Karuizawa
Alexander Croft Shaw built a summer house here in 1886 and told his Tokyo circle about the climate — at a thousand metres on a volcanic plateau, Karuizawa is several degrees cooler than the capital, which was the whole point before air conditioning. The Shinkansen now covers the distance in seventy minutes, and Mount Asama smokes above the larch woods.
Why go
Tokyo's oldest hill station — a Canadian missionary started it in 1886 and the pattern held. Larch forest at 1,000 metres — cool in August, when Tokyo is unbearable. Bullet train in seventy minutes — which is why it works as a weekend rather than a holiday. Mount Asama — an active volcano above the town, with lava fields on its flanks.
The character
Karuizawa was a post town on the Nakasendō road that had declined almost to nothing when Alexander Croft Shaw, a Canadian Anglican missionary, built a summer house here in 1886 and told his Tokyo circle about the climate. At a thousand metres on a volcanic plateau, the town is several degrees cooler than the capital, and by the 1900s it was the summer retreat of missionaries, diplomats and then Japanese elites — the emperor met the empress on a tennis court here in 1957, which the town has never let anyone forget.
The Shinkansen changed the scale. Since 1997 Karuizawa has been seventy minutes from Tokyo Station, which converted a summer colony into a weekend habit: villas in the larch woods, an outlet mall by the station, cycling paths, and a summer population many times the resident one. Mount Asama, one of Japan's most active volcanoes, sits above it all — its 1783 eruption killed over a thousand people and left the Onioshidashi lava field, now a park of black rock with the crater smoking behind it.
Places of character
Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza — the old main street of the summer colony, with bakeries and jam shops. Shiraito Falls — a seventy-metre curtain of spring water in a curved rock face, ten minutes by bus. Onioshidashi Park — the 1783 lava field, with paths through black rock and Asama above it. Cycling paths — the town is flat and threaded with routes through larch woods to the churches and villas. Karuizawa Shinishikawa Church — Shaw's wooden church of 1895, where the resort began. Hoshinoya and the Harunire Terrace — the resort area with hot springs and a stream-side promenade.
The way to do it
Come by Shinkansen and hire a bicycle at the station — the town is designed for it. Go in August when Tokyo is hot, or in October for the larches. Take the bus to Onioshidashi for the volcano, which most weekenders skip. And bathe: the onsen at Hoshino is open to non-residents.
One perfect day
Early Shinkansen from Tokyo, bicycle collected at Karuizawa station by nine. Ride through the larch woods to Shaw's church and along the old Ginza for a pastry. Out to Shiraito Falls by mid-morning, water coming straight out of the rock face. Bus up to Onioshidashi for the lava field and Asama smoking above. Lunch of soba. Afternoon cycling the villa roads, then the onsen at Hoshino for an hour. Dinner on the Harunire Terrace by the stream, and the last train back to Tokyo before ten.
Grand hotels
Hoshinoya Karuizawa — a village of rooms along a stream, with its own hot spring and a serious kitchen. Mampei Hotel — 1894, wooden, where John Lennon spent summers; the tea room is unchanged.
When to go
Best expression: August, when Tokyo is thirty-five degrees and Karuizawa is ten cooler. Consider: late October for the larch and maple colour. Avoid if possible: the Obon week in mid-August, when everything is booked, and deep winter unless skiing.
The frame
Ideal stay 2 nights · Minimum a day trip · Best arrival Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo, 70 minutes · Airport HND, 200 km · Walkability by bicycle · Best without a car yes