Nagano, Japan - Work Abroad

Jigokudani Koen - otherwise known as The Monkey Park! This is a world famous park housing Japanese Macaques. See my Monkey Park entry for more details!
Zenkoji Temple - This is a famous temple listed as a World Heritage Site. It is located in Nagano City. Please see my Zenkoji entry for more details!
Hakuba - Ski Resort and home to the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Matsumoto - the second largest city in Nagano Prefecture. A beautiful castle town.

Quick Tips:

Nagano is not a very high priority on most peoples' trips to Japan which is rather unfortunate as this prefecture has much to offer. If you are a mountain climbing, photography, skiing or snowboarding enthusiast then Nagano is the place for you! Take a look at my other entries to see more about what you can experience in Nagano Prefecture.

Best Way To Get Around:

Getting to Nagano

When I came to Nagano I was coming from Kyushu in the south. I came by Shinkansen train from Kokura to Shin Osaka station and then changed trains to another Shinkansen that went to Nagoya. In Nagoya I changed to a JR train. There is an express service between Nagoya and Nagano. This trip cost me just over 19,000 yen. Nagano is also connected to Tokyo by Shinkansen which costs just over 7000 Yen one way.. The closest airport is in nearby Matsumoto city, which is about an hour south of Nagano by train (1200 Yen) or car.

Getting Around Nagano City

Nagano has the JR train service to the outer suburbs. Closer in the city you can get around by NagaDen Train or take a NagaDen Bus. Taxis are as expensive in Nagano as elsewhere in Japan.

This place has rooms with bunk beds or Japanese futons. The cost was 4500 Yen per person per night. Breakfast was available for another 1000 Yen each. We piled four people into the Japanese style rooms and it was very comfortable. The breakfast was delicious but I think too expensive.

Blue Winds is close to the skifields (Goryu and Hakuba 21), Kurobe Dam, Hakuba Ski Jump Facilities and Onsen (Hot Spring). They have a Tennis Court (for use in summer) and a dining/lounge area.

Sam's was one of the first restaurants I visited in Nagano. I liked the Indian style music they played in the background. The decor was very South-East Asian to match the cusine.

The tables are equipped with cooking plates so that you can cook your own yakiniku (Korean style BBQ). There are seperate booths for privacy. Very modern facilities and one of the largest dining areas I have seen in Japan (outside of hotels!).

My favourite menu items were Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Ceasar Salad, Fried `Ebi`, Yakiniku and Sams' groovy non-alcoholic coctails.

Dating from 1707, Zenkoji is a designated National Treasure. Zenkoji is an important pilgrim's destination and remains an authentic centre of worship in Japan. One of my favourite things to do in Nagano in the evening is to take a walk through Zenkoji Temple. It is such a peaceful place.

There is a pitch black tunnel underneath the Main Hall where you can walk around. It is said that this is the temples "place for enlightenment" and that all people here are equal. There is a key to Paradise that you can feel for whilst in the tunnel. The idea is that you should free yourself of worldly thoughts and engage in self-reflection.

You can catch a 100 yen bus from Nagano Station or it is a pleasant walk through the shopping area up a small hill to the temple.

To enter the Main Hall (and tunnel) and to view an old prayer wheel and a museum underneath the main pagoda a fee of 500 yen is charged. A brochure in English will be provided. Entrance into the grounds of the temple is free.

Cherry Blossom season in Japan is in Spring during the month of April generally (although it varies across the country). I celebrated the coming of Spring, Japanese style, on 15 April 2001 at a hanami (flower viewing) party in Ojoji, Nagano.

To celebrate Hanami you should get a group of people together and bring along a BBQ and some alcohol. Next you have to find a cherry tree that is unoccupied and set up. There are popular Hanami spots all over Japan but any Cherry Tree will do the trick! You should then proceed to get very drunk and have a lot of fun talking and laughing with the locals!

This park is world famous and often referred to as `The Monkey Park`. It has Japanese Macaques (the most northern most monkeys in the world) bathing in a hot-spring in winter to keep warm. The monkey`s seem oblivious to the photographers and tourists that flock to see them. You can walk around very close to the macaques and watch them interact with each other. They have a warden nearby who watches over them and you! He will throw grains around the hot-spring area for the monkeys to forage for. I was able to witness many examples of the monkey behaviour (such as grooming and fighting) that I had studied about.

HOW TO GET THERE: Take the Nagano Dentetsu train to Yudanaka Station in Yamanouchi (40 mins express train). Then take the Kambayashi bus (220 Yen) and get off at Kambayashi Snow Park. You can then walk for about 20 mins (good walking shoes essential) through a small forest. Admission to the park is 500 Yen. TEL: 0269-33-4379

When I first arrived in Nagano it was the middle of winter and very cold. There was snow everywhere! It is my first time to live in such conditions so it was a real experience for me and so different to what I was used to.

I live in a place called Ojoji in the northern part of Nagano up in the hills. There are very narrow roads to get up here and I am sure that it snows here more than in the central city area. Driving a car was an interesting experience. If you are ever planning to drive in Nagano in winter you should know that they do not plough the roads and many roads are not treated with salt or other substances so you end up with very slippery roads. It isn't necessary to use chains all the time (I managed to not have to use them the whole winter).

Here are a few pictures of some of my memories of winter in Nagano...
Me shovelling snow in front of my house
The view from my bedroom window
A lion sculpture in the grounds of Zenkoji
The snow settling on the trees in my back garden