Ina Onsen Komagane

Ina Onsen Komagane is a thermal facility in Komagane City in the Ina Valley of Nagano Prefecture, a community situated directly below the Central Alps (Kiso Mountains) whose dramatic east face towers over the city and provides the setting for the Sengoku Ropeway, Japan's highest-altitude aerial tramway, which ascends to the Senjoujiki Cirque at 2,611 meters, a spectacular glacial basin of arctic-alpine wildflower meadows and pristine mountain tarns designated a National Special Natural Monument and considered one of the most accessible high-alpine wilderness experiences in Japan. The Ina Valley's distinctive culture includes the Jomon archaeological sites preserved in the valley's alluvial deposits, the traditional craft of silk weaving using Ina's historically important sericulture industry, and the local Komagane beef and sauce-katsu don (deep-fried pork cutlet on rice with distinctive sauce) beloved as the city's signature culinary contribution. The chloride thermal spring waters here provide warming recovery after high-altitude adventures in the Central Alps, making Komagane a destination that combines Japan's most dramatic and accessible alpine scenery with the comfortable pleasures of traditional valley hot spring culture.