Nagano City 長野市

Snow-rich prefectural capital and pilgrimage centre with 368,000 inhabitants, located in a high basin northwest of Tôkyô. Nagano, still called Zenkô-ji until 1890, was founded in front of the temple of the same name, Zenkô-ji, as a so-called monzen-machi, “village developing in front of the gate”. The city was the main venue for the “18th Winter Olympic Games” and the “7th Winter Paralympic Games” in 1998. It hosted also the “8th Special Olympics World Winter Games” in 2005. Nagano also serves as a gateway to surrounding tourist destinations.