Nagano (長野市, Nagano-shi^?), the capital city of Nagano Prefecture, is located in the northern part of the prefecture near the confluence of the Chikuma and the Sai rivers, on the main Japanese island of Honshū.

As of April 1, 2011 the city has a population of 387,146. The total land area is 834.85 km².

Nagano is most famous for Zenkō-ji, a 7th century Buddhist temple which overlooks the city. A million tourists visit Nagano annually, the gateway to a variety of sightseeing spots. Nagano was originally a small town in Kamiminochi District built around the hilltop temple, the largest wooden building in eastern Japan, but the city now encompasses locations that were within Sarashina, Hanishina, and Kamitakai districts as well.

The prefecture of Nagano is in a hilly area.

Like most of Honshū, Nagano has a humid subtropical climate, although bordering with a humid continental climate its location in a sheltered inland valley means it receives less precipitation than any part of Japan outside Hokkaidō. The city still receives heavy winter snow totaling 2.57 metres (101 in) over four months from December to March, but it is less gloomy during these cold months than the coast from Hagi to Wakkanai.

Makoto Nagano (長野 誠, Nagano Makoto^?, born March 30, 1972 in Kitakata, Miyazaki) (sometimes known as "The World's Strongest Fisherman") is a commercial fisherman and the captain of his vessel, F/V Konpira Maru 28 (第28金比羅丸^?) and musician. He is regularly seen on the Japanese television show Sasuke (Ninja Warrior) where he is one of the "SASUKE All-Stars," a group of favored competitors who possess the greatest potential in completing the four grueling obstacle courses of Ninja Warrior, and gain the honor of becoming a renowned superior athlete, and also receive the coveted cash prize of two million yen.

Winning in the 17th competition (2006), he is the second of only three victors of the competition, the others being Kazuhiko Akiyama in the 4th competition (1999) and Yuuji Urushihara in the 24th (2010) and 27th (2011) competitions.

Nagano spends 300 days a year training on his fishing ship for the Sasuke competitions.

Nagano is known for his consistency in the competition. In his first 2 tournaments (7th and 8th competition), Nagano failed the Warped Wall. Then, in the 9th competition, he made an impact by reaching the Pipe Slider, further than any other competitor in that tournament had reached, only to fail the final jump off the pipe. He failed the Jump Hang on the first stage on the 10th tournament, but reached the Final Stage in the next three competitions (the 11th, 12th, and 13th competitions), but failed each time. Of the three, the closest he came to winning the competition was in the Fall 2003 competition (competition 12), missing the red button by 0.11 seconds. Since the 7th competition, he has failed the 1st Stage seven times, the most recent being the 26th Tournament. He has only failed the 2nd Stage twice (15th and 20th tournaments). He also holds the record for the most attempts in the Final Stage at five.

Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American figure skater. At the age of 15, she won the Ladies' Singles Olympic gold medal in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Lipinski remains the youngest individual gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. She is also the 1997 World Champion, two-time Champions Series Final Champion (1997–1998) and 1997 U.S. Champion.

Lipinski, an only child, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Patricia (née Brozyniak), a secretary, and Jack Richard Lipinski, an oil executive and lawyer. She spent her earliest years in Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey. The family lived in Sewell, New Jersey until 1991. Lipinski began roller skating at age three and later won a number of competitions. She began figure skating at age six. Her first competition was the 1990 regional championship, where she finished second. At the 1991 United States Roller Skating Championships, she won the primary girls freestyle as a nine-year-old.

Hermann Maier (born December 7, 1972) is a former World Cup champion alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist from Austria. Born in Altenmarkt im Pongau in Salzburg, Maier ranks among the finest alpine ski racers in history, with four overall World Cup titles (1998, 2000, 2001, 2004), two Olympic gold medals (both in 1998), and three World Championship titles (1999: 2, and 2005). His 54 World Cup race victories (24 Super-G, 15 Downhills, 14 Giant Slaloms, 1 Combined) rank second on the men's all-time list behind Ingemar Stenmark's 86 victories. He is nicknamed the "Herminator".

Hermann Maier did not initially enjoy much success in ski racing. As a 15-year old at the Schladming ski academy, he was sent home after being told he wouldn't succeed because of his slight build, caused by growth impairments. He returned home to his hometown of Flachau and his father's ski school, which remains Maier's home. He took up work as a bricklayer in the summer and a ski instructor in the winter.

Participating in local races, Maier became a multiple regional champion in Salzburg and Tyrol, but still was not able to gain a spot in the strong Austrian World Cup ski team. Putting that behind him, his outstanding talent was recognized for the first time by Austrian coaches on 6 January 1996, when he was timed with the 12th fastest time in a World Cup giant slalom in Flachau, although only starting as a forerunner, not participating in the actual competition.^{[citation needed]} This would become the starting point of his international career.