2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival February 14, 2026 Nagisomachi Tsumago inn Tsumago-juku

2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival This enchanting event fills winter nights along Kiso Road with the warm glow of ice candles and bamboo lanterns handcrafted by local residents. Held at post towns and other venues across the Kiso area, it usually runs from late January through mid-February each year. A photo contest will also be held. We look forward to many entries! For details, please see the Kiso Tourism Federation website.

MAUKA LANI GOAT FARM Outdoor live event announcement 🐐🎵 Saturday, October 4, 2025 An outdoor live event will take place at Mauka Lani Goat Farm (a goat ranch) in the Hirose area!! You can enjoy a special free concert featuring HIDEKATSU CHIWATA, who wrote and composed the theme song “Butter-Fly” for the popular anime Digimon Adventure, and singer-songwriter Dai Okajima! Mauka Lani Goat Farm is a goat ranch inspired by Hawaii. Goats roam freely across the spacious pasture. The shop sells unique goat cheeses, original shop goods, and Hawaiian drinks! Relax and enjoy a leisurely time in the pleasant autumn weather ✨ A shuttle bus will run from JR Nagiso Station and Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) 🚌 (one-way 1,000 yen) Please use it if you don’t have a car or are a student. To make a reservation, contact Nagiso Town Tourism Association at 0264-57-2727. For more details, please check the website.

Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) Vehicles are prohibited from passing through from 10:00 to 16:00 🚗⚠ Recently, the number of cars entering the post town during the restricted hours has been increasing. This restriction is in place to protect pedestrians and the historic streetscape, so we ask for your understanding and cooperation. Please park in the No.2 parking lot or the central parking lot along National Route 256. The parking fee is 500 yen per day.

📍Tenpaku Park (Tenpaku Kōen) Mitsuba azalea and Oshima cherry: Peak viewing Flowering peach: Buds to 50% open 📍Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) Cherry blossoms: Beginning to fall The weather has been fine since this morning☀️ The evening regional buses are very crowded with guests who went hiking. Buses and trains (JR Nagiso Station) do not accept IC cards or credit cards. Please purchase tickets in advance or try to travel outside peak times to help avoid congestion.

📍Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) For travel memories and gifts for someone special. Buy local products or artisans’ creations as proof that you visited on your own two feet. Every time you see them, the memories come flooding back—that’s the magic of souvenirs. These days people talk more about experiences than things, but cherish the spark in your heart…💗💭

Hyosetsu no Akari Festival 2025 On Saturday, February 15, 2025, the Hyosetsu no Akari Festival (Ice and Snow Lantern Festival) returns to Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku)! About 600 ice candles will be lit, creating a magical scene unlike the daytime view. This year, in addition to shops open for evening business, the tourist information center will offer free pork miso soup and hot lemonade, and food stalls in front of the Fureai Hall will sell items such as fried chicken and pizza. Visitors can also enjoy colorful ice art by the Tsumago Women’s Association and an ice exhibit by local Sonan High School students. On that day, Nagiso Sightseeing Taxi will operate until 8:00 p.m. Enjoy this once-a-year lantern festival! Photographers are encouraged to enter the Kiso Tourism Federation photo contest📸✨ Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025 Time: Lighting at 5:30 p.m. Location: Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku), Nagiso town (399-5302 Azuma, Tsumago-juku, Kiso District, Nagano Prefecture)

📍Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) People made small New Year decorations called mayudama and mochibana! They decorated the vinka tree with mayudama and kumquat, and attached mochibana to bamboo. A large decoration was also placed in front of the Tsumago Tourist Information Center ♩ The decorations will remain until Setsubun on February 2. Enjoy the seasonal scenery unique to Tsumago inn ✨

📍Nakasendo This is the state of the Nakasendo (Magome Pass to Tsumago) on January 8, 2025 ❄ 1–3: Magome Pass 4: Isseki Tochi Teahouse 5: Pass Entrance 6–10: Male Falls and Female Falls 11: In front of Kooshinduka There is snow cover ❄ If you plan to walk the Nakasendo, please come prepared with full winter gear such as snow boots, gloves, a knit hat, and spare socks. In particular, take care on the pass and around Male Falls and Female Falls, where snow and ice are likely ⚠

Happy New Year! This year, too, we will share and publish tourism information about Nagiso town, so we appreciate your continued support ✨ Today, New Year smoke signals were raised across many parts of Kiso. A smoke signal, or noroshi, is smoke produced by burning firewood or gunpowder and raised high; long ago it served as a signal or landmark during wartime or emergencies. In other words, noroshi was a means of communication. The New Year noroshi event held every January 4 in Kiso began in 2007 at the call of the nonprofit organization Tsumago Ai Suru Kai to strengthen solidarity across the Kiso Valley and energize the region. The photos show the scene at the site of Tsumago Castle in Nagiso town, where leaves of Kiso’s five treasured trees—hinoki cypress and koyamaki—are burned to create the smoke 🌲 This year, too, the noroshi rose vigorously under clear skies. May 2025 be a year filled with smiles and many blessings... 🐍✨

📍Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) (December 28th, 1:30 PM) It has started to accumulate⛄❄ JR and buses are operating as usual for the time being.

📍Yokawa District Photos 1 and 2 show Yokawa this morning (12.24) ☀ Last night’s snow left a light dusting on the roads and the Yokawa trail! If you plan to walk, please wear winter gear. Photos 3–5 are from Tsumago in the morning yesterday ❄ There is no snow on Route 19. This morning it was −1°C ❄ If you are coming from or heading to the Achi or Iida areas, watch for snow and ice on the Seinaiji Pass 🚗⚠ It looks like we’ll have good weather today and tomorrow ✨

Notice of Winter Closure for Some Public Toilets in Town To prevent freezing, some public toilets and drinking fountains in town were closed from Wednesday, December 11th. Please check the closure status of toilets at your destination in advance. Closure period: Wednesday, December 11, 2024 – late March *Toilets available during winter* ・Within Tsumago-juku, Tsumago-juku parking lot toilets ・Nakasendo Ishikochi Tachiba Teahouse, O-Tsumago, Kudaridani / Kurashina Soreisha toilets ・Mitomuno-juku toilets ・Kakitsubata Gorge parking lot toilets (on the Koiji Suspension Bridge side)

About sightseeing information during the New Year holidays Here is an announcement about sightseeing information for the New Year holidays! Have a wonderful New Year🐍✨ ► Information centers and tourist facilities Nagiso Town Tourism Association, Tsumago tourist information center, Nagiso Station tourist information center Closed from Sunday, December 29 to Friday, January 3 Nagiso Town Museum (Wakihonjin Okuya, Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) main inn, History Museum) Closed from Sunday, December 29 to Friday, January 3 ► Buses From Tuesday, December 31 to Friday, January 3, community buses (Magome Line and Hoshin Line) will operate reduced services. Some trips will run at different times than usual, so please be careful. Also, because tourist information centers will be closed from December 29 through January 3, tickets will not be sold during that period. Please pay the driver in cash when getting off the bus. ► Taxis Nagiso Sightseeing Taxi (in the Tsumago No.1 parking lot) Tuesday, December 31 to Friday, January 3: 8:00–17:00 Closed on Wednesday, January 1 Contact Nagiso Sightseeing Taxi Co., Ltd. TEL. (+81)-264-57-3133 ► Tsumago-juku For shop opening hours, please check the official Tsumago website. *The photo shows the New Year’s first smoke signal ceremony on January 4 at the site of Tsumago Castle*

📍Wakihonjin Okuya (Tsumago inn) A magical phenomenon called “slanting light,” visible only on clear winter days, is shining beautifully today! Beams through the latticed windows draw white, elegant lines in the irori smoke 🪄 The slanting light begins to appear around 10:00, from the right side of the irori, and now, at about 12:30, the light falls straight onto the irori. (Photographed today at 12:15) When it centers on the middle is the best moment for a photo opportunity 📷 Around the winter solstice, the light that now reaches about halfway across the irori moves forward, stretching nearly to the tatami. The sun’s angle changes how the light falls ✨ Tomorrow’s forecast is clear, so you might catch the slanting light again ☀ Wakihonjin Okuya / Historical Museum (Nagiso Town Museum) 📍Within Tsumago-juku (Azuma, Nagiso town, Kiso District, Nagano Prefecture 399-5302) ⏰9:00–17:00 (last admission 16:45) 🎌Closed on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays 💰600 yen

📍Iseyama This morning everything was white with frost, and the sky was a clear deep blue! At 8:30 a.m., Route 19 registered −1°C ❄️ The photo is of Iseyama this morning 🏔️ It looks like a perfect day for photographing the snow-dusted Alps ☀️

— Nakasendo: Tsumago-juku Bunka-Bunsei Parade ③ — Thank you to everyone who came! May the event take place safely again on November 23 next year...✨

—Nakasendo Tsumago Inn Bunka-Bunsei Parade②— November 23rd is the busiest day of the year in Tsumago inn✨ At lunch break, people enjoy rice balls wrapped in bamboo bark🍙 Catching a shot of someone eating one makes a great photo! I wonder if people used to carry and eat rice balls like this on the road back then💭 Someone is handing out large sheets of paper called Kawaraban, which were like newspapers in the Edo period. They were sold and distributed to inform ordinary people of urgent news at the time💭

— Bunka-Bunsei Procession ① — On Saturday, November 23, the 57th Bunka-Bunsei Procession took place, hosted by the Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Association That Loves Tsumago. Under clear skies, residents and visitors recreated the people who likely walked this Nakasendo during the Bunka-Bunsei era and the atmosphere of the post town, bringing lively activity to Nakasendo and Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku).✨ Thank you to everyone who attended and for cooperating with photography etiquette and other manners. We hope the event is held safely again next year.

[Notice of Reopening of Road Closure] The entrance to Tsumago inn (on the Magome side, opposite the No. 3 parking lot) had been closed to vehicles for road improvement work for a while, but the closure was lifted today, Friday, November 22. Thank you for your cooperation during the long closure! —Notice— Vehicles and pedestrians may now pass as usual, but vehicle entry into the post town is one-way from Omata Bridge, so entry from the No. 3 parking lot side is prohibited. Also, within Tsumago inn, vehicles are always prohibited from 10:00 to 16:00 to protect the scenery.

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 23, the Nakasendo Tsumago inn will host a Bunka-Bunsei era procession! This annual event has taken place on November 23 since 1968 to commemorate the start of preservation efforts at Tsumago Yado. Local residents dress as samurai, courier runners, komuso (mendicant monks), and other figures to recreate the post town atmosphere of the Bunka-Bunsei period. As in past years, the procession will march along the Nakasendo from 10:30 at Watashima General Ground to 11:20 at Tsumago inn (lunch break), then resume at 13:25 and walk the Nakasendo between O-Tsumago and Tsumago. Imagine the travelers who once walked this road in the Bunka-Bunsei era and enjoy the procession. Details about the schedule and other information for the day are available on the Tsumago inn official website✅ There is no reserved space for media or photography. Please avoid blocking others and watch the procession without standing in the way. Non-participants must not join the procession. Tsumago inn remains a living community while preserving its streetscape. Please refrain from entering private property or causing disturbance. The photo shows last year’s event. It is forecast to be cold tomorrow, so please come warmly dressed 😊❄

[Winter Driving] Check snow road information! Nagiso town is a region that typically sees snowfall each year. If heavy snow is forecast, road closures may occur. Please review the importance of winter equipment and snow driving precautions before you head out. You can get real-time road conditions, road-closure updates, and winter equipment information from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s live cameras, social media, and websites. We ask for your cooperation to prevent winter traffic accidents and troubles. MLIT Winter Drive Navi Chubu Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Iida National Highway Office Snow Road Information for the South Shinshu and Kiso Region (map available) Tsumago Tourist Information Center TEL: 0264-57-3123 (Business hours 8:30–17:00, closed during the New Year holidays)

Partial road closures on the Nakasendo Currently, some sections of the Nakasendo are closed or have restricted access. Signs, ropes, and detours are in place, so please watch your step when passing through. 1. Between Magome and Magome Pass — Bridge collapse If you walk from Magome to Tsumago, go past the Jinbajō Observation Deck in Magome and follow Prefectural Route 7. Turn right at the sign for the old Nakasendo. At the Y-shaped junction ahead, turn left onto the stone path; a wooden bridge there is half-collapsed. The Nakatsugawa City Tourism Division has set up ropes and barriers, but please be careful of your footing when passing. 2. Kudaritani (see map above) A detour around Kudaritani runs behind nearby houses. If walking from the Tsumago direction 3. From the entrance to Tsumago inn (near Parking Lot 3) to Tsumago Power Station Note: Closed to vehicles. Pedestrians may pass.

The reason why foreigners are interested in the Japanese language is "The beauty of the Japanese language. I often hear that the reason why foreigners are interested in the Japanese language is "the beauty of the Japanese language. Using the calligraphy skills learned through the calligraphy experience, students write their favorite kanji characters on fans and hanging scrolls of their choice. The master calligrapher will then take the kanji back to your bag with his expert brush strokes. Since each kanji character has multiple meanings, it is important to know what other meanings they have. Knowing the meaning will make the bag shine.

Participants of the Mikane Road Walk in Nagano will wear costumes on Saturday 16th, Ueda Kokubunji ~ "Unno Yado" and "Old Tanaka Inn (Tanaka Shopping Street)" around 11:30-13:30 ~ A total of about 100 people will walk to Komoro Drum Gate. Some people take the Tanaka Station Boarding to Komoro Station. The "Golden Road" that connects the Sado Gold and Silver Mines and Edo

The sword is the soul of the samurai; it cannot be sold even if it starves to death. Bushido made the sword a symbol of his power and valor. From an early age, one is taught how to use a sword. He started with a wooden sword, and when he reached the age of 15, he was allowed to carry a serious weapon. At that time, he became aware of his self-respect and sense of responsibility for carrying a dangerous weapon in the street

Honoring the Samurai girl The more onago is bullshit, the more the world will be bullshit. The stronger you are, the calmer you will be.  The more you can hang your head and bow low, the more genuine nobility and strength you will acquire.

Honoring the Samurai girl The more ⚔️ onago is bullshit, the more the world will be bullshit. The stronger you are, the calmer you will be. ⚔️ The more ⚔️ you can hang your head and bow low, the more genuine nobility and strength you will acquire.

The Way of the Brush For those of us living in today's busy world, learning about the samurai spirit can give us insight into our attitude, attention, and focus, and foster the determination needed to achieve our goals to the fullest.

📍Nakasendo Odaki-Onnadaki Due to restoration work after heavy rain damage, the Nakasendo above Odaki-Onnadaki had been closed for a long time, but it will reopen today, Tuesday, April 23, 2024! Thank you to everyone who waited. Please continue to watch your step while passing through 🥾✨ #Nagiso town#Nakasendo#Hiking#Odaki-Onnadaki#Kiso Road#Kiso#Nagano tourism#Nagano travel#Trekking#Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku)#Magome inn (Magome-juku)