FEBRUARY IN NAGANO: A TRAVELER’S GUIDE

The yen’s cheap, so head for the Olympics in Nagano City, Japan. Only once before have the Winter Games been in Asia (Sapporo, 1972), and never before this far south (the same latitude as San Francisco.) Organizers who took reporters through the site last month jokingly said they may have to go to the local temple to pray for snow, which averages 2 in. in February in Nagano proper. Don’t worry: the mountains, where a dramatic men’s downhill route was designated last week, get more than 50 in. And aren’t the four “Snowlet” mascots cute?

Located in Hakuba, 30 miles from Nagano, the ski-jumping venue expects crowds of 36,000 to cheer for a home team that has serious hopes of gold. A curtain hung on the poles at left will protect jumpers from tricky winds.

The walls of Olympic Stadium resemble the petals of a cherry blossom, a national flower. Opening and closing ceremonies will be held here. After the Games, the stadium will be used for a national pastime: baseball.

One of Japan’s holiest sites, Zenkoji (Bright Light) Temple was built 1,350 years ago and is such an integral part of the region that CBS asked to set up its temporary studio there. The Buddhist priests have granted permission.

The massive ice-hockey stadium, known as Big Hat, holds a relatively modest 10,000 spectators. That will make hockey a prized ticket when the various dream teams (see below) begin playing on Feb. 13.

No, this is not a giant, if slightly melted, version of a Hershey’s Kiss. It’s the venue for figure skating and short-track speed skating, dubbed White Ring because of its shape as seen from the air.