Nagano is Breathtaking

By Erica Sagisi-Buxton
Dec. 2, 2015
On Saturday November 28th 2015 we took a bullet train from Tokyo to Japan. The view of the land from the windows of the train was so beautiful. There were mountains in the distance and many beautiful Japanese homes accompanied by green fields along the way. As we got closer to Nagano, we noticed some snow on rooftops. All the students started getting excited about the snow. I'm from Hawaii and have never seen or experienced snow in my entire life, so for me this was a big deal and I was hopeful that our place of destination was going to be one with a winter wonderland. When we finally reached Hakuba, Nagano via bus after the train ride, we hurriedly walked out of the bus to rush to the snow waiting outside. This was the first snow (according to my host family). Snow was falling from the sky and it was so amazing. It looked like shave ice from Hawaii before they put all the delicious flavors in! I think Hakuba is a perfect place to enjoy nature in Japan. The alps there are breathtaking and the area is well known for their apples, persimmons, and oranges. My homestay family let me try apples and persimmons from Hakuba while I was visiting and they were both delicious. I was so disappointed that I could not take any of the fruit home to the islands. Speaking of persimmons, there are many persimmon trees in the yards of homes in Nagano. It's actually a very amusing thing to see in December. You can see trees filled with these almost spherical fruits all over Nagano, with hardly any leaves surrounding the fruit. I just really loved everything about Nagano because it showed me the country side of Japan and the people there are so friendly. On top of that it is a perfect place for snapping photos.

Hakuba Goryu Escal Plaza

View of the mountains in Nagano, Japan.

Persimmon trees.