Nagano

Nagano (nägä`nō), city (1990 pop. 347,026), capital of Nagano prefecture, central Honshu, Japan, on the Tenryu River. It has a food-processing industry and produces auto parts and textiles. It is also a religious center, the site of Zenkoji, a 7th-century Buddhist temple housing statues sent from the king of Korea in 552. It hosted the Winter Olympic games in 1998, when it became linked to Tokyo by a "bullet train." Nagano prefecture (1990 pop. 2,156,656), 5,261 sq mi (13,626 sq km) is landlocked and extremely mountainous, with an average elevation of more than 2,600 ft (790 m). It is known for its raw-silk industry.

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Nagano

a city in central Japan, on central Honshu: Buddhist shrine; two universities. Pop.: 359 045 (2002 est.)

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Nagano 

a Japanese prefecture in the mountainous central section of Honshu. Area, 13,600 sq km. Population, 1,976,000 (1973); 63 percent urban. The capital is Nagano.

The prefecture is one of the chief silk-producing regions of Japan, accounting for about 25 percent of Japan’s raw silk production. After World War II, general and precision machine-building was developed there. Among more established manufactures, processed foods, knitwear, lumber, musical instruments, sporting goods, and articles made of natural silk remain important. Lumbering is carried out on the mountain slopes, and farming is concentrated in mountain valleys. Basic agricultural crops are rice (357,000 tons harvested in 1970), barley, and wheat. Vegetables and fruit are also grown. A number of health resorts and tourist centers are located in the prefecture.

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Nagano 

a city in Japan in central Honshu, in the Chikuma river valley; capital of Nagano Prefecture. Population, 286,200 (1970).

Nagano is an important transportation junction and the center of an agricultural region producing fruits, flowers, and dairy products. Local manufactures include machine tools, processed foods, lumber, and musical instruments and related equipment; hand-made articles from natural silk are also produced. Nagano is an ancient center of Buddhism; its Zenkoji temple is visited by religious pilgrims.