A Guide to Enjoying Winter in Karuizawa | Must-Visit Tourist Destinations, Hot Springs, and Shopping Spots
While many people are interested in visiting Karuizawa in winter, some may think "traveling during the cold season seems difficult" or "I don't know where to go or what to enjoy." Winter in Karuizawa is a season when tourist crowds settle down, allowing you to thoroughly savor the natural beauty and peaceful atmosphere.
This article introduces tourist spots, activities, shopping, hot springs, and gourmet food that allow you to fully enjoy winter in Karuizawa. By learning about the unique charms of winter, you can achieve a stay that refreshes both body and mind.
Table of Contents
1. The Charms of Winter Karuizawa
2. Winter Tourist Spots in Karuizawa
2-1. Kumoba Pond
2-2. Shiraito Falls
2-3. Usui Pass Observation Platform
2-4. Karuizawa Kogen Church
2-5. Onioshidashi Park
2-6. Karuizawa Wild Bird Sanctuary
3. Activity Spots to Experience in Winter Karuizawa
3-1. Karuizawa Ice Park
3-2. Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Resort
3-3. Kera-Ike Skating Rink
3-4. Karuizawa Winter Festival
4. Shopping Spots in Karuizawa
4-1. Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza
4-2. Old Karuizawa Ginza Shopping Street
4-3. Harunire Terrace
5. Hot Spring Spots in Karuizawa
5-1. Hoshino Onsen
5-2. Sengataki Onsen
5-3. Shiotsubo Onsen
6. Local Gourmet Food of Karuizawa
Summary
1. The Charms of Winter Karuizawa
Winter in Karuizawa is a season when you can quietly savor the charms of both nature and the town. Since Karuizawa is located on a highland at approximately 900-1,000 meters above sea level, it offers clear air and a peaceful atmosphere, providing special time away from daily life.
Karuizawa has developed as an international health resort since the Meiji period, and still retains natural landscapes including Mount Asama and the scenery of historic villa areas. Winter is characterized by a gentler flow of people, with the entire town enveloped in a relaxed atmosphere. You can enjoy a high-quality stay unique to Karuizawa while exploring shopping areas, prestigious resort facilities, and townscapes that reflect traces of Western culture.
2. Winter Tourist Spots in Karuizawa
Winter Karuizawa is dotted with attractive tourist spots where snowy landscapes and tranquility harmonize. By visiting places that show winter-specific expressions, from lakes and waterfalls to observation decks and historic churches, you can experience the nature and culture of Karuizawa more deeply. Here we introduce representative tourist spots you'll want to visit during your winter stay.
2-1. Kumoba Pond
For those who want to stroll leisurely in quiet nature, Kumoba Pond is an unmissable place. This small pond, also called "Swan Lake," creates a peaceful atmosphere as the surrounding trees reflect on the water surface.
A walking path of about 1km is maintained around the pond, allowing you to enjoy the scenery at a comfortable distance. While Kumoba Pond is particularly known for fresh greenery in spring and autumn foliage, it also shows different expressions each season. It's beloved by many as a representative scenic spot of Karuizawa.
2-2. Shiraito Falls
Shiraito Falls is a place where you can simultaneously enjoy winter's natural beauty and fantastical presentation. Located at the source of the Yukawa River, hundreds of streams of groundwater flow down from the rock face like white threads over approximately 3 meters in height and 70 meters in width. While beautiful scenery spreads throughout the four seasons, winter has special charm.
In the depths of winter, the limited-time "Shiraito Falls Midwinter Illumination" is held, creating a mystical space where snow, water, and light harmonize. The color and brightness of the lights are designed with consideration for the natural environment, allowing you to enjoy them without disturbing the quiet forest atmosphere. Winter's Shiraito Falls, where nature and light weave together, is an impressive landscape unique to Karuizawa.
2-3. Usui Pass Observation Platform
A place where you can overlook the magnificent scenery unique to the highlands is the Old Usui Pass Observation Platform. Located at approximately 1,200 meters above sea level, it's known as an observation spot standing on the border between Nagano Prefecture and Gunma Prefecture. The Myogi Mountain Range spreads to the east and Mount Asama to the west, and on clear days you can see as far as the Southern Alps and Yatsugatake.
In winter, the mountains are dressed in snow, and you can enjoy quiet spectacular views in the clear air. The Old Usui Pass Walking Trail is maintained from the entrance to the observation platform, and you can also walk from Old Karuizawa while feeling nature. Since part of the trail is a mountain path, we recommend visiting in comfortable clothing and well-worn shoes.
Usui Pass Observation Platform
2-4. Karuizawa Kogen Church
Karuizawa Kogen Church is a church where the nature of Karuizawa and the spirit of Christianity harmonize, having cherished spiritual exchange. Christian culture took root in Karuizawa when Canadian missionary Alexander Croft Shaw visited this area in 1886.
The church's origins lie in the Arts and Liberal Education Workshop opened in 1921, where Uchimura Kanzo, Kitahara Hakushu, Shimazaki Toson and others gathered, valuing free learning and dialogue. In winter, "Karuizawa Kogen Church Christmas in the Starlit Forest" is held, where you can spend quiet time for reflection in a fantastical space enveloped in starlight.
2-5. Onioshidashi Park
Onioshidashi Park is a tourist spot where you can experience the powerful scenery created by lava that flowed out from Mount Asama's eruption and spread throughout the area. Walking paths including an alpine plant observation course and the inner shrine approach are maintained within the park, allowing you to walk while feeling the lava formations and nature's vitality.
On clear days, you can see the Northern Alps, Tanigawa Mountain Range, and Mount Nantai in Nikko, which is also attractive. Asama-yama Kannon Hall is located in the center of the park, where you can spend quiet time reflecting on the history of eruptions.
2-6. Karuizawa Wild Bird Sanctuary
Karuizawa Wild Bird Sanctuary is a nationally established forest where you can observe wild birds and plants of the four seasons in a rich natural environment. Located at approximately 950-1,100 meters above sea level, forests of chestnut, mizunara oak, and Japanese larch spread throughout. Walking trails totaling about 3km are maintained in about half of the park, allowing you to enjoy strolling at a comfortable distance.
About 80 species of wild birds are confirmed annually, and winter to spring, when tree leaves fall and visibility opens up, is a suitable time for birdwatching. While walking through the quiet forest, you can experience the depth of nature unique to Karuizawa.
3. Activity Spots to Experience in Winter Karuizawa
In winter Karuizawa, you can experience diverse activities utilizing snow and ice. Spots for skiing, skating, curling and more are available for beginners to enjoy, allowing you to fully appreciate the charms unique to the cold season. By combining overnight stays with day trips, you can experience winter Karuizawa more deeply.
3-1. Karuizawa Ice Park
Karuizawa Ice Park is Japan's largest year-round facility where you can experience ice sports, centered on curling. Major domestic competitions and international tournaments are also held here, with a full-scale competitive environment in place. Curling has beginner experience classes available, so even those with no experience can participate with confidence.
Equipment such as shoes, sliders, and brushes are available for rental, so you can experience it even if you come empty-handed. An outdoor skating rink is also attached, where you can enjoy ice skating in winter. There's also a community hall for rest and dining, making it a comfortable facility.
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3-2. Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Resort
Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Resort is the only ski resort in Karuizawa Town, with excellent access about 10 minutes on foot from Karuizawa Station. It's easily accessible by shinkansen or car, allowing you to enjoy snowy landscapes in a short time from the city center. It starts operations early compared to other areas in Nagano Prefecture and continues until late spring, allowing you to enjoy winter sports for an extended period. The vast site of about 30 hectares features 14 courses in total, with many beginner-friendly courses.
At Debut Park, you can carefully learn skiing techniques and lift usage, making it suitable for first-time skiing experiences. For small children, Snowman Park is available where they can enjoy snow play such as sledding. Ski equipment and wear rentals are also well-stocked, so you can visit empty-handed with peace of mind. Using the sightseeing lift, you can overlook winter scenery of Karuizawa even without skiing. It accommodates not only families but also adults' relaxed travel styles.
Karuizawa Prince Hotel Snow Resort
3-3. Kera-Ike Skating Rink
Kera Pond Skating Rink is a skating rink born when a forest pond freezes, where you can become one with nature. Adjacent to Karuizawa Wild Bird Sanctuary, you can enjoy ice experiences in a quiet forest-surrounded environment. From mid-October, an artificial area opens to coincide with autumn foliage season, allowing skating while viewing the colors of maple and Japanese larch. Around late December each year, the entire pond freezes, creating a natural ice area with high transparency where fallen leaves can be seen through the ice.
The smooth texture unique to natural ice is a charm that can only be experienced in the harsh cold of Karuizawa. Skate rental fees are included in the admission fee, and free rentals of helmets and sled chairs are available, making it safe for beginners and families with children. After skating, you can enjoy warm drinks at the adjacent Ikaru Cafe, and Picchio right in front offers seasonal nature tours, allowing you to enjoy winter nature in Karuizawa from multiple angles.
3-4. Karuizawa Winter Festival
Karuizawa Winter Festival is a long-running seasonal event where the entire town enjoys winter Karuizawa. Held at various locations throughout Karuizawa Town, Kitasaku District, Nagano Prefecture, the theme of Karuizawa Winter Festival 2026 is "Crisp and Sparkling Winter in Karuizawa." Light, sound, and winter-specific events are added to the clear air and quiet townscape, further enhancing the appeal of tourism and stays.
Starting with the opening ceremony and fireworks at Yagasaki Park, illumination decorations are installed at various locations throughout the town during the event period, making evening strolls enjoyable. At Shiraito Falls, midwinter-limited illumination is implemented, allowing you to enjoy fantastical scenery woven by natural landscapes and light. Furthermore, the content is diverse, including winter sports events unique to Karuizawa such as skating competitions and curling tournaments, music performances, and marché projects. It can be enjoyed by a wide range of visitors including tourists, families, couples, and long-term residents, making it a recommended festival for those who want to comprehensively enjoy winter Karuizawa.
4. Shopping Spots in Karuizawa
At shopping spots in Karuizawa, you can enjoy shopping and dining in a nature-rich environment. From outlet malls to unique specialty stores, there's a wide range available, perfect as stops between sightseeing. In winter, you can enjoy shopping leisurely in a calm atmosphere.
4-1. Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza
Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza is one of Japan's largest resort-type shopping malls directly connected to the south exit of Karuizawa Station. In a nature-rich location, over 200 stores gather, including famous brand outlets, fashion, interior goods, miscellaneous goods, sports and outdoor equipment, and restaurants, allowing you to enjoy both shopping and stays simultaneously.
Since opening in 1995, it has continued to develop as a pioneer of outlet culture in Japan and has now grown into a large-scale facility. The grounds have distinct characteristics by area, with lawn squares and architectural designs utilizing natural materials creating the open feeling characteristic of Karuizawa. Dining facilities and food courts are also well-equipped, accommodating everything from meals using Shinshu ingredients to cafe use.
Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza
4-2. Old Karuizawa Ginza Shopping Street
Old Karuizawa Ginza Shopping Street is Karuizawa's representative main street of about 750 meters where you can enjoy tourism, gourmet food, and shopping all at once. It prospered as a post town on the Nakasendo during the Edo period, and from the Meiji period onward developed as a summer resort and villa area under the influence of British missionary Alexander Croft Shaw, located in this historic area.
Long-established bakeries, coffee shops, and souvenir stores selling jam and miscellaneous goods line both sides of the street, allowing you to fully enjoy the Karuizawa atmosphere. The Karuizawa Tourist Information Center in the middle provides tourist information and rest facilities, making it convenient as a base for first-time visitors. Karuizawa Shaw Memorial Chapel is also within walking distance, allowing you to enjoy both Karuizawa's history and town walking while strolling.
4-3. Harunire Terrace
Harunire Terrace, operated by Hoshino Resorts, is a small shopping area spreading through the forest with the concept of "Daily Life in Karuizawa". Along the Yukawa River in the Naka-Karuizawa area, nine buildings are arranged to preserve the grove of over 100 naturally growing harunire (Japanese elm) trees, gently connected by wooden decks. The greatest attraction is being able to stroll while feeling the murmur of the clear stream and wind through the trees, with space design harmonizing with nature creating extraordinary relaxation.
Within the grounds, 16 unique shops and restaurants gather, including bakeries, cafes, soba, Italian, Chinese home cooking, wine shops, galleries, and furniture and miscellaneous goods stores. You can enjoy forest bathing just by walking along the river, not just dining and shopping. As the central spot of the Hoshino Area, it's beloved by couples, families, and locals alike, making it a recommended place for those who want to spend peaceful time characteristic of Karuizawa.
5. Hot Spring Spots in Karuizawa
Karuizawa has hot springs you can drop by between sightseeing and shopping, as well as hot springs attached to accommodation facilities. From outdoor baths surrounded by nature to day-trip hot springs where you can slowly heal travel fatigue, the calm atmosphere unique to Karuizawa is attractive. Even during winter sightseeing when you tend to get cold, you can enjoy moments of warming both body and mind at hot spring areas.
5-1. Hoshino Onsen
Tonbo-no-yu at Hoshino Onsen is a day-trip hot spring facility with natural flowing hot springs that inherits the lineage of Hoshino Onsen, which opened in 1915. This historic famous hot spring was beloved by literary figures such as Kitahara Hakushu and Yosano Akiko, and its gentle spring quality is known as the "beauty hot spring." The great attraction is being able to enjoy fresh water that doesn't circulate or add water in all baths, with complete water changes daily.
The indoor and outdoor baths are designed to integrate with the surrounding nature, allowing you to relax in the hot water while viewing seasonal scenery. Additionally, it features a sauna with auto löyly and a cold bath using spring water from Wild Bird Forest, providing time to condition both body and mind along with the hot springs.
5-2. Sengataki Onsen
Sengataki Onsen is a day-trip hot spring facility surrounded by Karuizawa's rich nature, where you can enjoy flowing gentle hot water and seasonal scenery. You can bathe while feeling the rustling of trees and bird songs, showing different expressions each visiting season - autumn foliage in fall and snowy landscapes in winter.
The wild garden outdoor bath and covered outdoor bath where you can feel nature even on rainy or snowy days both feature flowing hot springs, perfect for those who want to quietly enjoy the hot water. It also features a spacious indoor large bath and Finnish cottage sauna using far-infrared rays, providing time to slowly heal body and mind.
Karuizawa Sengataki Hot Spring
5-3. Shiotsubo Onsen
Shiotsubo Onsen is a hot spring facility where you can enjoy historic natural hot springs in an environment that values coexistence with nature. The colorless, transparent sodium bicarbonate spring discovered in this area during the Kamakura period has a refreshing feel that warms you to the core and is beloved as the "beauty hot spring."
The outdoor bath overlooking the garden is available all night, allowing you to spend relaxing time surrounded by the quiet highland air. The large bath with lying bath is designed with safety in mind, allowing anyone to bathe with peace of mind. In the lounge, you can relax while watching wild birds and squirrels, and you can also enjoy strolling to explore surrounding legends and literary monuments.
6. Local Gourmet Food of Karuizawa
In Karuizawa, you can casually taste the food culture nurtured in the highland climate and history between strolling and sightseeing. Local gourmet food that is classic yet has deep flavors will greatly enhance your travel satisfaction.
■Shinshu Soba A local dish representing Nagano Prefecture, blessed with cool climate and quality water, characterized by strong buckwheat flour flavor and smooth texture. You can enjoy authentic Shinshu soba at shops around Karuizawa that preserve traditional preparation methods. ■Apple Pie A classic sweet from the apple-producing region. Made with Shinshu apples that have an excellent balance of sweetness and acidity, combined with crispy pie crust, this item enjoys high popularity at long-established hotels and cafes. ■Sausage and Ham Specialties unique to Karuizawa that developed under foreign cultural influence. Many products incorporate authentic German preparation methods, with a wide variety including wieners and frankfurters. They keep well, making them popular as souvenirs. ■Bread Due to its history as a summer resort, bread culture took root in Karuizawa, with long-established bakeries scattered throughout. French bread and other flavors that inherit recipes from the founding period are still beloved by many people today. |
Summary
Winter in Karuizawa is a season enveloped in clear air and tranquility, where you can calmly enjoy attractions such as nature, shopping, and hot springs. Because of the cold, the comfort of time spent at indoor and outdoor facilities and moments warming your body in hot springs stand out even more.
By understanding winter-specific characteristics and choosing destinations according to your purpose and length of stay, it's possible to create a fulfilling itinerary while reducing travel burden. For your next Karuizawa trip, why not plan while being conscious of winter's unique charms?
*This article was created based on information as of December 2025
