NAGANO HOTELS & TRAVEL GUIDES
Nagano Japan
Guide
including transport to
Nagano, Nagano attractions including
Zenkoji Temple, ski resorts
and Nagano
hotels (Save up to 70% on Nagano Hotels reservations).
 Nagano (長野市) is the capital city of Nagano
Prefecture, situated near the junction of the Chikuma River and the
Sai River on the island of Honshu, in the Chubu region of
Japan.
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Nagano Ski Resorts
Located one hours
drive west of Nagano is Hakuba - One
of the best ski resorts in Japan. Hakuba
features 14 ski areas joining together to form six large ski
resorts. Hakuba is ideal for skiing and
snowboarding.
Nagano was the host city to the 1998 Winter Olympics and thus is
clearly related to winter tourism activities. The Olympics also
brought with them new infrastructure including a
Shinkansen link to
Tokyo.
As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 361,221 with a
density of 893.34 persons per kmē. The total land area is 404.35 kmē.
The origin of Nagano was a small town around it.
Not far from Nagano is
Jigokudani Monkey Park where you
can see the famous Japanese Snow Monkeys in winter taking a hot spring bath.
Zenkoji Temple
Nagano is also famous for a 7th century Buddhist
temple, Zenkoji (善光寺).Nagano city, established in 1897, was once a
town built around the temple. Zenkoji is perhaps most famous for its
involvement in the battles between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen
in the 16th century, when it served as one of Kenshin's bases of
operations.
Zenkoji Buddhist temple Nagano by
Fg2
Zenkoji belongs to both the Tendai and Jodo Shinshu schools of
Buddhism, and is co-managed by 25 priests from the former School and
14 from the latter. It enshrines images of the Amida Buddha, the
primary one of which is a hibutsu, a hidden Buddha, which is not
normally shown to the public. This hibutsu is rumored to be the first
Buddha statue to ever be brought ot Japan. There is also a passage
under the temple where worshippers, in complete darkness, try to touch
a key hanging on the wall in order to gain enlightenment. The key
represents the Key to the Western Paradise of the Amida Buddha.
The hidden Buddha statue, or hibutsu, is shown once every six or seven
years, and attracts many worshippers. The last time it was on display,
in 2003, Zenkoji joined with Motozenkoji and the Zenkoji of Kofu,
Yamanashi Prefecture, in discussions. The hibutsu will be on display
next in 2010.
History of Zenkoji Temple
Zenkoji was originally built during the reign of the
Emperor Kimmei, in the 6th century, but was moved several times before
coming to its present location. The current site, in what was then
Motozen village, was originally called Motozenkoji.
At the end of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), many temples copied
Zenkoji's famous Buddha statue, and many new temples were built around
the country calling themselves 'Zenkoji' or 'Shin-Zenkoji' (New
Zenkoji).
In the Sengoku period, when Zenkoji became involved in the struggles
between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen, the chief abbot was afraid
it would be burnt to the ground. He built a new Zenkoji in what is now
Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, which still stands. In 1598, Toyotomi
Hideyoshi moved the hibutsu to Kyoto, and then
to Shinano. The hibutsu and the Zenkoji temple itself have since been
moved once more back to Nagano.
Zenkoji Buddhist temple Nagano by
Fg2
Nagano Transport
By train
The Nagano Shinkansen runs from
Tokyo, with the fastest trains taking
around 90 minutes. Nagano is also about the same distance from
Nagoya,
and the "Shinano" limited express makes the run 13 times a day.
By bus
Highway buses depart from the terminal in
Shinjuku. The trip takes
around four hours, and the fare is Y7200 round trip, about half the
cost of the Shinkansen.
Nagano Food
The best soba (buckwheat noodles) in Japan is made
in the area around Nagano (in particular, Togakushi just to the
north). A common condiment for soba is shichimi ("seven flavors"),
consisting of ground chili peppers, sesame, citrus, and other spices;
this is available around Zenkoji in distinctive small tin containers.
(Getting
to Nagano and Nagano Food section
based on Wikitravel article
by Wikitravel users Jpatokal. Based on work by Paul N. Richter. Based on work by Anonymous user(s) of
Wikitravel. Article used under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.)
Temple section of
Article and map based on
Wikipedia article and used under the
GNU Free Documentation License)
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