Komagane is located in a north-south valley of the Tenryu River between the Central and Southern Alps in south-central Nagano Prefecture at an average elevation of 676 meters.

The city was founded on July 1, 1954 by the merger of the towns of Akaho and Miyata with the villages of Nakasawa and Ina (all from Kamiina District).

Komagane has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 15 members.

Despite relatively poor transportation infrastructure (there is no Shinkansen link and the existing railway is a single track local line), the city derives a large proportion of its overall income from tourism.

The city has several popular tourist hotels (including one on the mountain which is only accessible via the ropeway), a youth hostel, onsen and a ski resort.