Why Karuizawa is so special.

When people tell their story about how Karuizawa is so special to them, each and every person have their own exceptional stories to tell. There are so many essences about Karuizawa that makes it unique from other resorts in Japan. Various outdoor activities, such as tennis, hiking, cycling, golfing in summer and skiing and ice skating in winter can be enjoyed in Karuizawa, and there are ample shopping opportunities.

Karuizawa is located along Japan's Romantic Road, and it offers nice autumn colors typically around mid October to early November each year. Depending on what attracts you and how you like to spend your holidays those factors will differ.

In order to try to give you an thorough insight on what Karuizawa is about, we came across an old but great article explaining it. We were thinking about expressing it on our own, the article expresses it in a way exactly how we would like it to be but exceptionally better. So instead, we would like to present you partial citation from the site bellow by the professional writer. After reading it, I think you can get a pretty good picture of the landscape of Karuizawa.

While Tokyo is unbearably hot and humid in the heat of the summer, in Karuizawa verdant grass and moss carpet the floors of forests and the mountain air is perfumed with the scent of larch leaves and wild flowers. The area is a little over a one-hour train ride from Tokyo, enabling visitors to quickly escape the hustle and bustle of the big city and enter a world where nature rules.

Sitting on a plateau at the foot of Mount Asama, Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture has long been a popular summer destination in Japan. Last year, over 7.5 million people visited this highland resort with summer visitors topping 4.5 million, according to the town office.

Although Karuizawa attracts a number of weekend tourists, it is best known as a summer retreat where people like to rest and relax for an extended period. The town boasts over 13,000 holiday homes. Karuizawa’s history as a summer retreat dates back to more than 100 years ago when British missionary Alexander Shaw stopped over in 1886. It was then a shabby village, but Shaw fell in love with the cool climate and landscape, which is so often shrouded in mist; it reminded him of his homeland. He found it an ideal summer retreat and built a summer house for his family — the first villa in Japan — and invited fellow missionaries and other foreigners to do the same.

Wealthy Japanese and noble families followed suit, forming a unique community of intelligentsia influenced by Western culture. Villagers were quick to adapt to the new environment. They learned to bake bread and make jelly for Westerners and Japanese who had begun to live like their western counterparts.

In 1894, an old Japanese-style inn called Kameya was converted into a Western-style hotel and renamed Manpei Hotel. The opening of the hotel coincided with the first session of the so-called “Karuizawa Meeting,” a supradenominational missionary meeting where hundreds of missionaries from all over Japan and China gathered every summer.

From the early 1920s through the 1930s, many distinguished Japanese artists, poets and novelists, such as Saisei Murou and Tatsuo Hori, made Karuizawa their summer home. They left behind many works on Karuizawa that helped publicize the area and enhance its reputation.

In the late 1950s, Karuizawa became famous again because of the romance between the Emperor, then Crown Prince, and the Empress, then Michiko Shoda, who met on the tennis court while on holiday there.

Today, the resort is no longer reserved for the privileged. Large-scale development in Karuizawa and neighboring areas has brought commercialization and an increased population.

An increasing number of lodging houses and pensions provide reasonably priced accommodation, while a full range of recreational activities — cycling, horse riding, tennis, golf and a variety of museums — await visitors.

The main street, which runs north from Karuizawa station, is now lined with a number of souvenir shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants. During the peak season, it is crowded with young tourists in scenes reminiscent of downtown Tokyo.

Despite all these changes, however, Karuizawa retains much of its old charm. Local residents and long-term villa owners like to point out that, once away from busy streets, tree-lined lanes — some too narrow for a car and often unpaved — offer a quiet atmosphere reminiscent of past times.

A walk through the woods is the essence of the attraction of Karuizawa — sweet-smelling forests are filled with a multitude of birds, rushing brooks and waterfalls. It’s the perfect summertime antidote to urban bustle.

Source: An Article by Hiroko Kimura contributed to The Japan Times