Karuizawa: an elegant mountain resort in Japan
The town of Karuizawa is fairly close to Tokyo, making it perfect for exploring

Surrounded by forested mountains an hour by train northwest of Tokyo, the resort town of Karuizawa has long been a retreat for wealthy families fleeing the capital's summer heat, said Katie Kitamura in Travel + Leisure. It was here in 1957 that the Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko met. Later, John Lennon visited several times with Yoko Ono, who said it was "like the Hamptons, except it's in the mountains".
With its Alpine-style buildings, forest walks and outdoor onsen (hot spring baths), it is a deliciously quiet spot, with a "timeless allure". It's also lovely in winter, with good ski slopes nearby. And in recent years, renowned architects have built hotels and houses here, lending it "a new and decidedly modern appeal".
None of the town's hotels marry old and new more convincingly than Hoshinoya Karuizawa. Founded a century ago, it now consists of a "sprawling collection of pavilions" set beside a "burbling river" – a "minimalist fever dream" of a ryokan, or traditional inn. It has its own natural onsen, and its restaurant – which serves kaiseki, or multi- course, cuisine – is excellent.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Also beautiful is Shishi-Iwa House, a hotel with two buildings designed by the architect Shigeru Ban and one by Ryue Nishizawa. One of Ban's buildings "curves its way through the forest", while Nishizawa's is "a playful take" on the machiya, or traditional wooden house, with covered outdoor corridors and courtyard gardens.
Among the indispensable stops on a modern-design tour of Karuizawa are Shiongama (where ceramicist Shion Tabata creates "unique" tea-ceremony bowls), Kendrick Bangs Kellogg's Stone Church ("a marvel of organic form"), and Nishizawa's Hiroshi Senju Museum. There are also a dozen or so superb private houses that marry avant-garde design with an older Japanese sensibility, including TNA's Ring House, a tower with alternating layers of wood and glass – loveliest at night, when the glass layers appear to be free-floating.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
6 peaceful homes near small towns
Feature Featuring doors with local topographical maps in Oregon and a 1850s homestead-turned-house in Vermont
-
Too Much: London-set romantic comedy from Lena Dunham
The Week Recommends Megan Stalter stars as a 'neurotic' New Yorker who falls in love with a Brit
-
Apocalypse in the Tropics: a 'troubling' portrait of modern Brazil
The Week Recommends Petra Costa's sobering documentary examines the rise of right-wing evangelical Christianity in Brazilian politics
-
Murderland: a 'hauntingly compulsive' book
The Week Recommends Caroline Fraser sets out a 'compelling theory' that toxins were to blame for the 1970s serial killer epidemic
-
The 2025 James Beard Award winners
Feature Featuring a casually elegant restaurant, recipes nearly lost to war, and more
-
Film reviews: Superman and Sorry, Baby
Feature A hero returns, in surprising earnest, and a woman navigates life after a tragedy
-
Music reviews: Lorde, Barbra Streisand, and Karol G
Feature "Virgin," "The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume Two," and "Tropicoqueta"
-
Bellagio: glitz and glamour on the Las Vegas Strip
The Week Recommends Find la dolce vita in the Nevada desert at this luxurious hotel