Chino

Chino is a city in east-central Nagano Prefecture, Japan, in a mountainous area that includes Mount Yatsugatake, Mount Tateshina and Mount Kirigamine within its limits. Its city hall stands at an elevation of 801 metres, which is said to be the highest city hall location in Japan. As of 1 March 2019 it had an estimated 55,673 residents in 23,236 households over 266.59 square kilometres. The village of Eimei was created here in 1889, became the town of Chino in 1948, and was raised to city status on 1 August 1958 after absorbing neighbouring villages in 1955. The city is noted for producing kanten, a type of agar, and in 2018 it began a written correspondence programme called Bond Diary.