The air is crisp, the snow deep and undisturbed. The Japanese Alps tower around us, beckoning us to their slopes. In central Japan, just under two hours from Tokyo by bullet train, Nagano is known ...

NAKANO, Nagano Prefecture--Just after 4 p.m. on May 25, a woman in her 70s living in the Ebe district here saw a familiar sight. Yukie Murakami and Yasuko Takeuchi were going on their afternoon walk.

YAMANOUCHI, Nagano Prefecture—Visitors to the popular monkey park here have been delighted by the sight of wild Japanese macaques soaking in hot springs to escape the winter chill. Approximately ...

Majestic curtains of ice hang on a riverside in Nagano Prefecture, central Japan, wowing tourists. Water dripping out of a mountain cliff freezes into huge icicles on a bank of the Nishino River in ...