7 Temples & Shrines Suwa Taisha (Suwa Grand Shrine) Brian Wood-Koiwa Suwa Taisha (Suwa Grand Shrine) houses the four largest logs of the Onbashira festival and a tree that snores when it lowers its..
Culture Karuizawa Shaw Memorial Chapel Tomoko Kamishima Owning a summer cottage in Karuizawa is now a status symbol in Japanese. But the first cottage was built by a conservative foreign..
Festivals Aniera Festa 2026 Mid Sep Aniera Festa, Nagano Prefecture’s largest outdoor anime song festival, has become a must-visit event for fans of anisong and J..
Culture Ninja Trick Mansion Sherilyn Siy The Ninja Trick Mansion is one of the attractions of the Togakushi Folk Museum, which is nestled in the forested mountains across..
Culture Suwa Grand Shrine in Nagano Elena Lisina Suwa Taisha is the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan and the head shrine of the Suwa network of shrines, composed of more than ten thousand..
Historical A Hokusai on the Ceiling Robert Grey Ganshoin Temple, located in northern Nagano's town of Obuse, contains one of the best kept local secrets around -- a large..
Museums Being a Ninja in Togakushi Kenny King Hin Choi It's not easy to be a ninja, but here in Togakushi you can learn about their stories and try to be one.
Museums The Honjin & Waki-Honjin of Tsumago Stefanus Husin A walk through a small segment of history.