Nagano Prefecture (長野県, Nagano-ken) is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,007,682 (as of 1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of 13,561.56 square kilometres (5,236.15 sq mi). Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the northeast, Saitama Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the southeast, Shizuoka Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture to the south, and Gifu Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture to the west.
Nagano is the capital and largest city of Nagano Prefecture, with other major cities including Matsumoto, Ueda, and Iida.: 682 Nagano Prefecture has impressive highland areas of the Japanese Alps, including most of the Hida Mountains, Kiso Mountains, and Akaishi Mountains which extend into the neighbouring prefectures. The abundance of mountain ranges, natural scenic beauty, and rich history has gained Nagano Prefecture international recognition as a world-class winter sports tourist destination, including hosting the 1998 Winter Olympics and a new Shinkansen line to Tokyo.
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In 1998, Winter Olympics took place in Nagano.
In culinary terms, Nagano is best known for its soba (buckwheat noodles), known as Shinano soba (信濃そば) or Shinshū soba (信州そば), with those from Togakushi (, a region of Nagano City) considered by some the best in Japan. Miso (fermented bean paste), a staple of the Japanese diet is also a famous Nagano product. Among foods characteristic to the region are oyaki, small grilled doughballs filled with vegetables or meat, and on the unusual side, basashi (raw horse meat) and inago (locusts).
Apples are one of the special products of Nagano. The taste of Nagano apples is sweet and juicy. The yield of apples in Nagano is the second largest in Japan.
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The Hokuriku Shinkansen line, a branch of the Joetsu Shikansen to Niigata, connects to Tokyo in around 2 hours.
The population of Nagano is 2,214,356.
This area is a highland called Central Highland of Japan ( Chūō-kōchi) surrounded by mountains. Nagano, especially Karuizawa, is a summer resort and many people come from large cities because it's cool in the summer.
