Old Karuizawa Ginza Avenue

A shopping street with a sense of history about the development of the resort area of Karuizawa.

The one place that represents Japan’s most famous resort area, Karuizawa. Formerly an inn town, there are many shops which have had a long history.

Karuizawa-shuku, like the city of Annaka, has been remembered as a post station on the Nakasendo route but with the opening of new transportation routes such as the railroad, its function as a station lessened. However, a missionary by the name of A.C. Shaw who came over the Usuitoge Pass to visit Karuizawa was sufficiently charmed by the climate of the area to call it “a hospital without a roof” and from that point, Karuizawa was widely introduced as a resort area. Many foreigners built cottages in Karuizawa which has been linked to development today in the area. Old Karuizawa Ginza Avenue from the Taisho Era was an elegant street with many English signs posted up, and even now, there are many stores where you can purchase a variety of souvenirs and specialty items.