Surrounded by mountains and centered around a lake

there are plenty of things to do all year round

Snow activities dominate in the winter

hiking and camping are popular in the warmer months

while local delicacies and traditional crafts can be enjoyed throughout the year

My name is Raina Ong, staff writer for japan-guide.com

Here's the trip itinerary

From Tokyo we'll take the shinkansen to Nagano

where we'll transfer to the Shinano Railway to Kurohime Station in Shinanomachi

First, we'll first visit a haiku museum, and then a knife forge

For lunch we'll make our own soba noodles

and afterwards we'll spend the afternoon snowshoeing at a local ski park

before going to our accomodation for the night.

Day two will be spent fishing in the morning

then having lunch at a local restaurant and guesthouse called Lamp

and finally visiting a sake brewery before catching our train back home

So follow along as I experience an undiscovered part of Nagano

the town of Shinanomachi.

Day 1

We're here in Shinanomachi where we'll be for two days

and follow along as we look forward to wintery views and local delights

One of the traditional crafts that Shinanomachi is known for is knives

Known as “shinshu uchihamono”

Now we're at a forge and we're going to see how one is made

We're at the Kurohime Fairytale Museum where I'm going snowshoeing for the first time

So my rental gear I've got from the rental shop over there

And on this trip we're going to the lake and back

Kanpai!

We're staying at a resort hotel in Shinanomachi tonight

Where there's ski slopes out at the back, as well as an onsen, and an indoor pool.

And tomorrow I'm going to explore Nojiri Lake as well as a sake brewery.

Hope I don't freeze!

Day 2

There are a bunch of activities that you can do on Nojiri Lake

and in the winter right now wakasagi fishing is one of them

That's the boat I'm going to go on so follow me

I'm at a local sake brewery in Shinanomachi

And I'm going to learn about how sake is made

And hopefully I'll get to taste some at the end

Thus ends my short visit to Shinanomachi

one that you also could do as a weekend trip

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Happy travels