JR Nagano Station
About the JR Nagano Station Camera
This camera, operated by the local cable station INC, watches JR Nagano Station. It is the main gateway to the prefecture, served by the Hokuriku Shinkansen and several conventional and private lines.
The Zenkoji-guchi side of the station is worth a look for its own sake. Rather than a plain concrete frontage it was rebuilt with a large timber gate structure echoing the temple at the top of the road — an unusually deliberate piece of design for a Shinkansen station.
The Shinkansen arrived for the 1998 Winter Olympics and cut the journey from Tokyo to well under two hours, which changed who passes through here. In winter the concourse fills with ski and snowboard luggage bound for Hakuba and Shiga Kogen; the rest of the year the flow leans toward Zenkoji visitors and business travellers.
Highlights & Nearby
- •Watch for: the station plaza and its timber frontage, traveller flow, winter ski luggage
- •Nearby: Zenkoji, Nagano city centre, Hokuriku Shinkansen, buses to Hakuba and Shiga Kogen
- •Note: busiest in the ski season and around the Zenkoji Gokaicho
