Karuizawa is a small, quint town that is only about an hour and a half away from Tokyo by Hokuriku Shinkansen. It has a lot to offer from hot springs, mountain scenery, historic architecture, and even an outlet for shopping. We did an overnight stay that kicked off our Japan Alps Loop itinerary. During our visit to Karuizawa, we booked a far too short over-night stay at Hoshinoya Karuizawa.
The resort is secluded, hidden from the world by the forests and river that surrounds it. While the resort has many of the charms we loved in ryokans, it successfully blends the best aspects of Japanese tradition with modern amenities of a luxury resort. There are 77 villas that blend zen-like Japanese architecture with contemporary design, fusing them into a harmonized quality that gives the ryokan it’s own distinct personality.
The resort makes an intelligent use of the natural resources, such as routing the river throughout the complex, with the villas built to surround the man-made lake at the heart of Hoshinoya Karuizawa.
The villas are spacious, comfortably accommodating all six of us. We booked a “Mizunami” Riverside villa, which was set along the lake-bed, with stunning views from the balcony. It features an open-concept design with separate living and sleeping areas. Each room is outfitted with a warm inviting hinoki bath, but being a ryokan, the highlight of the bathing experience is in their onsen, here they call “Meditation Bath”
photo credit goes to hoshino-ya resorts magazine.
The bath is softly-lit, giving a warm and inviting atmosphere, beckoning you to sit back and relax after a long tireless journey. This bath is exclusive to guests
After relaxing in the bath and resting in our villas, it was time for dinner. Guests have the option of dining at any of the four restaurants in the hotel or even none at all. I love this flexibility if we were to stay here multiple nights. We chose their Japanese restaurant, Kakuse, during our stay for the Kaiseki meal. The dining hall of Kakuse, is impressive, with soaring high ceiling and a tiered seating architecture. During the day, light enters the dining hall from the high ceilings that look out over a tiered garden with gently streaming water to enhance the mood for eating.
Appetizer – Tomato dressed with Vegetable Sauce 
Owan course – Soup with burdock rice cake 
Sashimi from the mountain river and ocean 
salt and fish powder for the roasted onion 
Shiizakana course – Roasted Onion wrapped in mochi and roasted for hours. 
Assorted small bites – shinsyu salmon sushi, picked lotus, jun-sat, tempura, fried ebi, foie gras in spring cabbage, mugwort tofu 
close-up of the assorted bites 
Yakimono course – grilled ayu 
Ayu plated, looks like they are swimming 
Wagyu supplemental grilled course. 
Takiawase course – Beef sukiyaki 
Gohan and miso soup. 
dessert – seasonal fruit and spicebush, kuromoji – tea ice cream 
matcha with read bean paste wrapped in green tea dough.
The Japanese course is Kaiseki and should not be missed, so if you only had one night, do book dinner here. The food is wholesome, featuring seasonal, local mountain produce, fish, meat, and tofu. I can have kaiseki almost every day and would feel healthy despite the numerous dishes.
The views at night are no less stunning. There are a total of 22 hand-lit candle lamps that are carefully lit nightly and strategically positioned in the central lake, beckoning the guests of the resort to go out and explore.
As we explored the pathways in the resort, we made our way back to Kakuse, which not only has the restaurant but also a lounge area for guests to relax in the spacious area. During late night hours and after breakfast, self-serve cocktail hour is available to guests. You can enjoy tea, juice, and even champagne and Japanese whisky at night, and all you can drink mimosa after breakfast. All are complimentary to guests. While the adults enjoyed our drinks, our kids stayed in the lounge/library area and enjoyed each other’s company as well as looking over the various books available. It is a nice way to unwind before going to bed.
Breakfast was also a spectacular affair and served again at Kakuse’s dining hall. Once seating, we were presented our tiered boxes that had various Japanese dishes. Popular items such as grilled salmon, yuba skin, various pickled vegetables, tamago yaki, miso soup and rice, and also a donate used to steam local vegetables. The ingredients are light and healthy, so despite the large amount of food, you do not feel overly full after eating.
Stopping by Hoshinoya Karuizawa was a great way to begin our journey along the Hokuriku Shinkansen route. You can see in the above slide show, how our family simply enjoyed ourselves and the ryokan did a great job to welcome the whole family. From this trip, I was really impressed by the Hoshinoya brand, and recently stayed at the Hoshinoya Tokyo ryokan, and came away just as impressed (look for a future post). Besides the sites and experiences at Hoshinoya Karuizawa, we also enjoyed exploring a bit of the town so look out for my next posts on some of the activities we did in the surrounding area.
Ryokan contact info:
https://hoshinoya.com/karuizawa/en/
Address: Hoshino, Karuizawa-machi, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano, 389-0194
Phone : +81-267-45-6000
70 minutes from Tokyo by Hokuriku Shinkansen