Tatsuno, Nagano

nihongo|Tatsuno|辰野町|Tatsuno-machi is a town located in Kamiina District, Nagano, Japan.

As of 2003, the town has an estimated population of 22,312 and a density of 132.01 persons per km². The total area is 169.02 km². The altitude is 723 m.

Tatsuno lies in the center of Japan. 36N and 138E intersect at Tatsuno. The Tenryū river runs the center of Tatsuno. Tatsuno is surrounded by the mountains, rich in nature environment.

Fireflies are famous at Tatsuno, There are many beautiful spots, cultural assets and historical relics in Tastuno. Tatsuno town is located in the center of Japan. It is takes about 3 hours from Tokyo, 2 hours from Nagoya, 5 hours from Kyoto by train and equally by car.

Tatsuno has a sister city in New Zealand. As Tatsuno is famous for their fireflies, Waitomo, New Zealand is famous for their glowworms and the bond was forged because of these and other similarities. In February 1999, the Tatsuno Japanese Garden was officially opened at the Southern end of Rora Street. Many of the items used in the traditional Japanese Garden were donated by the city of Tatsuno. In 2005, The Waitomo Garden was opened in Tatsuno, to commemorate 10 Years of Sister City relations. The sister-city relationship is a bond, of cultural and commemorative ties, introduced after World War I, to establish friendship between different cultures.

Tatsuno and Waitomo participate in student exchange programmes annually, to develop and foster young relationships between these two towns. Waitomo District Council hold speech competitions for senior students, each year, with the winners receiving an experience in Tatsuno.

The present mayor of Tatsuno is Katsuhiko Yagasaki.

The 1st town was founded on January 1, 1947 when the village of Inatomi gained town status and renamed to Tatsuno. The current town was founded on April 1, 1955 when the 1st town merged with the village of Asahi to create the new town of Tatsuno.