Togakushi Village | Togakushi Shrine | Ninja Village
Famous throughout Japan, Togakushi Village is an ancient Japanese village with the famous Togakushi Shrine nestling amongst 900 year old cedars. Just one hour from Nagano City, Togakushi is famous for its natural beauty, deep history and spiritual significance. With a shrine in a sacred forest, a long fascinating history, soba noodles famous throughout Japan, and the call of ninja intrigue, the village is yet another of Nagano’s “unknown” destinations.
Quite inaccessible until modern times, for hundreds of years Mt. Togakushi was a haven of esoteric Buddhist practice, frequented by mountain ascetics. It is also a place of dramatic seasonal change experiencing heavy snowfall in winter, bursting into verdant forests and wild flowers through spring and summer, before turning slowly into a dazzling mosaic of gold, amber, and red colours in autumn.
Surrounded by lush mountains Togakushi Village offers something for everyone with kid-friendly ninja parks, a ski field, history museums, soba making schools, hiking trails, flower fields plus much more. The undisputed highlight, however, is the hike along a path lined with towering cryptomeria trees to the Togakushi Shrine in the foothills of Mount Togakushi.
Other historic Nagano sites: Matsushiro | Zenkoji Temple | Togura Kamiyamada | Matsumoto Castle
Map of Togakushi
Togakushi Guide Map
Togakushi Shrine
Why should we visit Togakushi Shrine?
Originally established as a pilgrimage route over 2,000 years ago, the Togakushi area has a rich history as a place of worship. It is steeped in history and legend with Togakushi Shrine connected to the sun goddess Amaterasu in Japan mythology. The approach to the upper shrine is lined with over 300 cedar trees, some of which are estimated to be up to 900 years old! This is a serene and calming walk that is perfect for both history and nature lovers, although it can get busy during holiday periods and weekends. For those coming by car there are free car parks located a few minutes walk away.
How long does the walk to Togakushi Shrine take?
The local Togakushi Shrine (戸隠神社, Togakushi Jinja) consists of five shrines (Togakushi Hōkō-sha, Hino-miko-sha, Togakushi Chū-sha, Togakushi Oku-sha and Kuzuryu-sha) in three areas (lower, middle and upper) with each area about 2km apart. To complete the five shrine walk it will take around two and a half hours on average. Make sure you wear good shoes and there is a restroom at the information centre before you start if needed. During winter the paths are closed but snowshoeing may be possible.
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More info soon!
Photos thanks to Zekkei Japan
Togakushi Ski Field
Togakushi Ski Field (aka Togakushi Snow World) is a medium size Nagano ski area that is not quite yet discovered by foreign skiers who tend to head to nearby resorts like Shiga Kogen or Hakuba. Therefore it can be quite deserted, especially on week days. It offers a quite respectable 548 metres of vertical descent, 7 lifts in total with 19 trails, along with many good days of prime Japanese powder snow. It’s a good all round resort catering to a mix of 30% beginner, 40% intermediate and 30% advanced.
During the season there are buses that run about 9 times each day between Nagano Station and the Togakushi Ski Area (see access above for more details). A day or two here at most will sate your curiosity before moving onto Madarao Kogen, Nozawa Onsen, Shiga Kogen or one of the Myoko ski resorts. If you have a car you can usually reach the resort within 45-60 minutes drive from Akakura Onsen or Hakuba. The resort is open from mid-December through to late-March (depending on snow conditions) with a full range of ski school, ski rental, kids facilities and more. A good choice of Togakushi Village accommodation is available (see and book below or click here).
More info at the official Togakushi Ski Field website or click here for a Togakushi trail map.
Togakushi Village Accommodation
There is a fantastic range of Togakushi Village accommodation to be found if you decide to stay a night or two in the area. These range from traditional temple inns (shukubo) and traveller inns (minshuku) such as Gokui and Rindo to budget accommodation like ZEN Hostel. There is a good range of options for visitors to enjoy a traditional Japanese ryokan stay at Oumeitei Tsuji, Yadoya Shiroganeya, Yokokura or Oshi Ryokan. Or try staying in the old style house Awai. For those preferring something a little more western style then Togakushi Kogen Hotel or Earthboat Togakushi should be considered, whilst Tabi no Yado Shirakabaso has both western and Japanese style rooms. You can check availability of these and other Togakushi accommodation by entering your dates below or go to our Togakushi map here.
Booking.com
Togakushi Webcams
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Click on each Togakushi webcam image to enlarge. For more Togakushi webcams head here.
More info coming soon!
Tags: Togakushi Ninja Village, Togakushi accommodation, Togakushi Nagano, Togakushi Shrine, Togakushi Village, Togakushi Japan, Togakushi webcam, Togakushi Ski Field
togakushivillage.com | togakushishrine.com