Visit Nagano For an Ueda Day Trip, and Make Your Own Fireworks in Japan! ・ Hidden Day Trip Destinations Near Tokyo

For those with niche interests, the city of Ueda might spark a memory thanks to its involvement in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, or its use as the setting of the popular anime film Summer Wars. But this little city in Nagano is more than just a backdrop! Ueda has many of the things you look for when traveling in Japan, including a history packed with real samurai and ninjas, hot springs in use for over 1,400 years, mountains covered in white snow ripe for skiing, and starry night skies. It also has one big advantage as a destination for short-term sightseers: it's close enough to make a good day trip destination from Tokyo. (Ueda is only an hour and a half from Tokyo by shinkansen.) With so much off-the-beaten-path charm, it's tempting not to share this hidden destination with the world, but we think it will fit perfectly into the itinerary of any traveler looking to get away from Tokyo for a day and see another side of Japan.

Within Japan, on the other hand, Ueda is known for its summertime fireworks. The Shinshu Ueda Fireworks Festival is put together every year by three Japanese fireworks companies, and the breathtaking display is launched over a local river, with viewing areas so close to the action that each firework hits with an outsized impact. And in this city famous for fireworks, a local firework manufacturer is now offering travelers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to try firework manufacturing for themselves, in the form of a unique day trip tour with a fireworks making workshop. Join us as we try this once-in-a-lifetime fireworks day trip tour for ourselves, to try our hands at explosives and get hands-on with custom fireworks, and enjoy a little local Ueda flavor while we're there!

JR Ueda Station (JR上田駅)
1-1-1 Tenjin, Ueda, Nagano
Access: 1½ hours from Tokyo Station via the Hokuriku Shinkansen (approx. 6,260 yen)

9:15 Gather at Ueda Station / 9:30 Bus Departs

The easiest way to get to Ueda is to take the shinkansen, which goes straight from Tokyo Station to Ueda Station in about an hour and a half. This particular route isn't usually all that crowded, so you're usually safe buying a ticket from the machine in the morning and sitting in one of the non-reserved cars, but if you prefer to reserve your shinkansen seat you can also purchase your tickets online in advance.

Japan is known for local delicacies, and when Japanese people travel, they usually bring home local specialty foods as souvenirs. In Ueda, the go-to option for local sweets is misuzu-ame or misuzu candy (みすゞ飴), which have been made in the city for over 100 years. These fruity candies have a firm jelly texture, and each one comes covered in a thin film of edible rice paper only 0.02 mm thick, which melts in your mouth. Each of the half-a-dozen fruit flavors is made with fruit grown locally in Nagano, or in Wakayama to the south, and the addition of colorful packaging makes them a fun gift.

Misuzu-ame Hompo (みすゞ飴本舗)
1-1-21 Central, Ueda, Nagano
Hours: 10:00 - 18:00 (closed over the New Year's holidays)
Official Website (en)

When you think of Japan, you might imagine fierce samurai or swift ninjas, but these days you might also think of traditional "wagashi" (和菓子) sweets. Specialty shop Chino Wagashi is about a ten-minute walk from Ueda Station, and it offers a rotating selection of seasonal sweets, plus other fun perennial choices. There are little Japanese cakes supposedly shaped like the cornerstones of the Ueda Castle walls, and even some sweets made with interesting ingredients like tofu or soba (buckwheat).

Chino Wagashi (御菓子処千野)
3-2-18 Central, Ueda, Nagano
Hours: 9:30 - 18:00 (closed Wednesdays & on the Lunar New Year)
Official Website (jp)

As a hot springs town, it would be a shame to stay for longer than a day trip in Ueda without enjoying a soak in an onsen, and the best way to do that is to stay in a traditional local ryokan. One homey option near Ueda Station is Jukyuan, an inn with roots dating back to the Meiji-era (1868-1912), and renovated rooms that provide a comfortably traditional place to stay the night. The ryokan's steaming-hot onsen baths are open every morning and night, and each room gets a chance to reserve them for private use!

Ueda Onsen Jukyuan (上田温泉祥園・寿久庵)
1-1-84 Ote, Ueda, Nagano
Check-in/Check-out: 14:00~ / ~10:00
Official Website (jp)

There are many reasons to fill your itinerary with day trips when traveling overseas - going somewhere for the day means you can get out of the big city for a few hours, see somewhere totally different, travel without any excess baggage weighing you down, and know exactly where you're heading back to at the end of a busy day. Day trips are even easier when you get a tour schedule planned out for you, with all the local must-sees included. And this trip has all that, plus the addition of a one-of-a-kind workshop you're not going to find anywhere else. Making your own fireworks, and enjoying your own personal fireworks spectacular in small-town Nagano, isn't the kind of experience you're likely to forget anytime soon. If you're ready to get away from Tokyo, explore a little bit of the Japanese countryside, and enjoy a day trip that will leave memories to last a lifetime, hop on the shinkansen and make a trip to Ueda part of your itinerary!

▶︎ Find more Nagano travel information here!


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