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Nagano · Town

Karuizawa

軽井沢町かるいざわまちKaruizawa-machi

Japan's classic summer resort beneath Mount Asama

Karuizawa is a highland town at about 1,000 metres in eastern Nagano Prefecture, at the foot of the active volcano Mount Asama. A post town on the Nakasendō, it became Japan's best-known summer resort after Western missionaries built holiday houses there in the late nineteenth century, and it is the only place to have hosted events at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Overview

Karuizawa occupies a plateau at around 900 to 1,000 metres between Mount Asama to the north and the Usui Pass to the east, on the border with Gunma. Its cool, misty summers, larch and birch forests and clear streams contrast with the heat of the Kantō plain, which lies only an hour away by Shinkansen from Tokyo.

In the Edo period three post towns on the Nakasendō, Karuizawa, Kutsukake and Oiwake, served travellers crossing the Usui Pass. After the road lost its traffic in the Meiji era, the Canadian missionary Alexander Croft Shaw built a summer house here in 1888, and missionaries, diplomats and later Japanese politicians, writers and industrialists followed. The town developed a distinctive culture of villas in the woods, churches and tennis courts.

Karuizawa hosted equestrian events at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and curling at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. It remains a place of second homes and resort hotels, with shopping centres near the station and quieter areas such as Kyū-Karuizawa, Naka-Karuizawa and Oiwake.

Landmarks

  • Shaw Memorial Chapel

    軽井沢ショー記念礼拝堂Karuizawa Shō Kinen Reihaidō

    Wooden Anglican chapel of 1895, the oldest church in Karuizawa, beside a reconstruction of Shaw's house.

  • St Paul's Catholic Church

    聖パウロカトリック教会Sei Pauro Katorikku Kyōkai

    Timber church of 1935 designed by Antonin Raymond.

  • Former Mikasa Hotel

    旧三笠ホテルKyū Mikasa Hoteru

    Western-style wooden hotel of 1906, an Important Cultural Property.

  • Kyū-Karuizawa Ginza

    旧軽井沢銀座通りKyū-Karuizawa Ginza-dōri

    Shopping street on the line of the old post town, with bakeries and jam shops.

  • Kumoba Pond

    雲場池Kumoba-ike

    Spring-fed pond in the woods, famous for autumn colour.

  • Stone Church

    石の教会 内村鑑三記念堂Ishi no Kyōkai Uchimura Kanzō Kinendō

    Organic stone and glass chapel by Kendrick Kellogg in memory of the Christian thinker Uchimura Kanzō.

  • Oiwake-juku

    追分宿Oiwake-juku

    Former post town at the fork of the Nakasendō and Hokkoku Kaidō, with a folk museum.

Districts

  • Kyū-Karuizawa

    旧軽井沢Kyū-Karuizawa

    The original post town and villa district, with churches and the Ginza shopping street.

  • Station area and Minami-Karuizawa

    南軽井沢Minami-Karuizawa

    Shopping plaza south of the station and resorts, golf courses and museums further south.

  • Naka-Karuizawa

    中軽井沢Naka-Karuizawa

    Former post town of Kutsukake, with the Hoshino hot springs and the Harunire Terrace.

  • Oiwake

    追分Oiwake

    Quiet western district associated with writers such as Hori Tatsuo.

History

The Nakasendō crossed the Usui Pass into Shinano at Karuizawa, and the town prospered from travellers and daimyo processions until the Meiji era. The eruption of Mount Asama in 1783 devastated the region. In 1886 Shaw first visited, and his cottage of 1888 is usually counted as the first holiday home; the Shaw Memorial Chapel of 1895 stands nearby.

The Shin'etsu Main Line crossed the Usui Pass by rack railway in 1893, bringing visitors from Tokyo. The Mikasa Hotel opened in 1906. In the twentieth century Karuizawa became a retreat for the Japanese elite and for foreigners, some of whom were interned there during the Second World War. The Nagano Shinkansen, opened in 1997, reduced the trip from Tokyo to about an hour.

  1. 1783

    The Tenmei eruption of Mount Asama devastates the surrounding region.

  2. 1886

    Alexander Croft Shaw visits Karuizawa and begins spending summers there.

  3. 1893

    The rack railway over the Usui Pass opens, linking Karuizawa with Tokyo.

  4. 1895

    The Karuizawa Shaw Memorial Chapel is built.

  5. 1906

    The Mikasa Hotel, a Western-style resort hotel, opens.

  6. 1923

    Karuizawa becomes a town.

  7. 1964

    Equestrian events of the Tokyo Olympics are held in Karuizawa.

  8. 1997

    The Nagano Shinkansen opens; the Usui Pass railway closes.

  9. 1998

    Karuizawa hosts curling at the Nagano Winter Olympics.

Culture

Karuizawa's culture is that of a cosmopolitan retreat. Missionaries brought churches, tennis and a habit of Sunday rest; writers such as Hori Tatsuo and Murō Saisei spent summers here, and the town has long had a strict tradition of landscape protection, with low-rise villas hidden in the woods. Many galleries and small museums have opened in the forests, and in winter the town turns to skating and curling.

Festivals

  • Shaw Festival

    ショー祭Shō Matsuri

    Memorial held on 1 August at the Shaw Memorial Chapel to honour the resort's founder.

  • Karuizawa Winter Festival

    軽井沢ウインターフェスティバルKaruizawa Uintā Fesutibaru

    Winter illuminations and events across the town from late autumn to early spring.

Food

  • Jam and preserves

    ジャムjamu

    Fruit jams, a Karuizawa speciality introduced by the foreign summer residents.

  • Bakeries

    パンpan

    Western-style bakeries that supplied the villa community since the early twentieth century.

  • Shinshū soba

    信州そばShinshū soba

    Buckwheat noodles from the highlands of eastern Nagano.

  • Highland vegetables

    高原野菜kōgen yasai

    Lettuce, cabbage and sweetcorn from the plateau farms in summer.

Getting around

  • Karuizawa Station is on the Hokuriku Shinkansen, about an hour from Tokyo and 30 minutes from Nagano; the Shinano Railway runs west to Naka-Karuizawa, Shinano-Oiwake, Komoro and Ueda.
  • Local buses connect the station with Kyū-Karuizawa and Naka-Karuizawa; bicycles are a popular way to get around the flat plateau.
  • Buses run north over the highlands to Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma and to the Onioshidashi lava field on Mount Asama.

Day trips

  • Mount Asama and Onioshidashi

    鬼押出しOnioshidashi

    Lava field of the 1783 eruption on the northern side of the volcano in Gunma.

  • Kusatsu Onsen

    草津温泉Kusatsu onsen

    One of Japan's most famous hot-spring towns, about 80 minutes by bus.

  • Komoro

    小諸Komoro

    Castle-ruin park of Kaikoen, remembered in a poem by Shimazaki Tōson.

  • Tomioka Silk Mill

    富岡製糸場Tomioka Seishijō

    World Heritage silk mill in Gunma, reachable via Takasaki.

  • Nagano City

    長野市Nagano-shi

    Temple town of Zenkō-ji, 30 minutes by Shinkansen.

Other cities in the prefecture

CapitalNaganoNagano-shiThe temple town of Zenkō-ji in the Shinano highlandsCore cityMatsumotoMatsumoto-shiCastle town at the foot of the Northern Alps

Frequently asked questions

Why is Karuizawa a famous resort?

Its cool summers at about 1,000 metres and closeness to Tokyo drew Western missionaries from the 1880s, and it became the favoured summer retreat of diplomats, the imperial family's circle, politicians and writers.

How long does it take from Tokyo to Karuizawa?

About an hour by Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo or Ueno.

Is Karuizawa worth visiting in winter?

Winters are cold and dry with little snow in the town itself; there is a ski area by the station, skating and curling facilities, and quiet forests and churches.

Is Mount Asama dangerous?

Asama is one of Japan's most active volcanoes and access near the summit is restricted according to the volcanic alert level issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Related

Sources

  1. 1.令和2年国勢調査 (opens in a new tab) — Statistics Bureau of Japan
  2. 2.軽井沢町公式ホームページ (opens in a new tab) — 軽井沢町
  3. 3.Japan National Tourism Organization (opens in a new tab) — Japan National Tourism Organization

Editorial team · Published: