What Is Kyu-Karuizawa, and How Did Karuizawa Become a Summer Resort?
This guide is for visitors who want to know what Kyu-Karuizawa (Old Karuizawa) is, and how a post town on an old mountain road became a summer resort. It covers the post-town past, the missionary Alexander Croft Shaw, and the churches and historic buildings that the town itself points visitors to.
All of it comes from official pages: Karuizawa Town, the Karuizawa Tourist Association, the Former Mikasa Hotel's own site and Shinano Railway. We read them on 4 October 2026. Opening hours and fees change, so check the facility page before you go.
A post town before it was a resort
The town's own profile says that 200 years ago Karuizawa was a post town at a mountain pass. Pilgrims heading for Zenkoji temple stopped here. So did feudal lords travelling to and from Edo, resting after the climb over the Usui Pass.
The town's page on the Nakasendo road names three post towns at the foot of Mount Asama: Karuizawa-juku, Kutsukake-juku and Oiwake-juku. Oiwake grew busy as the junction with the Hokkoku Kaido road. The Oiwake-bushi folk song was born there and spread to other regions.
Alexander Croft Shaw and the first villa
The town profile says the first person to discover the appeal of the local climate was a Canadian-born missionary of the Anglican church. The town's page on the Shaw House gives the details:
- Alexander Croft Shaw first visited Karuizawa in 1885.
- In 1886 he rented a house there and spent the summer with his family.
- He praised the place as "a hospital without a roof".
- In 1888 he built the first villa in Karuizawa himself. The town says this villa gave rise to the Karuizawa villa.
The Karuizawa Tourist Association also dates the first villa to 1888. It says Karuizawa has grown since then into an international health resort, on a plateau at an altitude of 1,000 metres.
Shinano Railway's English page adds that, from the Meiji period on, foreign missionaries, government figures, business people and artists built second homes here. In 2016 the town issued a booklet marking 130 years as a "health and recreation resort".
How the resort grew
The town profile tells the next part briefly. Steam trains cut through the mountains, and the line was later electrified. Many people then praised the cool summer wind, and many artists chose the town as a place to work.
The same page says the capital is now an hour away. It adds that Karuizawa has welcomed the world at two Olympic Games, one summer and one winter.
What Kyu-Karuizawa is today
The town calls Kyu-Karuizawa Japan's first resort, where many well-known people built villas. Visitor sights line the way from Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza, the main street, to the Former Mikasa Hotel. The town asks visitors to come on foot, by bicycle or by route bus.
The tourist association describes a walking route around Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza as a walk through the birthplace of the villa resort. It covers the main street and back streets, Shaw's historic sites, older buildings and literary monuments. It gives 3.5 km and about 1 hour 13 minutes of walking.
Shaw's chapel, house and memorial
- Shaw Memorial Chapel: the town calls it the oldest church in Karuizawa. It is the church where Shaw worked as a missionary.
- Shaw House Memorial Hall: Shaw's villa was moved to the grounds of Karuizawa Church in the early Showa period. A restoration committee rebuilt it next to the Shaw Memorial Chapel in 1986. The town received it as a gift in 1996.
- Shaw memorial stone: local people put it up to honour Shaw. The town page says today's health resort exists thanks to him.
The town lists the Shaw House as free to enter. It opens 9:00 to 17:00, or to 18:00 in July, August and September. It closes on Thursdays, except from 15 July to 15 September. It also closes for winter, from 4 November to 31 March.
For the memorial stone, the town gives a 4-minute bus ride from Karuizawa Station, then a 10-minute walk.
Other churches the town lists
- Karuizawa Union Church: founded in 1897 as a church across denominations. Meetings, concerts and a Japanese language school have been held there.
- St Paul's Catholic Church: the town says the building was designed by the American architect Antonin Raymond. Access is a 4-minute bus ride from Karuizawa Station and a 3-minute walk.
Mikasa-dori and the Former Mikasa Hotel
The larch avenue on Mikasa-dori is listed among the "New Japan 100 street tree views". The town notes its spring buds and autumn yellow leaves, and says many poems mention it. The town gives a 10-minute bus ride from Karuizawa Station.
The Former Mikasa Hotel was completed in 1905 and opened in 1906. The town describes it as a wooden hotel in a purely Western style. Japanese people did all the work, from design to construction. Original furniture and British-made toilets and tiles survive.
- The national government listed it as an Important Cultural Property in 1980.
- The hotel's own site says a businessman founded it, and that the interior opened to the public in April 1983.
- After about five and a half years of conservation work, it reopened on 1 October 2025. A cafe and museum shop were added.
- A multilingual audio guide is free.
The town lists opening hours of 9:00 to 17:00, with last entry at 16:30. It closes on Wednesdays and from 28 December to 3 January. From 15 July to 31 October it opens every day. Entry is 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for primary and junior high school pupils.
From 15 September to 15 November 2026, a gallery room shows an exhibition on the artist Paul Jacoulet and Karuizawa. It is closed on 4 and 11 November.
The tourist association's route from Shin-Karuizawa to Mikasa follows the larch avenue to the hotel. It gives 4.5 km and about 1 hour 15 minutes of walking.
What we could not verify, and therefore left out
- The years of the two Olympic Games. The town profile mentions them without dates.
- Opening hours and fees for the Shaw Memorial Chapel, Union Church and St Paul's. The town pages give none, or only a start time.
- The old station building memorial hall. The town links to a page we did not read.
- Kumano Kotai Shrine at the Usui Pass. We left it for a later guide on the Usui Pass.
- The tourist association's English "Classic" page still lists the Mikasa Hotel as closed for renovation. The town and the hotel both say it reopened in October 2025, so we followed them.
Related guides
- How do you get to Karuizawa from Tokyo?
- How do you stay safe from bears and Mount Asama in Karuizawa?
Sources
All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.
- プロフィール (Karuizawa Town) — (post town at a pass, Zenkoji pilgrims, feudal lords, Usui Pass; Canadian-born Anglican missionary; trains and electrification; artists; an hour from the capital; two Olympics)
- 中山道 (Karuizawa Town) — (three post towns; Oiwake and the Hokkoku Kaido; Oiwake-bushi)
- ショーハウス記念館 (Karuizawa Town) — (Shaw's visits in 1885 and 1886, "hospital without a roof", first villa in 1888, move, restoration, gift to the town, hours, closures, free entry)
- Know Karuizawa (Karuizawa Tourist Association) — (first villa 1888, international health resort, plateau at 1,000 metres)
- Shinano Railway Co., Ltd. (English) — (second homes built by missionaries, officials, business people and artists since Meiji)
- 保健休養地130周年記念誌 町勢要覧 (Karuizawa Town) — (130-year health resort booklet, 2016 edition)
- 旧軽井沢エリア観光施設情報 (Karuizawa Town) — (Japan's first resort; Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza to the Former Mikasa Hotel; walk, cycle or bus)
- 旧軽井沢・新軽井沢・中軽井沢 散策ルート (Karuizawa Tourist Association) — (Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza route 3.5 km; Shin-Karuizawa to Mikasa route 4.5 km)
- 日本聖公会軽井沢ショー記念礼拝堂 (Karuizawa Town) — (oldest church; where Shaw served)
- ショー氏記念碑 (Karuizawa Town) — (memorial put up by local people; bus and walk times)
- 軽井沢ユニオンチャーチ (Karuizawa Town) — (founded 1897; across denominations; meetings, concerts, Japanese school)
- 聖パウロカトリック教会 (Karuizawa Town) — (designed by Antonin Raymond; bus and walk times)
- 三笠通りのからまつ並木 (Karuizawa Town) — (New Japan 100 street tree views; seasons; poems; bus time)
- 重要文化財旧三笠ホテルへ行ってみよう (Karuizawa Town) — (built 1905, opened 1906, Japanese design and build, original fittings, 1980 listing, October 2025 reopening, audio guide, hours, fees, Jacoulet exhibition)
- 重要文化財 旧三笠ホテル (Former Mikasa Hotel) — (founded by a businessman; public opening of the interior in 1983, five and a half years of conservation work)
- Classic (Karuizawa Tourist Association) — (Mikasa Hotel still shown as closed for renovation)