown Matsumoto, which took about ...

STILL a legal alien
Jun 10, 2007 (7 photos)

... heard though, driving a foreign couple 200km out of your way is probably more exciting that an hour of Japanese lovemaking! Nagano was nice enough - nice shrine, lots of funny signs, Balinese restaurant, Raccoon-dog that Myree and Art would have ...