Nagano

Nagano (長野市 -shi) is the capital city of Nagano prefecture, situated near the junction of the Chikuma River and the Sai River on the island of Honshu, Japan.

As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 361,221 with a density of 893.34 persons per km². The total land area is 404.35 km².

Nine of the twelve highest mountains in Japan can be found in this inland prefecture. Nagano is also the prefecture which is bordered by the highest number of other prefectures in Japan and it contains the location which is the furthest point from the ocean anywhere in Japan. Matsumoto, Nagano was the host city to the 1998 Winter Olympics. A famous 7th century Buddhist temple, Zenkoji, is located here. The origin of Nagano was a small town around it.

The city was founded on April 1, 1897.

External Links

• Official website in Japanese\n