'''Ch?bu''' (____) is the central region of Japan's Honshu island.
Prefectures
The prefectures of the Chubu region are often further divided into three groups.
'''T?kai''' (___C), the southern Pacific coast:
Aichi - mostly urban sprawl around Nagoya
Gifu - home to the northern Japan Alps and many hot springs
Shizuoka - home to the famous Mount Fuji and the scenic Izu Peninsula
'''Hokuriku''' (_k__), the northern Sea of Japan coast:
Fukui
Ishikawa
Toyama
'''K?shin'etsu''' (_b_M_z), the rest:
Nagano - great skiing locations
Niigata
Yamanashi - at the foothills of Mount Fuji
Cities
Hida-Takayama - attractively preserved town and a good starting point for trips to the Japan Alps
Kanazawa - stylish historic city
Nagano - Japan's winter sports capital
Nagoya - Chubu's largest city by far
Niigata - Major port city on the northern coast
Toyama
Other destinations
Gero Onsen - one of Japan's Three Famous Hot Springs
Japan Alps - the largest and tallest mountain chain in Japan
Mount Fuji - the iconic Japanese mountain
Oku-Hida Onsen Villages - 5 remote hamlets full of stunning scenery and some of Japan's best hot springs
Ono - historic castle town in Fukui prefecture
Sado Island - place of exile home to gold mines and the yearly Earth Celebration
Sekigahara - the site of the famous battle that ushered in the Tokugawa Shogunate
Yuzawa - popular ski and hot spring resort, the setting of Yasunari Kawabata's Nobel Prize-winning ''Snow Country''
Understand
''Chubu'' means "middle region", accurately reflecting its position straddling the two Japanese poles of Kansai and Kanto. Often ignored by foreign tourists, many of Chubu's best attractions are in the mountains, particularly the Mount Fuji and the Japanese Alps.
Talk
There are many people who speak in dialect in this area. In Shirone in Niigata prefecture, people speak in a dialect. For example, they use the word "Ra, Ri, Ru, Re and Ro " at the ending. So they speak like this, "''_`raro!''".
Get in
By plane
Chubu Centrair International Airport, Japan's third major international gateway, is located on an artificial island 30 minutes south from Nagoya. Most larger cities around the region have airports, but they generally only serve domestic flights.
By train
True to the name, the Tokaido Shinkansen bisects the southern Tokai region, connecting to Tokyo in the east and Osaka and Kyoto in the west. Access to the northern parts is harder: Nagano can be reached from Tokyo on the Nagano Shinkansen, but the Hokuriku Shinkansen onward to Kanazawa remains under construction.
Get around
See
In the Oku-Hida region around Takayama, check out the traditional ''gassh?-zukuri'' houses, with a roof shaped like hands in prayer to protect against snow from accumulating.
There are many famous temples in Nagano, notably '''Zenk?ji''', considered an official national treasure.
In Nagoya, there is Nagoya castle, although it's just a modern concrete reconstruction.
Mount Fuji's view is great.
Do
'''Winter sports''' - in the winter, cold, dry air from the Asian continent meets moist Pacific air, the result is a large amount of snow that falls in the Koshin'etsu district, also known as '''Snow Country''' (____ ''Yukiguni''), since it receives some of the heaviest snowfall in Japan. This makes Chubu Japan's undisputed winter sports capital with attractions like Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, and Yuzawa, easily reached from Tokyo.
'''Hiking''' - the Japan Alps have some great hiking. Mount Fuji in Shizuoka is a symbol of Japan and a popular tourist attraction, both for viewing and climbing.
Eat
Chubu's regions all have their local specialities. Some include:
''Hotaru ika'' (lit. "firefly squid") in Toyama
Tempura shrimp in Nagoya
''Hatch? miso'' (_______X) in Okazaki
Drink
Chubu is ''sake'' country and Niigata, renowned for its ''koshihikari'' rice, produces some of the best in the country including famous labels like '''Kubota''' (_v___c), '''Koshinokanbai''' (_z_T___~) and '''Hakkaisan''' (___C_R).
Shizuoka is famous for green tea and Aichi specializes in, oddly enough, oranges.