Seniors Enjoy Nagano

Senior travelers visit Nagano, the “roof of Japan”, a mountainous, landlocked prefecture in the center of Japan’s largest island, Honshu. Nagano City is located in central Honshu on the Tenryu River and gradually evolved as a temple town around Zenkō-ji, one of Japan’s most popular temples.

In 1998, the city hosted the Winter Olympic Games, and today some former olympic facilities can still be viewed. In the forested mountains northwest of the city center lies the Togakushi area, the legendary home of the Togakure Ninja School and two universities. Taking a 360 view around Nagano, senior visitors will note nine of the twelve highest mountains of Japan. Now we know why the winter olympic games were held there.

In Honshu seniors can climb the Japanese Alps, soak in an Onsen (spa) and take photos of snow monkeys. These fascinating creatures, the northernmost primates in the world aside from humans, can be viewed up close by any visitor to Japan. The Huffington Post had an article called “hot tubbing with snow monkeys”.

Nagano is a low-rise, spread out city, which enjoys cooler weather in Japan’s hot summers. And check out those scrumptious noodles. Nagano is known for its soba (buckwheat noodles) and you will find many soba restaurants in the area.

 Why Nagano, Seniors Ask?

Every year, thousands of pilgrims descend on Nagano to pay homage at Zenkō-ji, home of a legendary sixth-century image of Buddha. It’s a very handy base for trips into the surrounding mountains. Nagano is only 90 minutes from Tokyo station on the Shinkansen Bullet Train. I really enjoyed riding that train. An awesome experience. JapanVisitor.com provides a list of the main attractions in town and notes that 380,000 Japanese call it home.

The Temple is Nagano’s must-see attraction and is one of Japan’s most-visited temples. The first image of Buddha was housed here at this temple which is also the largest thatched roof in all of Japan. Dating from the 7th century, Zenkoji houses the Ikko-Sanzon Amida Nyorai, according to legend, the first Buddhist image to arrive in Japan (from Korea in the 6th century).

Zenkō-ji’s immense popularity stems partly from its liberal welcoming of pilgrims, regardless of gender, creed or religious belief. Its chief officiants are both a priest and a priestess. The current building, a national treasure, dates from 1707. And wow, Five million pilgrims come to Zenkō-ji every seven years from early April to mid-May to view a copy of Zenkō-ji’s sacred Buddha image – the only time it can be seen.

The line of tourists visiting Nagano does not seem to end throughout the year. They visit scenic spots like Jo’estu Kogen National Park, which has Mt. Asama-yama and Mt. Yokote-yama, Minami Alps National Park, and Chubu Sangaku National Park and you can ski year round.

So talk with your travel agent and make plans to incorporate Nagano into your itinerary while you are in Japan.  You will find it fascinating and well worth a visit.  jeb