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July 01, 2026
 

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NAGANO

Tourists take photographs of Japanese macaques, commonly referred to as "snow monkeys," taking an open-air hot spring bath at the Jigokudani Monkey Park in the town of Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, in February last year.
JAPAN
Jun 27, 2026
Japan ‘snow monkey’ park to cap visitors after overcrowding and bad behavior
As the number of tourists snowballed, so did instances of bad behavior, such as trying to feed or touch the monkeys.
A building housing the Tokyo High Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2026
Bus operators found guilty again over 2016 crash in Karuizawa
The ski tour bus crash in the Nagano Prefecture town killed 15 people, mainly university students, and injured 26 others.
The interior of Ume-no-yu, a public bathhouse in the city of Nagano. Soaring oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East are threatening to deal a final blow to a storied Japanese institution: the sento, or traditional public bathhouse.
JAPAN / Society
May 2, 2026
Not even Japanese bathhouses are immune from shocks of Iran war
Soaring oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East are threatening to deal a final blow to the traditional public bathhouse.
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake, measuring an upper 5 on Japan’s shindo seismic intensity scale, struck northern Nagano Prefecture at 1:20 p.m. on Saturday.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2026
Strong quake shakes northern Nagano Prefecture
There was no tsunami risk associated with the quake, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Rusutsu lift pass police check that companies guiding and teaching on their resort have a corporate pass.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Apr 1, 2026
Foreign ski instructors and guides operating illegally in Japan spark concerns
Officials and businesses in major winter destinations warn that such illicit operations could disrupt public order, create unfair competition and raise safety concerns.
A Yatsurugi Shrine worshipper (center) stands on the frozen surface of Lake Suwa, before measuring the ice, in Suwa, Nagano Prefecture, on Jan. 29.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 18, 2026
Japan’s ‘godless’ lake warns of creeping climate change
Climate change is disrupting a phenomenon that can occur at Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture when the surface freezes, which is traditionally believed to show the presence of a god.
Among the 120 athletes representing Japan at the Milano Cortina Games are competitors raised in some of the country’s snowiest landscapes, as well as others who grew up far from dependable winter conditions.
OLYMPICS
Feb 4, 2026
The regions driving Japan’s Winter Olympic success
Some Japanese Olympians were raised in the country’s snowiest landscapes, while others grew up far from dependable winter conditions.
A 22-year-old Australian woman has died after her backpack got caught on a ski lift, which left her suspended in midair after attempting to disembark at Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Hakuba Valley, a popular ski destination in Nagano Prefecture, police said Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 3, 2026
Australian woman dies after backpack buckle gets caught in Japan ski lift
A buckle from her backpack got caught in the lift chair, which led to her being suspended in midair after she attempted to disembark at a resort in Nagano Prefecture.
Ski fields in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture, which rose to national prominence during Japan’s 1980s and early 1990s ski boom and hosted the 1998 Nagano Olympics, remain central to the village’s winter economy.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 2, 2026
In Hakuba, getting the tourism balance right
As tourism surges, a ski town in Nagano Prefecture weighs economic revival against rising costs, crowds and cultural clashes.
Takeru Nakagawa, secretary-general of the Kiso Horse Conservation Association, cares for a Kiso breed horse in Kiso, Nagano Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Jan 16, 2026
Farm in Nagano Prefecture works to save disappearing Kiso horse breed
Although about 7,000 Kiso horses existed in the region during the Meiji Era, only about 140 remain in Japan today.
Akinori Takahashi, chief of the fire department in Komoro, Nagano Prefecture, speaks during an interview in the city on Dec. 25.
JAPAN
Jan 15, 2026
10 years on, rescuer recalls being speechless seeing Karuizawa tour bus crash
Akinori Takahashi still remembers the cries for help echoing across the mountain after arriving at the scene of where a ski tour bus had plunged off a cliff.
A record 13 people have been killed by bears across Japan since April.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 12, 2025
Ski resort acknowledges reports of bear sightings, as predator tops kanji pick
Scientists say this year’s surge in maulings is being driven by a fast-growing bear population, a bad acorn harvest and a falling human population.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel unload a box trap during a training exercise on wildlife damage control.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2025
SDF to provide logistical aid for bear capture efforts
There have been over 8,000 reported bear sightings in the prefecture this fiscal year, and 50 people have suffered injuries, including three fatalities.
Masanori Aoki, 34, has been handed the death penalty for killing four people, including two police officers, in the city of Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, in 2023.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 14, 2025
Nagano court sentences man to death for quadruple murder
Presiding Judge Masashi Sakata said the crime “leaves no room for leniency, and deserves the highest level of condemnation.”
People offer prayers during a memorial held on Saturday in Otaki, Nagano Prefecture, to mourn the victims of the 2014 eruption of Mount Ontake.
JAPAN
Sep 28, 2025
Victims of Mount Ontake eruption remembered 11 years on
The eruption claimed the lives of 58 people and left five missing.
Nodoka Okisawa conducts the Saito Kinen Orchestra to perform Benjamin Britten's opera "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Matsumoto Performing Arts Center in August for the 33rd edition of the Seiji Ozawa Matsumoto Festival.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2025
Nodoka Okisawa is carrying the baton for Seiji Ozawa in Matsumoto
Japanese conductor Nodoka Okisawa embraces both tradition and renewal at a festival that still embodies Ozawa’s spirit.
Masanori Aoki has been indicted on charges of fatally stabbing two local women and killing two police officers with a knife and a hunting gun in Nakano, Nagano Prefecture, in May 2023.
JAPAN
Sep 24, 2025
Death penalty sought for man over quadruple murder in Nagano
Masanori Aoki has been indicted on charges of fatally stabbing two local women and killing two police officers with a knife and a hunting gun.
A man accused of killing four people, including two police officers, in Nagano in 2023 intends to remain silent at the first court hearing of his lay judge trial on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 4, 2025
Suspect in 2023 Nagano quadruple murder plans to stay silent during trial
The defendant’s attorney said his client is in a diminished state due to integration disorder syndrome and doubts he has the capacity to take criminal responsibility.
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Aug 24, 2025
Are ‘coolcations’ the answer for Japan’s heat-weary tourists?
Those in the travel industry are working to advertise cooler destinations, amid the prospect that the heat may prompt people to give up on traveling in the summer altogether.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko strolled through a cabbage field in Ohinata settlement in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Aug 24, 2025
Emperor emeritus and empress emerita visit postwar settlement
The former Emperor and former Empress have frequently visited the settlement, developed by people who returned to Japan from Manchuria in northeastern China after World War II.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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