Hokusai first came to Obuse in the 1840s at the invitation of Takai Kozan, a prosperous farmer-merchant who had studied painting under the master in Edo. Kozan offered Hokusai a studio and patronage, and the artist, already renowned for The Great Wave and the Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, threw himself into a late burst of creativity. He produced festival floats, painted ceilings, and large-scale brush paintings that departed from his famous woodblock prints. His final major work towers above visitors at Ganshoin Temple: a phoenix painted across the entire ceiling, created when Hokusai was 88 years old, with the help of his daughter Katsushika Oi. The enormous painting took roughly a year to complete. The Hokusai Museum in the center of town houses a broader collection of his Obuse-era works, anchoring the town's identity around an artist who arrived as a guest and stayed as a legend.

Long before Hokusai arrived, Obuse was known for its chestnuts. The town boasts a 600-year tradition of chestnut cultivation, and the nut permeates local culture in ways both practical and poetic. Chestnut Lane, paved with blocks of chestnut wood, connects the Takai Kozan Museum with the Hokusai Museum in a fragrant corridor through the old town center. Cafes and confectioneries line the compact streets, offering chestnut cakes, chestnut rice, chestnut ice cream, and the delicate wagashi sweets that have made Obuse a pilgrimage destination for food lovers. The most celebrated producer, Obusedo, has been refining chestnut confections here for generations. The trees themselves dot the surrounding farmland, their canopies turning golden in autumn and framing the town against the mountain backdrop.

Obuse's charm owes much to its scale. The old town area is flat, compact, and designed for wandering on foot. Narrow lanes wind past traditional merchant houses, small galleries, and sake breweries. The open-garden program invites visitors to stroll through private gardens that residents have opened to the public, blurring the line between personal and shared space in a way that feels genuinely welcoming. Art is everywhere, not just in the museums but in the streetscape itself, with sculptures, ceramics, and seasonal installations tucked into corners. The town has consciously cultivated this atmosphere, investing in cultural tourism while keeping development restrained enough that the historic texture survives.

Obuse sits in a valley on the eastern side of the Chikuma River, just 24 minutes by limited express on the Nagano Dentetsu railway from Nagano Station. The surrounding region offers dramatic contrast to the town's gentle pace. To the east, the highland resort of Shiga Kogen rises into the Joshinetsu Kogen National Park with Japan's largest interconnected ski area. Nearby Yamanouchi is home to the Jigokudani Monkey Park, where Japanese macaques soak in volcanic hot springs surrounded by snow. To the south, the Chikuma River valley leads to onsen towns and mountain temples. Obuse serves as a quiet counterpoint to these wilder landscapes, a place to sit with a cup of chestnut tea and contemplate an 88-year-old painter who still believed his best work lay ahead.