Introduction to friendship city Nozawa Onsen Village (Nagano Prefecture)

Nozawa Onsen Village is located in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture, bordering Kijimadaira Village to the south, Iiyama City to the west, and Sakae Village to the north and east.It has flourished as a hot spring resort since ancient times, and is also famous as a ski resort.
The population is 3,442 (as of March 1, 2020), and the area is 57.96 square kilometers.

Nozawa Onsen Village, as its name suggests, has flourished as a hot spring resort for a long time.There are over 30 hot springs within the village, and the high quality natural hot springs are enjoyed by many visitors to Nozawa Onsen Village.
In addition, there are 13 free public baths called ``Sotoyu'' in the hot spring town, and the residents of the surrounding areas have created a system called ``Yu Nakama'' to maintain and manage them.

50.7% of the village is covered by forest (Prefectural Statistical Book, 1996), and due to its beautiful scenery it has been designated as part of the Joshin'etsu Kogen National Park. Currently, 297 hectares of this area is the ski resort area.
With a longest run of 10 kilometers, an elevation difference of 1,085 meters, and a maximum slope of 39 degrees, this ski resort has been the venue for numerous ski competitions, including the Nagano Olympics.

In 2005, we signed an agreement with Nozawa Onsen Village to open the "Atsume Inagi Kids! Nozawa Onsen Juku" program, and we have continued to have exchanges in the field of education for 10 years, accepting experiential learning sessions from municipal elementary and junior high schools in the summer and winter. I did.

Subsequently, in 2008, the two cities concluded an agreement to provide mutual support in times of disaster, and as exchanges deepened, a friendship agreement was concluded on November 17, 2015 in order to cherish the friendship that had developed between the residents and to deepen mutual understanding and trust.