Karuizawa Japans hidden gem

Soon it was time to leave Kobe, changing trains in Tokyo at one of the busiest rail stations in Tokyo, and catching a smaller one for an hour’s ride out of town to a mountain retreat area in the town of Karuizawa.

Time was running out. Karuizawa was only supposed to be an hour out of Tokyo, and

here we were, fifty-five minutes down, the digital directory in our carriage said Karuizawa was only five minutes away, and we were still in built up areas.

No leafy green mountains to be seen……….. Just blackness as our train plunged into a dark tunnel.

Bursting from the tunnel was as if we’d entered another world. There were mountains, trees, not a factory to be seen, and not a lot of housing either.

Light was running out. Heavy fog was settling as our train pulled to a halt at the Karuizawa railway station, right on time.

Exiting through the platform gates, we looked for a friend un-known, who was to meet us.

Hey! There is no one here looking for us. “Might be running a little late,” we thought, and prepared to wait where we would be obvious.

Still no one came. Oh well, I do have three phone numbers, so I will give them a try.

Whaaat! Each one had an answering machine,,,, in Japanese…

What do we do? Catch a cab to our lodgings? We do have the address. But what if no one’s there? It’s now very dark; the thick fog is swirling in through each end of our well-lit refuge. We could get a cab, but can you imagine lobbing on a cabin doorstep in the damp misty darkness, and still unable to get in?

Hunger was an issue now. E…e and J…e had seen a little snack bar down stairs as they searched for our rescuers. Fortunately the snack bar was still open.

(Everything else was closing down following our train’s arrival)

Pizza, coke and coffee was the go, as we tried to work out what next?

We had just started to munch on our pizza, when a young boy came in, and asked us, “Are you the B….ths?”

We spoke as one.” Yes we are” We gathered up our Pizza, etc… and followed M….  (our hero) out to where his father St…. waited with their car.

Apologies made, a visit to a small super market for breakfast things, and then off to our cabin home for the next couple of days.

This cabin was not a rustic holiday job, but recently built, and newly furnished. It seemed too god to be true.

Morning’s light revealed the beauty of our surroundings. Moss covered chestnut trees, autumn colours splashed randomly, as Maple trees and others unknown, prepared for winter. The other cabins painted a sort of Mission Brown further added to the scene. Beautiful!

I wandered around the mission retreat site snapping photos like a cameraman possessed.

Soon S….  drove up, and as he’d offered last night, he would take us grocery shopping, and a quick “Cook’s Tour” around town.

But what a blessing S….  had in the back seat of his car, two playmates for J …e, A…. and S…

Later that day, the surrounding hills shook with their shrieks, and laughter as the three children scorched around on community scooters that just lay in an unlocked shed, just waiting for children to use.

 (How long would those scooters last under such circumstances here in Oz?)

 

In 1886, an English missionary, Alexander Croft Shaw, introduced Karuizawa as a summer resort, and since then Karuizawa Town has developed as an international health resort, and a base for International missionaries to study Japanese language, or a bit of well earned R’n R’.

The shopping mall was almost deserted when we first ventured down, but that was early morning. Soon the first train arrived. Tour busses too. Bringing hordes of people. Many intent on shopping, while others set out on foot to take in the beauty of the hills.

The Japanese folk are a healthy lot, eat well, and exercise, but many like to light up a fag.

There are special “Smokers carriages” on the trains that we have been warned not to get in to, and on the rail platforms there are special vented smokers cells.

The pungent smoke is whisked away via chutes to who knows where? Rather than offend non-smokers.

 

We enjoyed our short stay in Karuizawa, lovely mountain walks, wonderful accommodation, if only we had more time to stay longer to enjoy the scenery, and company, but time was our enemy, and we had to make a bolt for the station to meet the Tokyo bound JR Express.

 

Back with O…., S…., and the girls, we were able to give a little more time to Sonrise Café, do a little more sight seeing, sample squid on a stick, eat a lot of sushi, I reckon between the seven of us, we demolished fifty-plus dishes of sushi one night, only one hundred yen per plate, ($1.00) three times dearer here in Oz.

Many thanks to O…., S…, and the girls, for putting up with us,

(and now recent arrival Joshua)

M….o, Y….e, M…..yo, and M…..mi, for a great time with them in Takayama, and Nagoya, (thanks for introducing me to traditional bathing  M….o)

 M….y and K….y in Kobe,

 And many, many thanks to S….n and K…..e , M….., A…, S…. in Karuizawa,

And a big thank you to the many Japanese folk,(known to us, or complete strangers) who helped us so willingly, along the way.