Well. If there's one absolute truth about Japan, it's that everyday brings a new experience worth talking about. My trip to Karuizawa with my girlfriend was no exception.
First, a bit of background info: Karuizawa is a town that sits high in the mountains straddling the valleys of Nagano and Gunma, and as such is styled as an alpine town, complete with ski slopes, sports outlets and faux wooden lodges. Make no mistake, though: Karuizawa is an all-year-round resort (a fun fact for you: Karuizawa is the only place in the world to have hosted events for both the summer and winter olympics); indeed, the high altitude makes it a refreshingly cool escape from the baking heat of the lowlands in the summer.
We checked in at a delightful Pension (ペンション、taken from the european meaning of the word, which is similar to B&B), called the Castille. When we were deciding on places to stay, this one had the clincher for me: it had cats. Lots of them. Any one who knows me knows that I have an unhealthy obsession with cats, and as soon as we checked in I made it my personal mission to track down and harass each and every one of the hapless creatures. The downside? On the second night we awoke at some ungodly hour to the caterwauls of an all-out catfight. I waited for one of the staff to go out and break it up (surely it had to be common enough for it be someone's job?) but no. Clearly, 我慢 ('gaman', bascially putting up with it) was in full force, and the yowling went on unhindered for about 15 minutes before I had enough and went out sort it out myself. I imagine the image of me blundering down a moonlit Japanese backstreet in my PJs and flailing my arms wildly at retreating cats must have been a sight to see, but it worked, and I got a few more hours precious rest. The next morning I awoke grogilly to see the culprit cat sunning itself on the terrace. I ate my jam on toast giving while giving it bleary, evil stares.
The full day in Karuizawa was bliss. We rented bicycles and rolled our way to Kumoba pond, a lovely little place that can be walked around in half an hour. We saw huge koi fish and indigo butterflies as big as your hand. Then it was onto Kyu-Karuizawa (Old-Karuizawa), the centrepiece of which is a street called Ginza-dori (Ginza-street, so-called because of it's resemblance to the trendy Ginza district in Tokyo), and we spent the day drinking in the various shops of trinkets, confectionery and more jam you will ever see in your life (Jam is Karuizawa's specialty). I left with a Totoro banner and a pair of chopsticks with my name printed on them.
That evening, my girlfriend and I decided to splash out on a proper, fancy meal (not what you see in the photo, though that was just as lovely). Thanks to the unsettled weather we decided to take a shortcut to the restaurant. Bad idea. The back road took us through an unlit stretch of dark, damp forest.
Twice we sped up our walking: the sound of something very big crashing through the trees towards us, what I could only take to be a wolf walking RIGHT UP TO US. I hope you can understand that I don't have any photographic evidence of this encounter, but still...it couldn't be a wolf, could it? They've been extinct in the wild in Japan for over 100 years. No, this had to be a dog. A...a wild-looking dog that had emerged from the forest, with no houses in sight... I tried to play the role of brave man as my girlfriend was understandably terrified (note to readers: the shortcut was HER idea!), but to be honest, I was scared too. It seems stupid now, I know, but in the dead of night, on an empty, misty road, it all seemed so much more menacing. Still, the dog-wolf-thing passed us by after giving us a long, hard look, and we quick-footed it towards the inviting, warm lights of the restaurant. Needless to say, it was the best thing I'd ever tasted.
First, a bit of background info: Karuizawa is a town that sits high in the mountains straddling the valleys of Nagano and Gunma, and as such is styled as an alpine town, complete with ski slopes, sports outlets and faux wooden lodges. Make no mistake, though: Karuizawa is an all-year-round resort (a fun fact for you: Karuizawa is the only place in the world to have hosted events for both the summer and winter olympics); indeed, the high altitude makes it a refreshingly cool escape from the baking heat of the lowlands in the summer.
We checked in at a delightful Pension (ペンション、taken from the european meaning of the word, which is similar to B&B), called the Castille. When we were deciding on places to stay, this one had the clincher for me: it had cats. Lots of them. Any one who knows me knows that I have an unhealthy obsession with cats, and as soon as we checked in I made it my personal mission to track down and harass each and every one of the hapless creatures. The downside? On the second night we awoke at some ungodly hour to the caterwauls of an all-out catfight. I waited for one of the staff to go out and break it up (surely it had to be common enough for it be someone's job?) but no. Clearly, 我慢 ('gaman', bascially putting up with it) was in full force, and the yowling went on unhindered for about 15 minutes before I had enough and went out sort it out myself. I imagine the image of me blundering down a moonlit Japanese backstreet in my PJs and flailing my arms wildly at retreating cats must have been a sight to see, but it worked, and I got a few more hours precious rest. The next morning I awoke grogilly to see the culprit cat sunning itself on the terrace. I ate my jam on toast giving while giving it bleary, evil stares.
The full day in Karuizawa was bliss. We rented bicycles and rolled our way to Kumoba pond, a lovely little place that can be walked around in half an hour. We saw huge koi fish and indigo butterflies as big as your hand. Then it was onto Kyu-Karuizawa (Old-Karuizawa), the centrepiece of which is a street called Ginza-dori (Ginza-street, so-called because of it's resemblance to the trendy Ginza district in Tokyo), and we spent the day drinking in the various shops of trinkets, confectionery and more jam you will ever see in your life (Jam is Karuizawa's specialty). I left with a Totoro banner and a pair of chopsticks with my name printed on them.
Twice we sped up our walking: the sound of something very big crashing through the trees towards us, what I could only take to be a wolf walking RIGHT UP TO US. I hope you can understand that I don't have any photographic evidence of this encounter, but still...it couldn't be a wolf, could it? They've been extinct in the wild in Japan for over 100 years. No, this had to be a dog. A...a wild-looking dog that had emerged from the forest, with no houses in sight... I tried to play the role of brave man as my girlfriend was understandably terrified (note to readers: the shortcut was HER idea!), but to be honest, I was scared too. It seems stupid now, I know, but in the dead of night, on an empty, misty road, it all seemed so much more menacing. Still, the dog-wolf-thing passed us by after giving us a long, hard look, and we quick-footed it towards the inviting, warm lights of the restaurant. Needless to say, it was the best thing I'd ever tasted.
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