# Karuizawa, Nagano

Karuizawa (軽井沢町, Karuizawa-machi) is a resort town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2016, the town had an estimated population of 20,323 in 9897 households, and a population density of 130 persons per km$^2$. The total area of the town is 156.03 km$^2$ (60.24 sq mi).
Originally, there was a stage station (shukuba) called Karuisawa-shuku on the Nakasendō. The Shin'etsu Line opened in 1888 and the town became popular as a Western-style hill station around that time.

## Geography

Karuizawa is located in eastern Nagano Prefecture, bordered by Gunma Prefecture to the north, east and south. The town is located on an elevated plain at the foot of Mount Asama, one of Japan's most active volcanoes. The mountain is classed as a Category A active volcano. A small eruption was detected in June 2015, and a more significant eruption spewing hot rocks and a plume of ash occurred in February 2015. Mount Asama's most destructive eruption in recent recorded history took place in 1783, when over 1,000 were killed. The volcano is actively monitored by scientists and climbing close to the summit is prohibited.
* Usui Pass
* Highest elevation: 2,568 m (8,425 ft) (Top of Mount Asama)
* Lowest elevation: 798.7 m (2,620.4 ft)

### Surrounding municipalities

* Gunma Prefecture
** Annaka
** Naganohara
** Shimonita
** Takasaki
** Tsumagoi
* Nagano Prefecture
** Miyota
** Saku

### Climate

Karuizawa has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with warm summers and cold winters. The average annual temperature in Karuizawa is 8.6 °C (47.5 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,246.2 mm (49.06 in) with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around 20.8 °C (69.4 °F), and lowest in January, at around −3.3 °C (26.1 °F). Precipitation is much heavier in the summer than in the winter.
Climate data for Karuizawa (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1925–present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.1 (61.0) | 18.8 (65.8) | 22.6 (72.7) | 28.3 (82.9) | 29.5 (85.1) | 31.1 (88.0) | 34.2 (93.6) | 33.9 (93.0) | 31.3 (88.3) | 27.7 (81.9) | 22.3 (72.1) | 20.7 (69.3) | 34.2 (93.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.3 (36.1) | 3.5 (38.3) | 7.8 (46.0) | 14.3 (57.7) | 19.2 (66.6) | 21.5 (70.7) | 25.3 (77.5) | 26.3 (79.3) | 21.7 (71.1) | 16.2 (61.2) | 11.2 (52.2) | 5.3 (41.5) | 14.5 (58.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −3.3 (26.1) | −2.6 (27.3) | 1.1 (34.0) | 7.0 (44.6) | 12.3 (54.1) | 16.0 (60.8) | 20.1 (68.2) | 20.8 (69.4) | 16.7 (62.1) | 10.5 (50.9) | 4.8 (40.6) | −0.5 (31.1) | 8.6 (47.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −8.2 (17.2) | −8.0 (17.6) | −4.5 (23.9) | 0.6 (33.1) | 6.3 (43.3) | 11.8 (53.2) | 16.4 (61.5) | 17.1 (62.8) | 13.0 (55.4) | 6.3 (43.3) | −0.2 (31.6) | −5.3 (22.5) | 3.8 (38.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −20.3 (−4.5) | −19.6 (−3.3) | −21.0 (−5.8) | −11.6 (11.1) | −6.1 (21.0) | −0.9 (30.4) | 5.0 (41.0) | 7.0 (44.6) | −0.2 (31.6) | −6.5 (20.3) | −11.8 (10.8) | −18.0 (−0.4) | −21.0 (−5.8) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 36.8 (1.45) | 36.8 (1.45) | 68.3 (2.69) | 81.0 (3.19) | 108.8 (4.28) | 154.6 (6.09) | 191.8 (7.55) | 141.6 (5.57) | 193.5 (7.62) | 151.1 (5.95) | 52.5 (2.07) | 29.6 (1.17) | 1,246.2 (49.06) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 44 (17) | 38 (15) | 33 (13) | 5 (2.0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.4) | 19 (7.5) | 141 (56) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 5.2 | 5.3 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 9.9 | 12.6 | 14.8 | 11.5 | 11.4 | 9.3 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 108.2 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 1 cm) | 9.2 | 8.7 | 6.1 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 4.9 | 30 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 76 | 74 | 72 | 70 | 75 | 85 | 87 | 87 | 89 | 87 | 80 | 78 | 80 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 181.6 | 191.8 | 194.8 | 204.6 | 198.5 | 144.8 | 138.6 | 162.7 | 126.6 | 140.3 | 162.5 | 171.9 | 2,022 |
| Source: Japan Meteorological Agency ||||||||||||||

## History

The area of present-day Karuizawa was part of ancient Shinano Province, and developed as Karuisawa-shuku, a post station on the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period.
* August 2, 1876: The hamlets of Kutsukake, Shiozawanitta, Karijuku, Narusawanitta, and Yui merged to form the village of Nagakura. The village of Hatsuji in Saku District absorbed the hamlet of Matorikaya.
* January 14, 1879: Kitasaku District was created, and the town of Usuitoge, and the villages of Karuizawa, Nagakura, Oiwake were established with Kitasaku District.
* 1886: Canadian Anglican missionary Rev. Alexander Croft Shaw and Tokyo Imperial University English professor James Main Dixon introduced Karuizawa as a summer resort.
* April 1, 1889: With the establishment of the modern municipalities system, the town of Usuitoge, and the villages of Karuizawa, and the areas of the former villages of Kutsukake, Shiozawanitta, and Karijuku from the village of Nagakura merged to form the village of Higashinagakura in Kitasaku District, and the areas of the former villages of Narusawanitta and Yui in the village of Nagakura, and the villages of Hatsuji and Oiwake merged to form the village of Nishinagakura in Kitasaku District.
* 1910s: Begins to attract the attention of other expatriates and Japanese. Specially Germans congregate here, language professors and academics hold annual conferences.
* August 1, 1923: The village of Higashinagakura gains town status to become the town of Karuizawa. (The pre-town areas before gaining the town status is known as Kyu-Karuizawa.)
* May 8, 1942: The village of Nishinagakura is merged into Karuizawa.
* 1942–45: Site of an internment camp for enemy foreigners and diplomats during World War 2
* From 1943 relocation of an increasing number of Germans from Tokyo, which is suffering from US fire bombing. The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers deported most German nationals in late 1947.
* 1951: Selected as International Cultural and Tourism City
* February 1, 1957: Karuizawa absorbed Serizawa area from the former village of Goga, which was absorbed by the town of Miyota.
* April 1, 1959: The Kajikazawa area of the former village of Oiwake was split off and merged with the town of Miyota.
* 1964: 1964 Summer Olympics (Equestrian)
* February 1972: Asama-Sanso incident; Police besiege communist militants holed up in holiday resort after mass killing and hostage taking.
* October 1, 1997: The Nagano Shinkansen opens, serving Karuizawa.
* 1998: 1998 Winter Olympics (Curling)
* 2004: Mount Asama erupts.
* 2016: The G7 Transport Ministers' Meeting
* 2019: The G20 Energy and Environment Ministers' Meeting
* 2023: G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in conjunction with the G7 Summit

## Demographics

Per Japanese census data, the population of Karuizawa has been increasing over the past 60 years.

## Economy

Since one of the origins of the Seibu Group is in Karuizawa (see also Yasujiro Tsutsumi), Seibu is still developing big businesses in this town such as Prince Hotels.
Hoshino Resorts is headquartered in Karuizawa.

## Education

Karuizawa has three public elementary school and one public middle school operated by the town government, and one public high school is operated by the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education. The UWC ISAK Japan international school is also located in the town.

## Transportation
### Railway

* East Japan Railway Company – Hokuriku Shinkansen
** Karuizawa
* Shinano Railway
** Karuizawa – Naka-Karuizawa – Shinano-Oiwake

### Highway

* Jōshin-etsu Expressway
* National Route 18
* National Route 146

## International relations

* Campos do Jordão, Brazil
* Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

## Local attractions

   With its comparatively cool summer weather, its cold refreshing nights, its heavy air-clearing showers, its southern aspect, and its position close to some of the most picturesque mountain scenery of Japan, Karuizawa leaves little to be desired as a summer retreat.
   ... while quite recently even Japanese gentlemen of high degree have begun to build houses and introduce their families. As in so many other cases, the world followed the lead of the missionaries. Foreigners are now the raison d’étre of Karuizawa, and no echo of Feudalism haunts the hills.
   Karuizawa, the most popular summer resort in the whole of the Far East […] .
Karuizawa was developed as a European-style resort town by a Scottish-Canadian missionary in 1888. In the following decades, the town attracted visitors from across the country seeking to escape the heat of summer and enjoy vacations, as well as a significant number of Westerners. Unlike many other hill stations, Karuizawa was actively open to the natives from the beginning, and many Japanese scholars, artists and others had already built "Western-style" villas in the town by the early 20th century. The Japanese and Western communities interacted well with each other through summer recreation activities and the like. In the 21st century the town retains significant Western cultural influence, and its alpine beauty and cool summer climate (similar to parts of Europe) continue to draw visitors.
More recently, Karuizawa has become a popular year-round resort for mainly Japanese, offering many outdoor sports, hot springs and recreational activities. Convenient road and rail access from central Tokyo has ensured Karuizawa's popularity as a location for second homes and resort hotels since the Meiji era.
Karuizawa is known for its historic shopping street known as "Ginza dōri" or "Kyū-dō" (Ginza Street, or the Old Road) and association with both Japanese royalty and visitors such as John Lennon and Yoko Ono. As a side note, The Crown Prince Akihito met Michiko Shoda for the first time on a tennis court in Karuizawa in August 1957, and John Lennon spent several summers in Karuizawa with his family in the late 1970s.
Karuizawa hosted equestrian events in the 1964 Summer Olympics as well as curling in the 1998 Winter Olympics. It is the first city in the world to host both Summer and Winter Olympic events.
Since 1997, Karuizawa has been accessible via the JR East Nagano Shinkansen. New high speed rail links has resulted in modest population growth and the development of large outlet style shopping malls.

## In popular media

* The Birds of Karuizawa from Sept haïkaï, Olivier Messiaen's composition
* The Wind Rises, Studio Ghibli film
    Karuizawa appeared in a part of the film.
* When Marnie Was There, Studio Ghibli film
    The model of the mansion that appeared in the film is the villa in Karuizawa.
* Karuizawa Yūkai Annai, Enix adventure game
* The Curious Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in Japan, Dale Furutani's novel
    The story is based on the premise that Sherlock Holmes was in Karuizawa in the "missing years (1891–1894)".
* The anime series Ouran High School Host Club
    Episodes 15 and 16 are set in Karuizawa.

## Notable residents

   And now I am writing in the most lovely study in the world. Over my head the pine branches meet in arches of kindly green; […].
   There followed a delightful few days in Karuizawa, our last for the summer. Douglas Fairbanks was a most acceptable guest, […].
   Summers in Karuizawa were not just a break in the year but seemed a whole lifetime in themselves. I have far more memories of the minutiae of life there than I do of the much longer periods of time spent in Tokyo.
   Karuizawa is an old summer resort in Japan very much like the Hamptons except it's in the mountains. There is a coffee house in a pine forest near Karuizawa. John & I fell in love with the place, and found ourselves going there almost every day with Sean.
   They (Olivia's parents) had two properties up in Karuizawa in the mountains for the summer. People fled Tokyo in the summer because the heat is quite extreme.
* Massimo Baistrocchi, Italian diplomat
* Paul Bryan, British Conservative politician
* Tatsuo Hori, Japanese writer
* Paul Jacoulet, French woodblock print artist
* T. Canby Jones, American professor
* Neil Gordon Munro, Scottish physician and anthropologist
* E. Herbert Norman, Canadian diplomat and historian
* Tabaimo, Japanese artist
* Yukihiro Takahashi, Japanese drummer
* Masayoshi Takanaka, Japanese musician, producer and composer
* Kōji Tamaki, Japanese singer
* Towa Tei, Japanese record producer
* Kazumi Watanabe, Japanese guitarist
* Ken Watanabe, Japanese actor
* Ronald Lampman Watts, Canadian professor
* Willie Weeks, American bass guitarist

### Summer residents

* Akihito, Japanese emperor
* Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, Japanese writer
* Topazia Alliata, Italian noblewoman and painter
* Takeo Arishima, Japanese writer
* Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, member of the Japanese imperial family
* Tarō Asō, Japanese prime minister
* Edgar Bancroft, American diplomat
* Edward Bickersteth, Anglican missionary
* Francis Brinkley, Anglo-Irish editor
* Robert L. Eichelberger, American general officer
* Ichikawa Ennosuke III, Japanese kabuki actor
* Joseph Grew, American diplomat
* Walter de Havilland, English patent attorney
* James Main Dixon, Scottish professor
* Hugh Fraser, English diplomat
* Beate Sirota Gordon, Austrian-born American performing arts presenter
* Matsumoto Hakuō II, Japanese kabuki actor
* Ichirō Hatoyama, Japanese prime minister
* Shigeaki Hinohara, Japanese physician
* Hirohito, Japanese emperor
* Morihiro Hosokawa, Japanese prime minister
* Nitobe Inazō, Japanese author
* Shōjirō Ishibashi, Japanese businessman
* Arata Isozaki, Japanese architect
* Yasunari Kawabata, Japanese writer
* Donald Keene, American writer and professor
* Mary Eddy Kidder, American missionary
* Kunihiko Kodaira, Japanese mathematician
* Fumimaro Konoe, Japanese prime minister
* Bernard Leach, British studio potter
* John Lennon, English musician
* Dacia Maraini, Italian writer
* Fosco Maraini, Italian photographer
* Empress Masako, Japanese empress
* Empress Michiko, Japanese empress
* Akio Morita, Japanese businessman
* Naruhito, Japanese emperor
* Sadako Ogata, Japanese professor
* Yoko Ono, Japanese artist
* Antonin Raymond, Czech-American architect
* August Karl Reischauer, American missionary
* Edwin O. Reischauer, American diplomat
* Hannah Riddell, English missionary
* Roman Rosen, Russian baron and diplomat
* Junzo Sakakura, Japanese architect
* Eisaku Satō, Japanese prime minister
* William J. Sebald, American diplomat
* Alexander Croft Shaw, Canadian missionary
* Ōkuma Shigenobu, Japanese prime minister
* Leo Sirota, Ukrainian-born Jewish pianist
* Masayoshi Son, Korean-Japanese businessman
* D. T. Suzuki, Japanese Buddhist monk
* Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, Japanese businessman
* Merrell Vories Hitotsuyanagi, American architect
* J. G. Waller, Canadian missionary
* Walter Weston, English missionary
* Sayuri Yoshinaga, Japanese actress

### Evacuees of World War II

* Widar Bagge, Swedish diplomat
* Varvara Bubnova, Russian painter
* Karlfried Graf Dürckheim, German diplomat and Zen master
* Robert Guillain, French journalist
* Francis Haar, Hungarian socio-photographer
* Eta Harich-Schneider, German harpsichordist
* Manfred Gurlitt, German conductor
* Leonid Kreutzer, Russian-born Jewish pianist
* Alexander Mogilevsky, Ukrainian violinist
* Victor Pokrovsky, Russian choral director
* Joseph Rosenstock, Polish-born American conductor
* Victor Starffin, Russian baseball player