Nagano Surprises

Has this travel experience ever happened to you?

... You are on a trip somewhere and decide to wander without much expectation. Maybe you're in transit and haven't reached your destination. Or it's the end of your trip and you're wiped out. In any case, you don't have any goal in mind except to get a meal and a good night's sleep. Then before you know it, you find yourself pulled into the most random amazing community event.

It happened to us last weekend when we stopped off in Nagano. We were on our way to viewing the snow monkeys the next day and had no plans for the evening except to find a cozy restaurant for dinner.

Filling our empty stomachs was our only objective until we noticed these enticing lights lining the road.
Following the lantern path, we stumbled onto Zenkoji Temple, where there happened to be a luminary celebration festival. Zenkoji Temple is a Buddhist temple and one of the last remaining pilgrimage sites in Japan.

Not to do things half-way, Nagano residents adorned the mountain village streets with an array of luminaries to brighten up this chilly winter night.

Lamppost luminaries

Hundreds of lanterns with intricate paper carvings inside

It must have taken hours for someone to sit and create this detailed piece...

A special treat were the kaleidoscope shapes and colors projected onto the side of a temple

For 500 yen (about $5 US), we bought a luminary and wrote our goodwill message to Nagano to place in the long line of luminaries on the street.

So, what started off as a simple outing turned into a special night filled with twinkling lights, a feeling of connectedness, and a reminder of the wonderful unexpected aspects of travel. Perfect for a Valentine's Weekend.

Have you ever unexpectedly stumbled onto a community event while traveling?

Stay tuned for snow monkeys in the next post- Coming soon!