East Nagano · KaruizawaNo.753★★★Open in map →
Karuizawa
— A cool-summer town in the Asama highlands
A highland town under Mount Asama that became Japan's best-known summer resort. The walk north from the station strings its pond, its old post-road street and the small church at the head of it into one line.
- FromKaruizawa Station (Hokuriku Shinkansen / Shinano Railway)
- ~30 minOn foot from Karuizawa Station
- Karuizawa
Where it is
27 more notes in Nagano · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- Kumoba Ponda long, narrow man-made pond beside the road north, with water still enough to hold the trees
- Kyu-Karuizawa Rotarythe roundabout at the foot of the old street, the point where the town centre begins
- Kyu-Karuizawa Ginzathe old main street on the ground of the Nakasendo post town, now the town's row of shops
- Karuizawa Shaw Memorial Chapelthe oldest church in the town, dark timber set back among trees at the head of the street
- Shaw House Memoriala reconstruction of the missionary's summer villa, standing on the slope beside the chapel
How to actually get there
- Karuizawa Station → walk out of the north side and head straight north.
- Pass the pond on your left, then reach the roundabout where the old street begins.
- Walk the old street to its top end, where the shops give way to trees.
- Finish at the church and the villa memorial, then turn back the same way.
- On foot from Karuizawa Station
- Leave by the north side of the station and follow the road straight north. It is a little over two kilometres to the top of the old street, flat the whole way, through the pond and the roundabout. Local buses and taxis also run this route from the station front if you would rather not walk both directions.
- Back down to Karuizawa Station
- The same road returns south, and it is downhill in feel if not in gradient. Shinkansen services to Tokyo run through the evening, but the Shinano Railway line westward thins out earlier, so check that timetable before dinner rather than after.
About the place
The part of Karuizawa worth walking runs north from the station in one line. First a narrow man-made pond beside the road, then the roundabout that marks the start of the old main street, then the street itself — the ground where the Nakasendo post town of Karuizawa once stood, now lined with shops. Keep going to the top and the shops thin out into trees. At the end stands the oldest church in the town, a small dark-timbered building set back from the road, with a reconstruction of a missionary's villa beside it. The resort grew outward from that corner, which is why the walk makes more sense in this direction than the reverse.
How to enjoy it
Walk it northward and early in the day, before the street fills and the road from the station clogs with cars. Aim for late spring or autumn rather than the August peak if you can choose — the point of the place is the air and the trees, and both are easier to notice without the crowd. Give the top end of the street more time than the bottom; the shops thin out there and the woods start.
Background & history
Karuizawa was a post town on the Nakasendo long before it was a resort, and the shopping street stands on that old ground. The change came from outside. A Canadian missionary, Alexander Croft Shaw, came up here in 1886, found the climate and the woods to his liking, and in 1888 spent a summer in a building that became the first villa in Karuizawa. Others followed him, foreign residents first and Japanese families after, and the highland filled with summer houses. The church at the top of the street carries his name.
Before you go
- Cash
- The walk itself costs nothing and the street is public road. Museums, galleries and the villa memorial along the way each set their own admission and opening arrangements, so confirm the ones you want on the day. Smaller shops on the street are easier with cash.
- Before you go
- This is a highland town and winter is real here — snow, ice underfoot, and a good number of seasonal shops shut outside the warm months. Midsummer and the autumn colour weeks are the opposite problem: the street fills and the road in from the station backs up with cars.
- Another way
- Karuizawa Station is also on the Shinano Railway line, which runs in from Komoro and Ueda. If you are already in eastern Nagano that is the cheaper approach than doubling back to the shinkansen.
- After you get off
- From the station, the old street is a straight walk north — no turns to speak of, and the pond about halfway along tells you that you are on the right road. Signposting in the town centre is bilingual.