Clear the Nagano Local Quiz and earn the Nagano Local title. Want to know Nagano City even better, or already confident? The tougher courses are next.
How would you describe the principal image of Zenkoji? That is the kind of question waiting here. This quiz starts at the temple gate and works outward: the shrines of Togakushi linked by mountain paths, Togakushi soba, the Sanada clan's castle town of Matsushiro, and the battlefield memory of Kawanakajima. It also follows the Chikuma River, which changes its name at the prefectural border, and the shichimi pepper tradition that grew up along the temple approach. Faith, history, and food all count here, often in the same round. When you are ready, take the quiz the way pilgrims take the approach to the main hall: one step at a time.
Q1.Which is the accurate description of Zenkoji's principal image?
Only the head priest may view its actual form
It is put on public display every year
An absolute hidden Buddha no one ever sees directly
Records show it was publicly displayed during the Edo period
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Correct answerAn absolute hidden Buddha no one ever sees directly
Zenkoji's principal image is an absolute hidden Buddha that no one, not even the head priest, has ever been recorded as seeing. It rests deep within the main hall, and the closest worshippers can get is a stand-in image made in its likeness, which itself is displayed only once every seven years.
Togakushi Shrine is the collective name for five shrines at the foot of Mt. Togakushi, and visitors move from shrine to shrine while looking up at the mountain. Each of the five keeps its own hall, and a cedar-lined approach connects the lower shrines to the innermost one. The complex has long been a center of mountain worship intertwined with Shugendo practice, and walking the full five-shrine route remains a popular pilgrimage today.
Q3.Which J.League football club is based in Nagano City?
Matsumoto Yamaga FC
AC Nagano Parceiro
Vissel Kobe
Albirex Niigata
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Correct answerAC Nagano Parceiro
The J.League club based in Nagano City is AC Nagano Parceiro. It designates 16 municipalities across the prefecture, including Nagano City, as its home towns. The club traces back to Nagano Elsa Football Club, founded in 1990, and took its current name in 2007. "Parceiro" is Portuguese for "partner," reflecting the club's aim to grow together with its community.
Source:AC長野パルセイロ
Q4.How often is Zenkoji's Gokaicho held?
Every six years
Every seven years
Every ten years
Every twelve years
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Correct answerEvery seven years
Zenkoji's Gokaicho is held every seven years, in Ox and Sheep years. The stand-in principal image is put on display in the Main Hall, drawing worshippers from across Japan. The event typically runs for about two months each spring, and touching a pillar erected in front of the hall is said to create a spiritual bond with the stand-in image, drawing especially large crowds during that period.
Q5.When was the Heisei restoration of Zenkoji's Sanmon carried out?
1998–2002
2002–2007
2007–2012
2012–2017
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Correct answer2002–2007
The Sanmon's Heisei restoration ran from October 2002 to December 2007. It addressed foundation damage linked to major earthquakes and general deterioration. It was the first large-scale repair since the gate's construction in the mid-Edo period, and after nearly six years of work, visits to the gate's upper level resumed the following year.
