Where is Nagano?
Nagano City is located about 233km northwest of
Tokyo in the northern part of the Nagano Prefecture, near the Alps and some of the highest mountains in Japan.
Toyko to Nagano
The bullet train is the easiest way to travel from Tokyo to Nagano. The Nagano Shinkansen Asama (the Nagano bullet train) takes about 90 minutes from Tokyo to Nagano. Train departures are frequent (you can check schedules on Japan Navitime) and you can check out the
Japan rail page for information on the train system.
If you’re coming from Narita Airport, you can catch the Narita Express to Tokyo Station (and then the bullet train to Nagano). Alternatively catch the Keiser Skyliner to Ueno and then the bullet train to Nagano. This option tends to be a little faster but check google maps or Japan Navitime for travel times.
If you’re heading from Narita or Haneda Airport straight to one the major ski resorts such as Nozawa Onsen, Shiga Kogen, Hakuba or Myoko Kogen, you can get an
airport transfer bus with Nagano Snow Shuttle.
Getting to the Nagano Ski Resorts
There’s an abundance of
Nagano ski resorts (or at least ski resorts that are close to Nagano City). If you want to sample lots of Nagano ski resorts, having a car affords the greatest flexibility. There are lots of
car rental outlets on either side of the Nagano station, and you can get a GPS with English.
Otherwise being on a
multi-resort tour includes the transport to the ski resorts, which makes life very easy, and there are other bonuses such as being shown the best powder stashes.
Otherwise if you’re just heading to one or two of the main ski resorts, it’s easy enough to use trains and buses to get there. For some of the smaller ski areas, it is possible to get there via public transport, although having your own wheels is much easier.
Northeast of Nagano
Many of these ski resorts are near the towns of Iiyama,
Yudanaka and
Shibu Onsen.
East
North
Northwest
- Togakushi: 24km northeast – easiest to get there via car.
West
And if you’ve got wheels, it’s only 100km to drive to Yuzawa and the many
Yuzawa ski resorts.
Travel Around Nagano
If you don’t have a car, you can get to lots of places around Nagano via the local train system and buses. Ask at the Nagano Information Centre at the train station if you want more information.