Nagano is home to the Japanese Alps, which consist of three mountain ranges across the prefecture. In fact, 15 of the 23 mountains in Japan that are 9,800 feet or so high are found in Nagano.

You may remember Nagano, in the Japanese Alps, as the site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. Kirk Spitzer, writing in the May AARP Bulletin, notes a different distinction: The 2.15 million residents of ...