Visited Japan last year, the absolute highlight was Nagano. We are doing a return trip next year and wanted to try something similar to Nagano.
What we liked about Nagano:
- Felt like an outsider – It just felt like the locals were living their own lives regardless of whether travelers were there or not. The single highlight of the trip was going to some random bar/restaurant (that didn’t turn us away) near Nagano Station. All of the salarymen came by at the same time, had a beer, smoked cigarettes indoors, ordered a meal, laughed and had a good time, and then everyone left at the same time. It was cool experiencing normal life there, in a bar that looked like it was frozen in time in the late 80s or early 90s.
- Safe racism – Locals are far more cautious of foreigners than in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka. We had restaurants just tell us “No English” and turn us away. When we went up into the mountains, we got plenty of stares because they don’t get as many tourists there. But what was great, if we tried to communicate using Google translate, they were super grateful and appreciative of us trying to embrace their culture and communicate with them. Everyone was super cautious, but was very warm if we managed to crack through. I called this “safe racism”, because they weren’t as accustomed to seeing or interacting with foreigners as we did in the major cities.
- Beautiful nature and hiking – We took some bus that looked like it was from the 80s into the mountains. Passed through a lot of villages on our way, it was a super cool experience. Then we hiked to Togakushi Shrine, stopped by for a traditional lunch on our way back, explored the touristy ninja village, and took a bus back into town. The nature was beautiful, everything was peaceful.
- Busy but not too busy – I loved how Nagano still felt like a city, but it wasn’t a massive metropolis like Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto. Exploring the city was fun, generally people were excited to interact with foreigners. It felt like everything closed down by a certain hour rather than the 24/7 energy of Tokyo.
Pretty much something off the regular route of where everyone goes, has beautiful nature and hiking, and is more cultural.
by Zarski843