Chino is a town of fifty-six thousand people on the eastern side of Lake Suwa's basin, in Nagano Prefecture, and it has two secrets. One is that the town gave Japan one of its most famous prehistoric treasures: the Jomon Venus, a small, rounded clay figure found at the Tanabatake site and designated a national treasure, which is perhaps five thousand years old. The other is agar, or kanten, a seaweed jelly made in the cold dry winters here, with long frames of it set out to freeze and dry in the open air. Neither is on the usual tourist list, which is part of the appeal.
Chino sits at the foot of the Yatsugatake Mountains, a volcanic range with a long skyline of peaks, and the town is the starting point for the Venus Line, a famous scenic road that climbs into the hills. The road rises in gentle bends through larch woods, past pasture and lakes, toward the Kurumayama highlands, and Lake Shirakaba, a pleasant place to stop. The Venus Line is smooth and well surfaced, with long views of the Southern and Central Alps on a clear day, and in autumn the larches turn golden.
The riding here is among the best in central Japan, but it comes with a few conditions. At altitude the weather changes quickly, mornings can be cold even in summer, and ice is possible from late autumn to spring. Traffic at weekends can be heavy, and a lot of other motorcyclists share the road, so patience helps. Fuel is easy in Chino itself, where there are stations on the main road and shops, and the road ahead has little, so fill up before you climb.
The town has good food, including soba and regional dishes of local mountain vegetables, and the station is a convenient base for a stop. Lake Suwa and its onsen are a short drive to the west, and a hot bath after the mountain road is hard to beat.