All Chubu articles — Page 9

Nagano, Chubu, Experience, Location, Nature

Things to Do in Kamikochi 2026: A Local’s Valley Guide

Azusa River with morning mist swirling around Hotaka peaks in Kamikochi

Kamikochi is a car-free alpine valley in Nagano, open Apr 17-Nov 15, 2026. A local guide to things to do, getting there, where to stay, and when to go.

Nobu
June 9, 2026

Nagano, Chubu, Experience, Food, Location

Ringo no Ki: Apple Pie & Apricot Sweets in Chikuma (2026)

Boxed apple pies on display at Ringo no Ki patisserie in Chikuma, Nagano, beside a basket of red apples and gift bags printed with apples, price cards in front

Chikuma is one of Japan's great apricot towns. Patisserie Ringo no Ki turns local apricot and its own-orchard apples into pies, jelly and baked sweets — a short hop from the Obasute terraces.

Nobu
June 5, 2026

Nagano, Accommodation, Chubu, Experience, Location, Onsen, Travel Tips

Club Wyndham Chikumakan 2026: A Dog-Friendly Onsen Ryokan with 6 Baths

An open-air hot-spring bath at Club Wyndham Chikumakan in Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen at night, the dark water lit softly and reflecting a wooden pavilion and a rock-and-greenery garden, in Chikuma, Nagano

A dog-friendly onsen ryokan in Togura-Kamiyamada, Nagano: two sulfur sources across six baths, a domestic-beef kaiseki, and tatami rooms for two small dogs — a short drive from the Obasute terraces.

Nobu
June 4, 2026

Yamanashi, Chubu, Experience, Food, Location

Yabu: A Beloved Set-Meal Diner in Fujiyoshida, by Mt Fuji

A ginger-pork set meal at Yabu in Fujiyoshida: glazed shogayaki pork with shredded cabbage and scrambled egg, a bowl of rice, miso soup, pickles and a small dish of fresh fruit on a black tray

A plain, generous set-meal diner running since 1971 in Fujiyoshida on the Yamanashi side of Mt Fuji — ginger pork, tonkatsu and a little dish of fruit, from around ¥1,000.

Nobu
June 2, 2026

Yamanashi, Chubu, Experience, Food, Location

Shoya: Pork Hoto by Lake Yamanaka, in the Shadow of Mt Fuji

A black iron pot of pork hoto at Shoya by Lake Yamanaka: flat, wide wheat noodles simmered with pork, pumpkin and vegetables in a thick miso broth, on a wooden tray with rice and pickles

Hoto is Yamanashi's thick miso-and-pumpkin noodle stew. At Shoya, a hoto specialist on the shore of Lake Yamanaka, the pork version comes bubbling in an iron pot.

Nobu
June 2, 2026

Shizuoka, Chubu, Experience, Food, Location

Kintaro Soba: Mountain-Yam Noodles at the Foot of Mt Fuji (Gotemba)

Tenju Kintoki at Kintaro soba in Gotemba: a red lacquer box of rice topped with large shrimp and vegetable tempura, with side dishes of greens, pickles and matcha salt at the foot of Mt Fuji

Gotemba's old mikuriya soba is bound with mountain yam, not water. Kintaro, a farmhouse soba house minutes from Mt Fuji, serves it with a shrimp-tempura rice box.

Nobu
June 2, 2026

Nagano, Chubu, Experience, Location, Nature, Seasonal Travel, Weather & Seasons

Obasute Rice Terraces: Japan’s Moon-in-Each-Paddy Hillside

The Obasute rice terraces in Chikuma, Nagano, photographed at first light in late May, with every flooded paddy on the hillside mirroring the dawn sky in a mosaic of silver and gold light above the Zenkoji plain

More than a thousand flooded rice paddies mirror the sky above Chikuma, Nagano — Japan's first farmland named a scenic beauty. When to go, how to get there, and what tagoto-no-tsuki really means.

Nobu
June 2, 2026

Nagano, Chubu, Experience, Location, Nature, Seasonal Travel, Weather & Seasons

Lake Suwa, Nagano: Mt. Fuji Views, Fireworks & Things to Do

Mount Fuji silhouetted against an orange dusk sky beyond Lake Suwa, with the city lights of Suwa, Okaya and Shimosuwa ringing the dark water, seen from the hills above the lake in Nagano.

Lake Suwa in Nagano: see Mt. Fuji over the lake from Takabocchi and Tateishi Park, ride the 16 km loop, catch the August 15 fireworks, and soak in Kamisuwa Onsen.

Nobu
June 1, 2026

Toyama, Chubu, Food, Location, Nature, Seasonal Travel

Firefly Squid in Toyama Bay: Japan’s Other Glowing Sea

Pre-dawn scene on Toyama Bay where firefly squid glow electric blue in a fixed fishing net beside two boats of onlookers, with a green deck light reflecting on the dark water of the Sea of Japan.

Firefly squid (hotaru-ika) glows blue in Toyama Bay every spring. The pre-dawn boat tour, the museum live show, the rare mi-nage stranding, when to go, and where to eat it.

Nobu
May 31, 2026

Nagano, Chubu, Culture, Location, Travel Tips

Matsumoto Castle: Tickets, Hours & the Alps View (2026)

The black five-storey keep of Matsumoto Castle in Nagano reflected in the still water of its inner moat under a clear sky, with the stone base rising straight from the water and bare early-spring trees along the far bank.

Matsumoto Castle admission is 1200 yen (e-ticket, 2026) and the keep is open 8:30 to 17:00. A guide to one of the five National Treasure castles in Japan: tickets, hours, the Northern Alps view, and how to get there from Tokyo and Nagoya.

Nobu
May 30, 2026