Japanese people usually take long vacation from the last week of April to first week of May.  It is called Golden Week.  Toward that week, Karuizawa town scenery is changing very rapidly to green, and then, green.

​    While I am editing videos in my business, I am getting accustomed to present my messages in a video form.  I will occasionally upload other videos in Karuizawa in this blog. 

Art Museum's Day
Karuizawa Museum of Art Council defines the 1st day of every month as the Art Museum's Day when admission fee is free at all the council member museums only for town residents.  Following 9 museums are the members.
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Sezon Museum of Modern Art
Collects and exhibits 20th century moderns art  such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Jasper Johns, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente, Hisao Domoto, Keiji Usami, Shusaku Arakawa and
Kazumi Nakamura.

Literary Museum of Karuizawa
Exhibits manuscripts, personal collections etc. from Karuizawa origin writers such as Tatuo Hori, Saisei Muroo, Michizo Tachihara, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, and Yasunari Kawabata.

Tasaki Museum of Modern Art
​Exhibits works by Hirosuke Tasaki.

Musee Paynet
Exhibits works by Raymond Peynet.

Karuizawa Picturebook Museum
​Exhibits original pictures and painting of world famous picture books.

Wakita Museum of Art
​Exhibits works by Kazu Wakita.

Le Vent Museum of Contemporary Art
​Exhibits works by Isaku Nishimura and his fellows.

Karuizawa Erz Toy Museum
​Exhibits Erzgebirge Toys from Ertz, Germany.

Hiroshi Senju Museum Karuizawa
​Exhibits works by Hiroshi Senju.

    It is Chinese new year week this week, and a lot of, again, a lot of tourists from China are coming to Japan.  Karuizawa is actually one of the main destinations for outlet shoppers.  Karuizawa Prince Shopping Plaza (PSP) is located just in front of Karuizawa station and is welcoming guest shoppers from Asia by holding a special sale.  Until last year, I do not remember if PSP had such a big Chinese language dedicated poster like this, but this year, we can see not only this but also many other individual shops created their own Chinese language posters and ads to attract attention from Chinese tourists.  For Japanese shoppers, it is good too because we can buy a lucky bag (福袋） twice a year in January and February and enjoy big sale events again.  It must be good for sellers too.

    Increase in overseas shoppers influences other parts of Karuizawa tourist scenery and economy.  Until a few years ago, Karuizawa winter tourist scenery was actually quite silent.  However, recent increase in inbound tourists to the town has changed the scenery little by little.  Some rental bicycle shops, which used to close during winter, are now operating their shops even during winter.  We sometimes see Chinese and Asian tourists riding bicycle on icy town roads for sightseeing.  Japanese tourists do not do that as it is cold and risky, but overseas tourists do not care and look to enjoy sightseeing for icy and snowy town.  Karuizawa town's winter icy scenery must have some values to attract them, something which most Japanese tourists and even Karuizawa local businesses have so far overlooked.   

​    Actually, most of shops still tend to close during winter especially in Kyu Karuizawa area, but this winter tourist scenery changes may have a potential to change such tendency.  I hope more local businesses in town rethink their strategy by taking advantage of this chance to convert Karuizawa to real all-season resort. 

     Karuizawa had a big snow fall last week.  Since it has been almost snow-less winter until Monday last week, we saw the big snow with rather welcoming mind.   Snow is an essential element of winter scenery for local residents, and we feel uneasy if we do not see this white and icy stuff by December.

​  To cope with the snow, local residents have their own tools and knowhow for snow shoveling.  Until last year, I had been managing to do snow shoveling by a man-powered tool only , namely, by a shovel.  This year, our family decided to purchase a 212cc engine powered snow removal machine, HEIGE HG-K6560, which actually has completely changed and significantly eased our family's snow removal task.

    HEIGE is a Chinese manufacturer and sells its product in Japan only through its online shop.  Local home centers sell domestic engine powered products by HONDA, YAMAHA and so on but their price range are about from 200 to 500 thousand Japanese Yen per unit.  Japanese machines are a bit expensive for ordinary people.  HEIGE sells their engine powered machines, and its starting price is about 50 thousand Japanese Yen for its 97cc engine powered product.  Our engine powered 212cc 6.5 horse power machine was priced at about 100 thousand Japanese Yen.   It is still not cheap, but I felt that the price of the snow removal machine has been coming down to a price range on which ordinary people feel affordable.

​    Watch a movie below (silent movie) to see the performance of HEIGE HG-K6560.

    Snow in Karuizawa last week piled up for about 30 to 40 cm.  It would be 2 days work if we tried to remove the snow around my house only by a man power.  I was amazed to see the performance and powerfulness of the machine.  I, to be honest, look forward to seeing the next big snow fall to test the machine further.
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​     Forecast says it will be snow this weekend.  I hope it not to be too much, to allow us again enjoy snow shoveling.

    Shinkansen Tsuukin (Commuting by the Bullet Train) has been a word of envy or of curiosity in Japanese business society.    Most Shinkansen commuters choose to do that because of some family reasons for not being able to live near their workplace.  Applying for Shinkansen commuting allowance to their employer is generally a hard negotiation, since it is very costly for the company.  Applicant needs a certain justification with inevitable reasons.  It has not been an everyone's choice.

    When you start Shinkansen commuting, you must get accustomed to that environmental change.  However, you will shortly understand that 70 minutes (one-way to Tokyo) boarding on Shinkansen is not like usual commuting experience as what you have in local commuting train.  You can basically have a seat in non-reserved cars during commuting time, and you can work on your laptop PC if you like.  For new-type E7 and W7 Shinkansen cars, you can find 100V AC power outlet for each seat for all classes.  For progressive businesspersons, Shinkansen commuting time can be transformed to time of productivity.

    On the other hand, you must well consider the economics of Shinkansen commuting.  Price of 3-month passenger pass between Karuizawa and Tokyo is 356,450 Japanese Yen (125,060 yen for 1-month pass).  Under current Japanese national tax law, a company can deduct up to 100,000 yen per month per employer as a monthly commuting cost from the company's taxable income.  So, theoretically, you can negotiate up to 100,000 yen as a monthly allowance.  At least, amount exceeding 100,000 yen will be your own cost.  As most companies set a rule for upper limit of monthly commuting allowance, how much you can negotiate depends on your relations and power balance with your company.

    As I wrote in my previous article, the number of Shinkansen commuters in Karuizawa is growing.  Many progressive Tokyo workers have started to choose Karuizawa life after studying its costs and benefits.  It may become your agenda in this year-end season to plan your future lifestyles.

    Mount Asama (altitude 2,558 meters) is one of the important landmarks of Karuizawa.  It is one of the most active volcano in Japan, and its dynamic mountain body and volcanic plume are giving an accent to the regional scenery.

    Mount Asama is one of the most active volcanos in Japan.  In fact, it erupted in very small scale in June this year.  Just 4 days before the eruption, Japan Meteorological Agency raised the volcanic alert level of Asama from 1 to 2.  It means that you are currently not able to go inside the 2 kilometers zone from the crater, though you were able to go inside 500 meters zone from the crater when it was level 1.  It should matter for mountain climbers but it does not so much for ordinary town residents.   As of December this year, Asama is fuming everyday as it usually has been doing so for many years, but we do not feel any imminent sign of intensified volcanic activities like increased frequency of earthquakes.

​    JMA monitors the volcanic activities of Asama with sensors and cameras, and warns people appropriately.  Asama erupted in 2004 and 2009 in recent history.  In August 31, 2004, JMA raised the volcanic alert level from 2 to 3 then Asama erupted in mid scale on Sep 1, the next day.  In February 1, 2009, JMA raised the alert level from 2 to 3 then Asama erupted in mid scale on February 2, the next day.  Asama's volcanic observation system is considered very sophisticated, and I think it will continue to be trustworthy for coming years.

    Asama eruption of course influences ​town people's life.  Fortunately, there has been no fatal disaster by the eruption since 1947.  However, decreased demand for sightseeing, travel, and real estate hits the town economy and market.  In 2004 the average land price in Karuizawa dropped by 4.3% and continued to drop by about 0.8% for 2005 and 2006 respectively.  In 2009, it dropped by 8.2% and continued to drop by 5.8% in 2010 and picked up to grow by 5.4% in 2011.  It is difficult to tell its impact numerically due to much larger significant economic events like the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy shock in 2008.   According to a real estate person in town, the market certainly suffers from the impacts by the eruption but such negative impact does not last for so long period and the market picks up again in a few years.  It means, people go out temporarily but come back soon.

​    For people who consider to relocate and own a house here, Asama eruption risk should be a major concern.  Actually, I was one of them before moving to the town.  However, currently, I understand that the risk of living here is equivalent to the risk of living elsewhere in Japan.  Japan is a volcano and earthquake island country, and we must always be aware of natural geological disaster risks in terms of both physical safety and personal asset value depreciation.  I experienced the East Japan earthquake disaster in March 2011 in Tokyo, and understood that living in a city does not always ensure personal safety during such severe natural disaster.  I personally concluded that living near the active volcano does not necessarily increase my life risk.

    Seeing the fuming volcano of Asama everyday, I feel the value of living near this great nature wonder.  It is not something you can experience in city areas.

    Population of Karuizawa just exceeded 20,000 this year.  Among them, about 250 are registered foreign residents (source: Karuizawa town administration 2014 statistics).  It may look small in number, but their  presence on international atmosphere of the town is significant.  It should be a heritage since when a Canadian missionary found this area and later John Lennon and his family spent their summer days here. 
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    International Association of Karuizawa (IAK) is a center of such international cultural exchange in the town.  It was established in 2012 and provides many occasions for socializing, music, sports, arts etc. for its members to enjoy inter-culture communications.  Visit its Facebook page to feel its atmosphere.  Similar activities may be there in a city region like Tokyo, too, but what is unique in Karuizawa is, I think, that people here are very open and active in building friendship.  It may be because we have relaxing and slow-life atmosphere of a resort town, but additionally because such entertainment facilities as good food, drink, sports, music, arts places, nature, and residences are located in this relatively small area with nice balance.  It must not be something which you can experience in a city area.

    Kevin's Bar is my another recommendation to feel international atmosphere in a casual manner.  Kevin moved from Tokyo and opened his bar in front of the Karuizawa station in 2013.  By then, night scene in Karuizawa station vicinity was not so lively but he then brought an open socialization place in this area with western style standing wine bar.  People gather every night (even during winter) here to enjoy chatting and drinking.

    Come and meet international people and culture, and enjoy the town.

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    ”Mellow, the Japanese Squirrel”　project website
　　http://mellow.today/en/

    "ARICA vacation rental" has been operating in Karuizawa for several years.  They operate distributed  4 villas for daily hotel-like service, 46 villas for monthly leasing service, and 2 villas for trimonthly leasing service.  Their daily service villas obtain a hotel service permit from a local government, and therefore are completely legal.  That is a difference from villas being brokered on Airbnb.

    Their fees are set to compete with local hotel service like Prince Hotel and Hoshino Resort.  Hotel usually charges you per capita, but ARICA charges you per room.  Though the room charges tend to be high during summer, I think you can consider their services as a good option for seasonal stay.​

    Owners Hill Karuizawa operates "hotel-style" daily accommodation service, using several Karuizawa style cottages and villas.  They are originally a real estate brokerage and property management company, and seem to began this hotel-style accommodation service by leasing some unused cottages from the cottage owners. (source: All About article in May 2012)  Their fee system is the same as hotel, daily fee per capita, but still competitive to Prince and Hoshino.  They close during winter from January till March, but I think it is worth trying if you like to experience Karuizawa lifestyle in other seasons.  Their cottages  are aggregatedly located in Oiwake district of Nishi Karuizawa.

Other listings:

• ​Independent rental villa listings on Karuizawanet.com:  List of individually operated rental villa of your choice.
• Neuebrücke Karuizawa Sanso: They operates 3 cottages and employs "auction" system by guests to determine the room charges.  Very unique.  Closed during winter.
• Local realtors also deal with seasonal rental villa: Link left jumps to the Royal Resort Karuizawa's rental villa page.  Not only these, but also other local realtors broker seasonal and monthly leasing or rental villas.  Search "軽井沢 貸し別荘 不動産" in your preferred search engine. 

    As people are flowing in, local real estate market is picking up.  Even after the Abenomics economic policy reform was implemented in 2013,  generally speaking, Japanese local areas outside three major metropolitan areas of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, are still seeing a problem in their local economy recovery.   Land transactions have not picked up, and land prices have been going down for these couple of years.

    However, in Karuizawa, the trend seems to follow that of those metropolitan areas.  Land prices started to pick up in 2013 as the steady growth in land transactions continues.  In 2015, only Karuizawa shows positive annual growth of 1.6% in land price index for residential areas among all the municipalities in Nagano prefecture.   The same index for overall Nagano prefecture was -1.8%, and it was 1.3% in Tokyo, 2.0% in Nagoya, and -0.1% in Osaka.  You can see how actively and quickly people are starting to spend and invest their money in the real estate here, as national economy is picking up.

   I took a quick look at those trends in other Japanese famous resort areas, like Niseko, Nasu, Hakone, Okinawa, etc.  Okinawa seems to follow the similar trend with the one in Karuizawa, but other areas seem to be still struggling.

    Besides the economy, Karuizawa real estate has another important risk of Mount Asama eruption.  In 2008 and 2009, Mt. Asama erupted and then the local house construction and real estate indices went down by a couple of percents.  This year, Mt. Asama is observed to start pluming actively again.  We should carefully watch it, but I hope nothing serious would happen.

    I continue with my story on house building.  Pictures from my house during construction are shown above.  I discussed with my architect on how to maximize thermal insulation and earthquake-proof performance while minimizing construction cost.  In the end, we adopted 25 cm thick of Rockwool insulation for a ceiling, 10 cm of Urethane insulation for walls, and triple glazed sash windows.  According to the architect, it is rare to build a house with this level of insulation performance though it may be common in Hokkaido (northernmost island of Japan).

   I have been living in my new house for almost a year since I moved in November, 2014.  During  summer, inside the room is very cool since the walls and windows shut out heat by sunshine.  During winter, only one unit of a direct vent oil heater in the first floor heats all the rooms in both first and second floors.  It is warm enough.  Even when it is - (minus) 10 degrees in Celsius in the early morning outside, without turning the heater on, temperature inside the room is around (plus) 10 degrees in Celsius.  It is not so bad.   Since we do not use electricity to heat the house, energy cost went significantly down, compared to when I lived in my previous rental apartment.   My electricity bill was roughly 40,000 JPY monthly during winter in the rental apartment with electric heating, but it is now less than 20,000 JPY monthly during the winter and even less during the summer.   I think it is reasonable enough as an energy cost of standard independent house (i.e., non-condominium type residence).

   My local friend, Kevin, is famous in town for promoting his house as "Passive House" where energy cost is actually, negative.  See his story in Renewables International magazine.  His house follows the German standard by Passivhaus Institut, and has 28 cm of insulation in walls and 60 cm in ceiling.  By generating and selling electricity by solar panels on the roof, his house's energy cost is reportedly negative.  It is incredible achievement in this severe seasonal environment.

    Finding a stylish and design-conscious house should be easy in Karuizawa, when you search in real estate information services on the web.  There are many architects who are advertising their capabilities to design luxury and modern taste villas.  Appearance tends to be the most important factor for villa buyers, while the house performance tends to be overlooked.  I hope more house buyers would care the house performance equally, especially if they care the quality of resort time in this relaxing town.

Original map is provided by d-maps.com.

     Karuizawa is a small town in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

     Before I moved to the town, I thought it was too far for Tokyo residents to go back and forth to this mountain resort frequently.  The fact is, it is only 70 minutes ride on Bullet Train, or 2 hour drive by expressway from downtown Tokyo.  It is located at the east edge of Nagano prefecture, and adjacent to the Greater Tokyo (aka Kanto) area.

    Tokyo people usually commute to their workplace in downtown Tokyo more or less for an hour from their home.  It is not exceptional to spend 2 hours everyday for commute from their home in especially Kanagawa, Chiba, or Saitama regions.  It is real pain to be on 200% crowded commuting train for an hour everyday.

    Living in Karuizawa while working in Tokyo should be one of the housing options for progressive businesspersons, who love "work-life balance."

Source: JR East (Bullet Train operator)

    Just launched my blog today, hoping it to be a resource for people who have some interests in living or having a vacation house in the town of Karuizawa, a famous highland resort in central Japan.    

    I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan.  I moved from Tokyo to Karuizawa in 2012, though I had a job then in Tokyo.  It was about 110 minutes commute one-way every weekday (including 70 minutes on a bullet train), and I was seen by my colleagues with curiosity.

    I initially felt tired from such long commuting time, but got accustomed to it shortly.   I started my life in Karuizawa by contracting an apartment for rent.  The fee was 140,000 Japanese Yen monthly, for roughly 80 sqm of floor including 2 bedrooms.  It was roomy enough for me and my wife.  It was located in a southern district of Karuizawa, in the area within 30 minutes by foot, or 5 minutes drive to the Karuizawa train station.  You may be able to find cheaper apartments for rent in non-walking distance areas in the town though, but I felt it was reasonable enough for Tokyo commuters like me.

    Outside windows of the apartment were just forests and mountains.  I often meet small animals and beautiful mountain birds from a terrace.   Yes, I moved to a highland town at 1000 meters above sea level.  I could feel real restart of my life by crisp air, birdsong, and endless blue sky surrounding my new home.

    Two years later in 2014, I had our own house built in the town and moved from the rental apartment.  I purchased small, roughly 400 sqm lot of land near the rental apartment and asked an architect and builders to build a house with 3 bedrooms, and 140 sqm of floor according to our unique requirements.  In Karuizawa, it is roughly 16 to 28 degrees in Celsius during summer and minus 15 to 2 degrees in Celsius during winter.   Very comfortable in summer of course, but very severe in winter on the other hand.  I discussed with the architect for thermal insulation performance of the house thoroughly, and as a result, our house was named "thermos bottle" house by me and the architect.  It is really that.  Energy saving but very warm house.  I am 120% satisfied with the work by the architect and builders.

     I will write another post on my house building story later.

     I decided to start my blog, wishing more people to consider living in this beautiful and comfortable town by sharing my experience and knowledge on the area.  Either workers and residents in the greater Tokyo area or seasonal visitors to Tokyo can consider to have their primary or second house here.

    I hope you enjoy my blog.  Welcome any comment.


(Chinese translation for trial purpose - 中文翻译试行)

搬迁到小而著名的高原胜地

​今天，我发起了一个博客，思考提供信息的人谁是著名的高原度假胜地日本轻井泽的兴趣生活。

我出生并成长于日本东京。我从东京在2012年搬到了轻井泽，但我有一份工作，然后在东京举行。自那时以来，我一直在通勤我在东京的办公室约为110分钟单向每个工作日（含70分钟的子弹头列车）。我的同事们在看到这样的我的生活方式与好奇。

起初，我觉得从这样长的通勤时间很累，但得到习惯了不久。我开始了我在轻井泽的生活通过收缩公寓出租。每月租金为140000日元的约80平方米的建筑面积包括2间卧室。这是对我和我的妻子足够宽敞。它位于轻井泽的南部地区。花了步行约30分钟或5分钟车程，到轻井泽火车站。您可能能够找到一个公寓月租金在城镇非步行距离的地区便宜。不过，我觉得那是合理足以让东京上班族喜欢我。

公寓的外窗，但只是森林和山脉。我们可以看小动物和美丽的高山鸟类的露台频繁。是的，我搬到了一个高原小镇在1000米的海拔高度。我可以通过清新的空气，鸟鸣，和周围我的新家无边无际的蓝天觉得我的生活真正重启。

两年后的2014年，我们建立了自己的房子镇。我们从我们住的公寓感动。我购买的小，大约400平方米的土地附近的公寓租金我们住的地方。我下了订单，以建筑师和建筑商，在140平方米的建筑面积3间卧室的基础上，以我们独特的要求订做我的房子。在轻井泽，温度范围大约从16到28摄氏度的夏季，但是它的范围减15加2摄氏度的冬天。非常舒适的夏天，而在冬季非常严重的。我与建筑师的房子保温隔热性能的充分讨论。这样一来，我们的房子被命名为“热水瓶”房子我和建筑​​师。这是真的。节能，但很温馨的房子。我120％满意，由建筑师和建造者所做的工作。

稍后我会写我的房子建设经验，另一篇文章。

我决定开始我的博客，希望更多的人考虑通过分享我的经验和知识领域的生活在这个美丽而舒适的小镇。季节性的游客来自海外，并在大东京地区的商人，我想，有他们的生活方式的选择，在这里有他们的永久或第二个家。

我希望你享受我的博客。欢迎任何评论。