Nagano
Prefecture

Nagano is located in the Chubu Region of the main island of Honshu. Nagano may sound familiar to you. It’s because it hosted Winter Olympics in 1998. Nagano is known for Soba noodles, and each area has its unique soba. Like Niigata, Nagao is blessed with great rice, a cold climate, and crystal clear water from the highest mountain range in Japan. All make great Sake. There are 74 Sake breweries in this prefecture, and it is the 2nd largest in the nation. Here you find rustic villages of the Samurai era, such as Tsumago and Narai. You can meet snow monkeys bathing in Onsen, a hot spring. It’s truly a charming region. Nagano offers one of the best soba noodles, sake, Shinshu salmon, all kinds of fruits like apples and persimmons. The Capital is Nagano City.