Jump Ahead:
Day 1 | Kumoba Pond, Kyu-Karuizawa, Church Street
Day 2 | Prince Snow Resort & Outlet Mall
Final Day 3 | Hoshino Onsen, Kera-Ike Skate Rink, Bird Sanctuary, Harunire Terrace, Karuizawa Kogen Church, Uchimura Kanzo Memorial Stone Church, Naka-Karuizawa
When I used to think of Karuizawa, I always thought of it as an expensive Summer vacation getaway, complete with fancy hotels, churches, shopping, nature, and golf. It’s location allows it to stay cooler in the Summer and it’s a quick retreat from the heat and humidity that Tokyo faces during the hottest months of the year. It’s also a place for destination weddings and celebrity stays with John Lennon being one of the more famous frequenters.
Our own trip to Karuizawa would be quite different from the expectations I’ve come to gather. The biggest difference was probably that we were going in February, one of the coldest months of the year in Japan. Normally, we’d pick more of a ski town to visit (like Nozawa) however the snow this year hasn’t been very plentiful or promising so we opted to try some place new.
Despite it being a place where people go to do nothing in the Summer, we were still finding interesting things to do in the Winter. One of the activities I didn’t know about was nature watching, specifically birds. There’s a wild bird sanctuary in the area which was perfect for Marie and also gave me a chance to test out all my new camera gear. Then, of course, there’s always shopping and eating in the old Karuizawa district as well as the newer outlet mall and Prince shopping plaza areas. And while we weren’t going to be playing golf (closed in the Winter), there still remained the possibility of getting to ski at Prince Hotels Ski Resort.
As a bonus, we found that not all accommodations have to be expensive in Karuizawa and we were able to book a place for less than expected (given it’s as off-season as this place gets). All in all, this trip was planning to be everything we could ask for in a short weekend getaway.
Some helpful links for general info:
Tourism Center
https://visitkaruizawa.com/en/about/shinkyu/
Japan Guide
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6030.html
Japan Travel Navitime
https://japantravel.navitime.com/en/area/jp/guide/NTJtrv0544-en/
Day 1
All the way up to the night before our trip, I was keeping a close eye on the weather to see if it would be worth taking our ski gear with us on the train. This year seems unusually warm with less snow throughout most of Japan and Karuizawa was no exception. The day time temperatures were averaging 6-8 deg C and nighttime was still above freezing, plus it was supposed to rain on Sunday with strong gusts. Ultimately, we decided to skip skiing which gave us more time to do other things at a more leisurely pace. This also meant we didn’t have to leave as early Saturday morning so we ended up catching the 0934 Shinkansen (Asama 607) from Tokyo, arriving at Karuizawa Station at 1102. Our total train ride from Yokohama to Karuizawa with non-reserved seats was only ¥5930/person and took just a little over 2 hours. We had no problem getting seats this time (surprisingly) and the Shinkansen had 5 unreserved cars to choose from.
As soon as we arrived in Karuizawa, we noticed how little snow there actually was in the city. Where we would’ve expected the grounds to be completely covered, the only snow in sight was the artificial snow at the Prince Hotels Snow Resort and the snow covering the top of nearby Mt. Asama. We immediately felt better about not bringing out ski gear considering the unusual weather this year.
The walk to our hotel from Karuizawa Station was less than 10 minutes and it was still too early to check-in so we just left a larger bag at the front desk before heading out again.
The hotel’s name was the Hotel Rosso Karuizawa. The total price for 2 nights, 2 adults, and breakfast included was just $312. They also had a free shuttle to the major ski/shopping/station areas, a waxing/dry room for equipment, laundry machines, and 24/7 water/coffee station… pretty much all you’d need in a hotel here.
Hotel Rosso Karuizawa
https://www.hotel-rosso.jp/lg_en/
Our first stop after dropping things off at the hotel was Kumoba Pond. It’s a little scenic area just to the west of the Old Nakasendo road with a little walking path around the entire circumference of the pond. It’s probably a little more scenic in the Fall with the changing colors of the leaves but it can also be peaceful in the middle of February. We didn’t see many birds here but there were a few ducks that let me practice with my new camera gear for the first time. We just took our time, walking around the small pond, Marie with her binoculars and me with my camera, taking in the nice peaceful atmosphere (as one’s supposed to do in Karuizawa).
From the northern end of Kumoba Pond, we followed some smaller streets towards the old shopping street area. This area away from the main road was where we could see all the nice, expensive homes tucked away in the woods. Most of them didn’t seem occupied full-time but we had some fun trying to imagine how rich you’d have to be just to own places like those as a primary residence let alone as a second vacation home… just living in a completely different world apart from everyone else. It was definitely a nice, quiet, peaceful atmosphere and at this point, Karuizawa was living up to it’s reputation for me. Who wouldn’t want to live out here?
Once we made it back to the main road and popular old shopping street, I noticed there were a lot of western style buildings and restaurants but not so many things translated in English (signs, menus, etc.). I thought it ironic that there’s a place in Japan, famous to Japanese because of Western people and yet somehow not so inclusive of or famous to Western people. We walked up and down the street, peeking in a few shops that looked interesting to us and even found some omiyage to take back home. Most of the restaurants served Western food and/or expensive Japanese food. I think I saw at least one Indian and Chinese restaurant. We also walked through Church Street shopping plaza through to St. Paul’s Catholic Church on the other end. The Church Street shopping plaza had a bunch of loud construction going on so there wasn’t as much to see/do there as I expected. For lunch we ate some curry at a cafe called Paomu and then followed up with some famous coffee soft serve cones from Mikado Coffee.
After walking up and down the old shopping street a couple times and having lunch, we started to south down the main street back towards Karuizawa Station and then to our hotel. There were a few fancy restaurants/shops closer to where the Old Nakasendo Road meets Route 133 but aside from that, the rest of the walk was a little underwhelming. There seemed to be a lot of older, abandoned looking buildings on each side of the road with a newer building inserting itself here and there. At first I thought it was just because of the off-season but there were a lot of buildings that just didn’t look maintained at all. At the very least, I guess the town is still growing and updating with the times in certain areas and the places that are rich and fancy definitely make up for those that are less so.
We made it back to our hotel as the sun was setting, got our room key and found our bag waiting for us in the room already. The room (and hotel) was very clean and fairly new looking. Big room with separate twin beds… good toiletries and amenities. I would say the only downside was the lighting in the room (overhead lighting in front of mirrors is terrible).
After resting for a little bit, we decided to get dinner at the Rabbit Forest Restaurant (I called it the Peter Rabbit restaurant), less than a block away from the hotel. We walked past it earlier in the day and it didn’t look the nicest from the outside but later research found it to have nice reviews and good looking food. It also filled a certain niche in that it wasn’t an overly expensive restaurant, but also not the mall food court or an izakaya… both of which you’ll find plenty of in Karuizawa. The meal turned out to be really nice… everything was really tasty and they gave big portions for an affordable price. A nice family was seated next to us… maybe they understood some English too. The Grandma and Dad were from Karuizawa and in hindsight we might’ve walked past the Grandma’s (huge) house earlier where we saw the little boy playing with his toy truck. The Grandma was teaching English to the older boy while they ate. Really looked like a family I could be friends with and it left me wondering how life changing a single conversation could’ve been had I tried to talk with them more (or any time in life). It must be nice to be able to come out to your house in Karuizawa on the weekends… the Grandma was the one who brought her son and his family to the restaurant so we knew we were in the right place. The owners were, I assume, a husband and wife duo… super nice couple. I would definitely go back there again.
Day 2
Our second day in Karuizawa was a bit rainy so we decided to make it our shopping day since most of the outlet mall south of the station is covered. Before shopping though, we decided to catch the hotel shuttle to the Prince Hotel Snow Resort area just to look around the area and reaffirm our decision to not ski. It wasn’t raining too hard yet so we managed to walk around without getting wet earlier in the morning. Overall, the snow resort area was not that large… they had a couple restaurants, food trucks, and shops… everything you’d need to go skiing. Karuizawa is not supposed to be famous for it’s skiing and I can see why it’s not the biggest resort but it looks like it’d be plenty fun for kids at least. The snow itself was really wet and slushy so we didn’t feel so bad about skipping on the all day ski session.
Prince Snow Resorts:
https://www.princehotels.co.jp/ski/karuizawa/winter/
After the snow resort, we walked through the Prince Hotel East grounds to the outlet mall area. The Prince Hotel properties themselves, especially the main building, seemed really dated and didn’t seem to justify the expensive prices people pay to stay there but if you’re looking for the one resort representative of Karuizawa I guess this would be the one most people think of. It’s pretty much at the center of what everyone comes to Karuizawa to do. The cabins did look nice and I can’t speak for the golf courses since they were closed but I imagine those’d be a pretty penny as well.
We spent the remainder of the day just shopping at the outlet mall south of Karuizawa Station. I had thought we’d only spend a few hours tops but it was so huge that we ended up there until almost closing. I was actually tired by the end of the day just walking around shops…. really one of the biggest outlet malls I think I’ve been to and evidently there are some pretty good deals there despite usual Japanese prices.
English Website:
http://www.karuizawa-psp.jp/en/
English Map:
http://www.karuizawa-psp.jp/common/pdf/fg_all1807.pdf
By the time we left the outlet mall, it was dinner time and although I usually try to eat at different places on vacation, we ended up in the same predicament as the night before. Sooo… you guessed it, back to the Rabbit Forest we went! Marie had overheard the Grandma from the night before recommending certain dishes to her family so we decided to go and try some of those this time. Once again, the place did not disappoint and still wouldn’t feel guilty about going there again!
Final Day 3
The weather cleared up on our final day in Karuizawa and it ended up being a really nice day for one of the main events on our itinerary, the Karuizawa Bird Sanctuary.
We had a small breakfast at the hotel again before checking out and catching the 0910 hotel shuttle to Karuizawa Station.
We found some cheaper lockers at the station downstairs by the bus stops at the North exit. They were a little larger and cheaper than the lockers upstairs. The bus itself came on time at 0930… it wasn’t a flat rate bus so you take a ticket when you board and then pay the appropriate amount when you disembark. The bus didn’t accept the use of IC cards so you should have some cash on you for that. We caught the bus from stop #1 @ ¥470/person and it took about 25 minutes to get to Hoshino Onsen area nearest to the Bird Sanctuary.
From the bus stop on the main road, we walked through the popular Hoshino Onsen area to get to the Bird Sanctuary. We had originally planned on eating lunch at the restaurant there but it was closed on Monday. We’re also not that big on public onsen so we didn’t visit inside the onsen area despite it being one of the most popular things to do in Naka-Karuizawa.
Here’s some general info on Hoshino Resorts anyway:
https://www.hoshino-area.jp/en
Before we entered the Bird Sanctuary, we stopped by the tour company Picchio and the Kera-Ike Skate Rink (same place). It’s a tiny little pond of which only about half was frozen at the time. If you want to just relax there, you can buy drinks in the building and get warm inside while watching people skate outside. At the time, there was only one family on the ice with a couple kids… generally a nice setting anyway and a nice place to take the kids if you’re in the area… they seemed to be having fun.
Karuizawa Bird Sanctuary
Picchio Info – https://picchio.co.jp/facility/wildforest/
English Brochure with Map – http://chubu.env.go.jp/shinetsu/%EF%BC%BBWeb%EF%BC%BD_en.pdf
Finally, on to the main reason we came… bird watching. Marie was the supposed to be the spotter and me the shooter (w/ the camera). This was the first time I got to play with all my near gear in a real setting (aside from the ducks at the pond the first day). Overall, we spent about 4 hours in the park and came across only about 6 or 7 people. The amount of birds we saw the whole time was also about 6 or 7 too hahaha…. well, maybe it was closer to 10 (2-3 different species) but definitely not nearly the amount either of us expected to see. I started the day saying I wanted to capture at least 10 different species on camera and by the halfway point that was down to 5…. then to 1 lol. Despite our best efforts to walk slowly, listening carefully, and look closely, we weren’t having much success in finding any birds. We saw almost as many birds outside the park than inside actually. Despite all that though, it was a nice peaceful hike through an otherwise nice park and I was particularly happy with the one bird I was able to capture with my camera… somewhat testing my current skills with the limits of my new equipment.
English Brochure with Map –
http://chubu.env.go.jp/shinetsu/%EF%BC%BBWeb%EF%BC%BD_en.pdf
After leaving the park, we walked to Harunire Terrace nearby for some lunch and coffee. The Terrace area is not as big as I expected it to be and it was getting later in the afternoon so we didn’t shop much other than to eat and get coffee. Our lunch was in the restaurant side of Sawa Mura Bakery and then coffee was at Maruyama… both really famous in Karuizawa.
Fun tip: Maruyama had free samples of various coffees and if you buy any bag of beans you can get up to 2 complimentary (small) cups of coffee. They don’t really advertise this until you’re at the register and paying, probably because they don’t want people taking advantage of that fact (a normal cup of coffee was over ¥600 whereas a you can get a bag of beans for almost the same price). Between the free samples and the complimentary cups, we were already satisfied, all for the price of one bag of beans hehehe
The last places we’d visit in Naka-Karuizawa were the Karuizawa Kogen Church and the Uchimura Kanzo Memorial Stone Church. Probably the two more popular churches in the area, I thought it worth a visit since it wasn’t a terrible detour from the main road and the architecture looked interesting from photos online. The road to the churches can be a little confusing… it’s probably best/easiest to enter the road near the Cowboy House restaurant across from the northern end of Harunire Terrace. There was also a “no bicycles” sign at the base of road before you climb the hill to the churches so that’s something to keep in mind if you’re one of the many bicycle renters in the area. They did have a place to leave the bicycles at the bottom so you could just leave them there while you visit the churches.
After visiting the Stone Church, we found our way back to the main road, stopped in at a 7/11, and then walked back to Naka-Karuizawa Station. I thought there were going to be more shops or places to eat at Naka-Karuizawa Station but I was sorely mistaken. Trains and buses back to Karuizawa were not so frequent either so we ended up waiting about 40 minutes for the next train, having just missed the one prior. The station at Naka-Karuizawa didn’t accept IC cards so we also had to buy paper tickets there. By now, it was already 1641 and the sun was going down…. knowing there were still a couple shops we wanted to go back to at the outlet mall and another 2 hours to get back home to Yokohama after that.
The train from Naka-Karuizawa to Karuizawa station took only 5 minutes. By comparison, you could take a taxi and the drive is about 10 minutes and 4km. You can do the math if that’d be cheaper or not…. definitely faster if you can’t wait for the next train. Once back at Karuizawa Station, we quickly visited a couple stores to look at some things again… keeping an eye on the time for the next Shinkansen back to Tokyo.
We (Marie) got our bags out of the locker at the station and then picked up some small foods at the conbini in the station (food is generally lacking in the station and it’s probably better to get something at the mall area). We also had some time to look at the omiyage shop in the station but didn’t really need to get anything more. We left Karuizawa on the 1854 Shinkansen (Hakutaka 572), getting back to Tokyo by 2000 and then Yokohama by 2056. The price was the same as going, ¥5930/person… pretty reasonable all things considered. We were pretty pooped from all the walking and dreading the idea of going to work early the next morning (as always happens with vacations right?). It didn’t help that the Shinkansen was crowded for some reason, despite there being 4 unreserved cars and it being a Monday night.
All in all, it was a nice trip for both of us I think. Definitely, not all of what I had expected of Karuizawa before the trip but surprising to me in mostly a good way. I can imagine doing the expensive resort thing, with all the fancy shops and services, but I can also now appreciate the quieter (and cheaper) side of Karuizawa where you can really just kick back, relax, and do nothing… or so the saying goes. Perhaps there will be a return trip in the summer!
Until next time!