Local Guide
Four Experience spots you can enjoy in Omachi. From local cuisine to paper making and aroma making

Omachi City in Nagano Prefecture, located at the foot of the Northern Alps, has a history and culture that has been nurtured since ancient times thanks to its climate blessed with abundant sunshine, cool weather, and clear water. From local delicacies such as soba noodles, oyaki, miso, and frozen rice cakes, to traditional Japanese paper crafts and aroma-making in lush gardens, Omachi City offers a wide range of activities for visitors to enjoy and enrich their minds. Here are some recommended Experience spots that even first-timers can enjoy and enrich their minds.

Create your own original fragrance by mixing your favorite essential oil.

It is fun to choose your favorite fragrance. Various scents can be created depending on the concoction
It is fun to choose your favorite fragrance. Various scents can be created depending on the concoction

The vast garden where the La Casta natural cosmetics brand's manufacturing plant is located. Visitors can enjoy a relaxing stroll in the garden, where seasonal flowers, trees, and water features soothe the senses, with reservations required and limited to 100 people per day. At the "Aroma Experience Workshop" in the garden, visitors can create their own original items by combining the scents of natural herbs and fruits. For example, for room sprays, visitors can choose their favorite fragrance from more than 10 kinds of essential oils, including seasonal scents, and mix them to make a total of 20 drops. Dissolve the mixture in anhydrous ethanol and add melted snow water from the Northern Alps to create a one-of-a-kind scent.

Bring your favorite fragrance into your daily life!

Room spray and aroma pendant can be experienced easily in 15-20 minutes.
Room spray and aroma pendant can be experienced easily in 15-20 minutes.

The finished room spray is placed in a glass container, labeled with the recipe and date, and taken home. Each time you spray, your room will be filled with your own unique scent. In addition to this Experience, you can also make oil toilets, bath oils, and aroma pendants that gently fragrance the skin when worn.
Before or after the Experience, visitors can take a stroll through the beautifully landscaped gardens and take a break in the gazebo (a Western-style veranda) or café surrounded by flowers and grasses. At the café, visitors can enjoy baked goods and drinks while admiring the lush greenery and flowers on the parasol-lined terrace.

La Casta Natural Healing Garden
  • Address 9729-2 Tokiwa, Omachi-shi, Nagano MAP
  • Direction Approx. 12 min. by car from JR Shinano-Omachi Stn.
    Approx. 5 min. walk from JR Azumikutsukake Station
  • Hours of Operation April-September: 10:00-17:00 (last admission 16:00)
    October-November: 10:00-16:00 (last admission at 15:00)
  • Regular holiday Wednesdays (open if Wednesday is a national holiday, closed the following day) *Closed during winter (mid-November to mid-April)
  • Admission Fee Admission: Adults 1,100 yen, elementary/junior high school students 550 yen, preschool children free
    Experience: 1,540 yen (35 min.)
  • TEL 0261-23-3911
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Age limit Elementary school students and older
  • Memo Reservations are required to enter the garden by calling the website or making a reservation in advance.
    For details on Experience, please check the website.

Experience making miso at Marukome's miso brewery on the plateau

The ingredients are soybeans soaked in water overnight and steamed, salt, rice malt, and seed miso. The process takes about one hour.
The ingredients are soybeans soaked in water overnight and steamed, salt, rice malt, and seed miso. The process takes about one hour.

One of the two warehouses is where the company's miso is naturally aged. One of the two warehouses is where the company's miso is naturally aged, while the other offers a "miso making class" where visitors can learn how to make miso while having fun (advance reservations required). The participants will learn how to mash Nagano soybeans by hand until they become a paste, and then mix salt, malt, and seed miso together. Experience the whole process of making miso. After bringing it home, store it at room temperature and let it mature for one to two months in hot weather and four to six months in cold weather before it is ready to eat.

Compare and contrast flavors of matured miso

After the Experience, be sure to taste the miso. The time required is an additional 30 minutes.
After the Experience, be sure to taste the miso. The time required is an additional 30 minutes.

If you sign up for the miso making class when you make your reservation, you can also participate in the "miso eating comparison class" for free. When comparing miso made with different maturing periods, miso that has been aged for two months is light in color and has a light flavor, while miso that has been aged for two or three years has a more umami taste with a hint of sourness. Visitors can also compare miso soup made with 2- and 3-year-old miso.
The brewery also has an area that displays the wooden barrels in which miso is prepared, and a sales area where visitors can purchase matured miso by weight. All of these areas are open only to class participants, so you can tour them at your leisure.

Mima Kogen Kura
  • Address 8787-3 Mima, Omachi-shi, Nagano MAP
  • Direction Approx. 15 min. by car from JR Shinano-Omachi Station
  • Bus Direction Take a bus from JR Shinano-Omachi Station, get off at "Kisaki-ko Iriguchi" or "Shingyo", and walk 10 minutes.
  • Hours of Operation Experience 10:00～, 13:00～, 15:00～
  • Regular holiday Mondays, Year-end and New Year holidays
  • Admission Fee Miso making class 1,000 yen, 4 years old to junior high school students 500 yen
  • TEL 0120-060-070
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Age Limit Ages 4 and up
  • Memo Experience must be reserved by 17:00 3 days prior to the desired date on the dedicated website or by phone.

Try your hand at making Japanese paper with natural plants and trees

Placing beautifully colored natural plants and trees on the ground paper.
Placing beautifully colored natural plants and trees on the ground paper.

Washi paper from the Sha Matsuzaki district of Omachi City is said to have originated in the mid-Heian period when it was dedicated to the national treasure Nishina Shinmyougu Shrine. Later, the art of papermaking developed as a side job for farmers, and it has become a specialty of Shinshu and a favorite throughout the country. Now in its 90th year of operation, the third-generation owner is Omachi's only papermaker. The shop uses an abundance of high-quality local water and natural flowers and grasses to make its paper. At the "Paper-Making Experience," visitors can enjoy making softly colored washi using leaves and flowers of such natural plants and trees.

Completed postcards made of washi paper that reflect the richness of Omachi's nature

Many people make 4 to 5 sheets of paper.
Many people make 4 to 5 sheets of paper.

In the introductory course, you can make postcard-sized washi paper. First, a frame is placed in a tank containing raw materials for the paper, and the thickness is adjusted by moving the frame back and forth and from side to side. After arranging more than 10 kinds of flowers and plants collected from the local mountains, the paper is placed back into the tank and finished. With the owner's gentle guidance, even first-timers can create a beautiful piece of paper. The finished product can be taken home and put on windowpanes or other surfaces to dry naturally. There are also courses to make fans, coasters, and candlesticks.

Shinshu Matsuzaki Washi
  • Address 6562 Sha Matsuzaki, Omachi-shi, Nagano MAP
  • Direction 10 min. walk from JR Shinano Omachi Stn.
  • Hours of Operation 8:00-17:00 *Experience from 9:00
  • Closed Closed on weekends and holidays
  • Admission Fee Paper-making Experience: 1,000 yen and up
  • TEL 0261-22-0579
  • Parking Free of charge
  • Age Limit Ages 6 and up
  • Memo Experience is available by phone by the morning of the desired day, or by reservation on the website at least 2 days in advance (from 2 people).

Learn about Omachi's food culture at a popular local restaurant

Cooking scene of
Cooking scene of "Deep Fried Sweet Potato with Frozen Rice Cake" using "koori-mochi" (preserved food) as batter.

A stately 130-year-old building stands on the main street in front of Omachi Station. This Dining Area takes its name from the name of the headman's house that has been in existence since the Muromachi Period. To convey the charm of local cuisine, the restaurant offers a "Cooking Experience" every Wednesday. In a private kitchen, a chef will carefully teach you how to make dashi (Japanese soup stock), which is an important part of "wakage", and how to make noodle soup based on that dashi. You can also experience and learn about Omachi's food culture, including fermented foods, using local ingredients such as Omachi's specialty "frozen rice cakes" and "rape blossom oil" from the Nakayama Highlands.

Taste the dishes you made in an elegant Japanese dining room.

Lunch is a popular
Lunch is a popular "Mokichi Zen" menu full of seasonal ingredients. For the main dish, you can choose between Wacchigi's original fresh noodles "zaza" or a bowl of rice topped with Kurobuta pork.

After the Experience, it is time for lunch. You can enjoy "Mokichi Zen," which includes the Experience menu, such as "Ego," a seaweed food indispensable for weddings and funerals in the northern part of Shinshu. Zaza," which refers to noodles in the Omachi area dialect, is served with "Wachichi-ryu dashi" noodle soup. The fresh noodles are made from 100% Nagano wheat and have a strong texture and rich flavor.
The entire experience, from experience to meal, takes 2 hours and 30 minutes. By experiencing not only visiting for lunch, but also for the cooking experience, visitors can learn more about the climate and flavors of Omachi. You will receive recipes for the dishes you experience, so be sure to recreate them at home.

Sosha Wawachi
  • Address 4084 Kaminakamachi, Omachi-shi, Nagano MAP
  • Direction 10 min. walk from JR Shinano Omachi Stn.
  • Business hours 10:00-15:30
  • Closed Monday, Tuesday
  • TEL 0261-23-7363
  • Parking Free of charge (Parking in the shopping arcade)
  • Memo Experience is limited to 1 group per day (1-6 people), check the website for details and reservations.

    *Complete reservations required, limited to 1 group per room and 3 groups per day.

After a day of sightseeing, how about a relaxing moment in a hot spring village nestled in the Northern Alps, where you can enjoy a rural Shinshu Experience with the hospitality of a sunken hearth?
Hoshino Resorts KAI Alps is within easy access to tourist attractions: Ogisawa, the entrance to the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, is about 20 minutes away by car, and the Hakuba area, which is popular with skiers in winter, is about 30 minutes away by car.

The inn of a hidden hot spring healed by the hospitality of a sunken hearth

Hot springs are drawn from Kuzu Onsen, a hidden hot spring located at the foot of the Northern Alps with an abundance of hot water.
Hot springs are drawn from Kuzu Onsen, a hidden hot spring located at the foot of the Northern Alps with an abundance of hot water.

About 80 minutes by car from Nagano Station. This hot spring ryokan is located in Omachi Onsen-kyo. Guest rooms and hot spring bathhouses are lined up on both sides along "Gangi," an arcade in the snow country, where you can experience the countryside of Shinshu, with fair days and traditional games in summer, and snow games with kamakura and kanjiki in winter.
All Guest rooms are "Shinanomotenashi no Ma" (Shinano hospitality room). The rooms are decorated with kirie art frames and lit by lanterns made of Matsuzaki washi paper, creating a peaceful atmosphere. In the earthen floor with a sunken hearth, you can enjoy the hospitality of the countryside, such as oyaki, baked apples, and heated sake. It is as if you have returned to your hometown, where you can spend time relaxing both body and soul.

Hoshino Resorts KAI Alps
  • Address 2884-26 Taira, Omachi-shi, Nagano MAP
  • Direction 80 min. by express bus from JR Nagano Station to Omachi Onsen-kyo, 10 min. walk from the bus stop.
  • TEL 0570-073-011（Kai Reservation Center)
  • Parking Available

MAP

<Hot spring ryokan to experience the luxurious countryside of Shinshu>.
Hoshino Resorts facilities nearby
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The information in this article is current as of the date of the update. Please check before visiting as they are subject to change.