4 Best Things to Do in Nagano City | JAPAN and more
Book Confidently with our Flexible Booking Policy. LEARN MORE
Book Confidently with our Flexible Booking Policy.

LEARN MORE

JAPAN and more
  • Japan Tours
  • Services
  • CONTACT
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

Nagano City

Home > Destinations > Nagano City

Nagano city began as a temple town around 1300 years ago during the Nara period. It has a population of about 375,000 and is well-known for hosting the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympic Games.

The JR Nagano Station is a major stop on the bullet train line. From Tokyo to Nagano, it takes 90 minutes on the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train.

There are many things to do in Nagano prefecture, such as visiting hot springs, skiing, and hiking. But don’t miss these things to do in Nagano city.

4 Best Things to Do in Nagano City

Zenkoji Temple – Nagano, Japan

Zenkoji Temple in Nagano City

1. Visit Zenkoji Temple

Zenkoji Temple, founded in 642, is one of Japan’s most important temples. It is believed that you must visit Zenkoji Temple at least once in your life.

The temple holds the first Buddha statue brought to Japan. It came from India in the 6th century when Buddhism was first introduced to Japan. It has been hidden in the temple since 654 and no one has ever seen it. There is a replica on display every 6 years in the spring.

Zenkoji Temple – Nagano, Japan

Zenkoji Temple

The main hall, or Hondo, is over 300 years old with the most recent construction in 1707.

Sanmon Gate at Zenkoji – Nagano, Japan

Sanmon Gate Zenkoji Temple

The Sanmon Gate dates back to 1750.

Inside the Main Hall at Zenkoji – Nagano, Japan

Zenkoji Temple Main Hall

2. Attend a Buddhist Morning Ceremony

The highlight of a visit is the morning ceremony, called Osaji. The morning ceremony takes place at sunrise 365 days a year, and has been for over a thousand years. The monks pray for the salvation of the pilgrims visiting the temple and of the world.

The exact time of the morning ceremony changes every day because it is based on the sunrise. Depending on the time of year, it could start anytime between 5:30 am and 7:00 am. The website for Zenkoji Temple posts the times.

Fly and Stay Cheap

Morning Ceremony at Zenkoji Temple – Nagano, Japan

Osaji at Zenkoji Temple

Before the ceremony, you can line up outside the main hall and get blessed by the head monk as he makes his way to the temple.

Shichimi Togarashi – Nagano, Japan

Shichimi Togarashi

3. Buy Shichimi Togarashi

Nagano is famous for Shichimi Togarashi, which is a mixture of seven spices. It was first used in the 17th century as an herbal medicine.

There are still three traditional manufacturers of the spice located at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo, Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, and Zenkoji Temple in Nagano.

The manufacturer in Nagano, Yawataya Isogoro was founded in 1725. The spice contains chili pepper, ginger, shiso, Japanese pepper, dried orange peel, black sesame seed, and hemp seed.

Oyaki Local Cuisine – Nagano, Japan

Nagano Oyaki

4. Eat Nagano Cuisine

Nagano Oyaki is a local dish of dumplings filled with seasonal vegetables, such as local pickles, miso flavored eggplant, shredded daikon radish, and mashed pumpkin.

Shinshu Soba – Nagano, Japan

Nagano Soba

The area is well known for soba. It has the second highest production of soba in Japan. The Nagano variation of soba is called Shinshu Soba and has a combination of buckwheat and wheat flour, with at least 40% buckwheat flour.

Nagano is the biggest producer of miso in Japan. You’ll find miso marinades, dips, and even ice cream.

Ready for the Trip of a Lifetime?

Experience Japanese culture, travel like a local and get to know the real Japan on one of our Small Group Tours.

See Tours

More Destinations You Might Like

Koyasan Danjo GaranShutterstock

Koyasan

Itsukushima Shrine

Hiroshima

Shopping and Night Life area of Dontonburi and Shinsaibashi in Osaka©JAPAN and more

Osaka

Share this article
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links in this article. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on these links, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. We have no association with the companies or the products reviewed. These are our own opinions of top travel products.

  • Fukuoka
  • Hakuba Valley
  • Himeji Castle
  • Hiroshima
  • Kanazawa
  • Kiso Valley
  • Koyasan
  • Kyoto
  • Lake Kawaguchi
  • Matsumoto
  • Mount Fuji
  • Nagano City
  • Nagoya
  • Naoshima
  • Nara
  • Nikko
  • Okayama
  • Okinawa Island
  • Osaka
  • Sapporo
  • Takayama
  • Tokyo
  • Uji
  • Yokohama

ABOUT

Bex and Shawn in Nara

Becki & Shawn
Japan Travel Specialist

Hi, we’re Becki and Shawn! We love Japan and are truly passionate about Japan and Japan travel.

We’ve lived, worked, and traveled in Japan for 20+ years, so we know where to go, what to see, and how to get there. Join us in Japan for an adventure of a lifetime!

SEE OUR JAPAN TOURS
jrpass
Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com

SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW

Travel Japan Like a Pro

Get a FREE Checklist to help you plan your trip.
Plus, get email updates with Japan Travel Tips.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About

Becki & Shawn in Nara, Japan

Becki and Shawn
Japan Travel Specialists

Hi, we’re Becki and Shawn! We love Japan and are truly passionate about Japan and Japan travel.

We’ve lived, worked, and traveled in Japan for 20+ years, so we know where to go, what to see, and how to get there. Join us in Japan for an adventure of a lifetime!

Accreditations

Japan Travel Specialist Advanced Certificate
ARC Verified Travel Consultant Certification
State of California Seller of Travel Certificate of Registration
JATA Membership Certification

SERVICES

  • Japan Tours
  • Services
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

JAPAN INFO

  • Destinations
  • Experiences
  • Travel Tips
  • Blog

Reviews & Recommendations

See our TripAdvisor Reviews
See our Google Reviews
See our Facebook Reviews
Copyright - © 2016 - 2025,  JAPAN and more  |  Privacy Policy  |  Disclosure  |  Website Services by Weldon Websites
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Close

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refuseing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy

Travel Japan Like a Pro

Get our FREE Checklist to help you plan your trip.
Plus, get email updates with Japan Travel Tips.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
No spam, ever. You can unsubscribe any time.

Travel Japan Like a Pro Checlist