NAGANO Nagano City & Around Internationally renowned as host city for the 1998 Winter Olympics and hot spring-bathing snow monkeys

Nagano is the capital of Nagano Prefecture and its most northern transport hub. Stay in the city or take a short journey out of the center for world-class ski resorts, snow monkeys and other attractions that include a ninja park and a densely forested shrine.

From Tokyo, Nagano City is a straight 80-minute shot on the Hokuriku Shinkansen. From Osaka and Kyoto, take the bullet train to Nagoya and connect to JR's Wide View Shinano express service.

Practitioners of ninjutsu's shadow arts also called Togakushi home. You can delve into that history at the Togakure Ninja Museum , with antique weapon exhibits and a “ninja house” replete with trap doors and secret passageways. You can even try out your shuriken-throwing skills at their target range. Kids will enjoy the nearby Togakure Ninja Village theme park where they can don ninja outfits and slink their way through attractions like forested obstacle courses and a blow dart range.

Don't forget to try Tokagushi's famous buckwheat soba noodles while in town. There are plenty of shops to choose from.

Charming Obuse, about 20 kilometers northeast of Nagano , is one of the prefecture's most picturesque small towns. Streets in the center are laid with blocks of chestnut wood for slow strolls. Take time to drop into the refurbished townscape's many shops and cafes.

Obuse is famous for chestnuts, and its cafes offer amazing chestnut confectionaries and cakes. Local sake is also popular, with some brews still hand crafted in cedar barrels. Stop by Masuichi-Ichimura brewery or Matsubaya for samples.

Another Obuse claim to fame was hosting the master woodblock artist Katsushika Hokusai for a time in the early 1800s. Its Hokusaikan Museum is a treasure trove of his work, including prints, scrolls and two intricately decorated portable shrines. Don't miss the ceiling he painted at Ganshoin Temple about a kilometer away.

A little further down the train line from Obuse is Yudanaka , a small hot spring town from where you can catch a bus to visit the local hot spring-bathing monkeys. They are at their best in winter when Jigokudani —the valley that is their home—is covered in snow, but they are equally active and just as cute in any season.

If you plan to stay overnight in the area, choose from one of the many traditional hot spring hotels that line the main street running through Shibu Onsen .

The Nagano Prefectural Art Museum hosts the work of artists with ties to the prefecture; the attached Higashiyama Kaii Gallery has permanent and rotating exhibitions of Hokusai's work.

Zenkoji Temple, near Nagano Station, has a history of about 1,400 years and is the largest wooden structure in eastern Japan. The present main hall was built about 300 years ago. There are as many as 39 sub-temples on the grounds, called shukubo, that allow visitors to experience an overnight temple stay.