Your journey from Tokyo station to Nagano will be on this train, a 'shinkansen.'

PHOTOS

Welcome to Nagano!

This sign is in Nagano station. Most stations have signboards like this; information changes between Japanese and English.

Aqua Wing hockey arena is in the starting area.

Luggage check is on the right side of the photo. There's a lot of space around the starting area to stretch out.

Newspaper photo of the starting line

Starting area

Starting blocks in 2009. All foreigners were placed towards the front, starting with block C. One more bit of preferential treatment.

Start line doesn’t change much...

Newspaper photo of runners going through Nagano city. Zenkoji temple is in the top left corner.  NOTE: the enlarged photo is the height of a sheet of newspaper.

Fans along the route. Newspaper photo.

FINISH! Congratulations, you've made it. The finish line is in the stadium used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics.

While in Nagano, I highly recommend a trip to Jigokudani Monkey Park.  More info about it & how to get there is on the Links page.

Stadium map with suggested meeting point. View a larger version on the ‘Stadium Map’ page from the top menu.

This impressive caste in Matsumoto city is only an hour south of Nagano city. You an climb the steep steps inside. This is not a concrete reconstruction like most in Japan - this one is real!

Ms. Naoko Takahashi (Olympic gold medalist, 2000) was an invited athlete. She is VERY popular in Japan.

Ms. Naoko Takahashi, at the Farewell party (free for foreigners). She’s still immensely popular in Japan; I was starstruck.