Nagano The Place with Highest Life Expectancy in Japan

Nagano was the first stop on my recent Japan trip. The two-hour train ride from Tokyo to Nagano was uneventful except for the delicious Ekiben I had on the train. From a brief observation when we got down the train, it looked like Nagano is more famous among the locals than foreigners.

To say I went to Nagano just to see monkeys soaking in the hot spring water in the winter sounds either foolish or a wee bit like a fetish, but that was half the reason I wanted to visit the city. The other reason was out of curiosity about the city with the highest life expectancy in the world.

Long Life Nagano

I fell in love with Nagano city the minute I put Nozawana pickled rice in my mouth. The food here was exquisite, and so was the hipster coffee, the famous Nagano apple, the miso ice cream, and the grilled miso rice balls.

Also, It was only in Nagano that we could afford a properly sized hotel room for the same amount of Yen we allocated for everyday accommodation during this Japan trip.

Nagano itself was not loud. It didn’t have something equivalent to the Institute of Happiness in Denmark to study the reason for the residents’ long lives. Instead, it’s slow and unassuming. What made the difference, something that I immediately noticed, was the kindness of the people living there.

On our first day there, we were given a plastic bag full of apples by a guy who was closing his fruit stall for the day. Then, when we were in the pharmacy to find flu medicine for Fafa, the pharmacist went out of her way to learn his symptoms despite the language barriers so that she could prescribe him the right medicine. On the same night, we were assisted by an elderly man who sat beside us in a Gyu-Kaku restaurant with no English menu to ensure that the waiter came and got the right orders for us.

Lastly, on the day we visited the Zenkoji temple (where I got this year’s Daruma and local guardian doll), a surveyor gave each a beautiful incense holder and thanked us profoundly for answering one tourist survey question.

In short, people are calmer and friendlier in Nagano; even the snow monkeys were super chill.

Some say horsemeat, a regular diet in Nagano, contributes to their longevity. I was oh so curious to order it from the menu, but I kept stopping myself. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat horsemeat, even though it was a Nagano delicacy. It didn’t seem right (then). I wonder whether it’s where I drew the line.

After we left, and especially now that I am back home, I miss our time in Nagano, but I am not sure whether I will return. It seems a bit extra to visit the prefecture just for the food. More so with so many other places in Japan that I have yet to visit and can get Nagano pickles from other places in Japan. Nevertheless, Nagano taught me to adopt a slower and kinder attitude in daily living. That is something I very much want to incorporate into my life.

Follow me on Instagram @KultureKween for more recent updates.