Experience the best of Karuizawa

Karuizawa began as a mountain retreat for foreign missionaries and diplomats in the late nineteenth century, escaping the heat of Tokyo, and kept its European air. Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza, the old main street, has timber shopfronts, bakeries and jam shops, and a stone church in the woods is popular for weddings. The town lies at about 1,000 metres, with Mount Asama, a volcano of 2,568 metres, rising to the north.

Shiraito Falls spread like white threads over a curved rock face in the woods, Kumoba Pond has a pleasant path around it, and the brick arches of the Megane-bashi railway bridge, just over the pass in Gunma, recall the line that once climbed here. Karuizawa also held the curling events of the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Shinshu soba noodles, eaten cold with dipping sauce, local apples and jam, and fresh bread from small bakeries fill the cafés. Summers are cool enough to make the town a refuge, and the autumn leaves colour the woods in October.