What's on in Nagano, Japan through the year

Peak crowds — Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts, Snow monkeys in the hot spring

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts (10 Dec – 10 Apr (usually)), Snow monkeys in the hot spring (15 Dec – 15 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts, Snow monkeys in the hot spring

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts (10 Dec – 10 Apr (usually)), Snow monkeys in the hot spring (15 Dec – 15 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts, Snow monkeys in the hot spring

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts (10 Dec – 10 Apr (usually)), Snow monkeys in the hot spring (15 Dec – 15 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Golden Week, Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts

• Nature

  Cherry blossom

  5–25 Apr · usually

  Nagano sits high enough that the blossom lands a fortnight after Tokyo is done, which makes it a useful second chance. Zenkoji's approach and Joyama park are where the city goes.

• Holiday

  Golden Week

  29 Apr – 5 MayCrowdedBook early

  The alpine roads reopen around now and the whole country drives them. Zenkoji, the Togakushi shrines and the road over to Kamikochi all move at a crawl. Source ↗

Still on: Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts (10 Dec – 10 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Golden Week, Golden Week in Japan

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Golden Week (29 Apr – 5 May)

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Busy — Summer break (natsuyasumi) in Japan, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Peak crowds — Nagano Binzuru festival, Lake Suwa fireworks

• Festival

  Nagano Binzuru festival

  1–7 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  On the first Saturday of August up to two hundred dance teams clack wooden rice paddles down Chuo-dori towards Zenko-ji, with food stalls along the route into the night. Free to watch, and one of the city's big summer nights. Source ↗

• Festival

  Lake Suwa fireworks

  15 AugLights & fireCrowdedBook early

  On 15 August tens of thousands of fireworks go up over Lake Suwa, about an hour and a half south by train, watched by crowds in the hundreds of thousands. Expect packed trains back. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Apple, grape and chestnut harvest

  1 Sep – 15 Nov · usually

  The orchards around the city open for picking from September, with grapes first and apples through autumn, while Obuse, twenty minutes away, sells its chestnut sweets fresh from mid-September. Source ↗

Busy — Autumn colour, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Autumn colour

  5 Oct – 10 Nov · usuallyCrowded

  Colour starts on the Shiga Kogen plateau in early October and works down to Zenkoji and the Togakushi cedars a month later. Weekend traffic on the mountain roads is the catch.

Still on: Apple, grape and chestnut harvest (1 Sep – 15 Nov (usually))

Busy — Autumn colour

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Apple, grape and chestnut harvest (1 Sep – 15 Nov (usually)), Autumn colour (5 Oct – 10 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts, Snow monkeys in the hot spring

• Season

  Hakuba and Shiga Kogen lifts

  10 Dec – 10 Apr · usuallySki seasonCrowdedBook early

  Nagano city is the train station the ski traffic passes through, and from December the buses west to Hakuba and east to Shiga Kogen run full. The high resorts hold on into April.

• Nature

  Snow monkeys in the hot spring

  15 Dec – 15 Mar · usuallyWildlife seasonCrowded

  The macaques at Jigokudani sit in the pool all year, but the winter version with snow on their heads is the one people come for. The last stretch is a walk up a forest path, icy in season. Source ↗