Nagano city is the capital of Nagano prefecture. It is the main access point for the Japanese Alps and due to its higher altitude make it a perfect home for one of its greatest and cutest attractions, the snow monkey.

Nagano also has a claim to fame after being the host city of the 1998 Winter Olympics. However what gives the people of Nagano most pride is being home to one of Japans national treasures a 7th century buddhist temple, Zenko-ji. The city from the very early Nara Period was developed as a temple town but as time passed it was also used readily as a post station or resting location during the age of warring states or otherwise known as the Sengoku period.