Area Guide
Western Area
The roads within the Iida community are convoluted and maze-like. The area has many chestnut and apple orchards and grape vineyards, and the scenery is especially beautiful when the small white apple blossoms are in bloom and the season is amenable to walking.
The Chikuma River—said to be the longest in Japan—flows along this western area. The embankment along the river offers panoramic views of the Hokushin Gogaku (Five Peaks), the most prominent mountains in the Kitashinano region. The 600 yaezakura cherry trees that stretch along the embankment for 4 kilometers are impressive when in bloom between late April and early May. During that same period, yellow flowering mustard and carp streamers billowing in the wind complete a classic landscape of rural Japan in the spring. The western area also has a little sake brewery that has been a local favorite for more than a century.