The former Mikasa Hotel, located at the foot of Mt. Asama in Nagano, was once a fashionable social gathering parlor. In 1886, a Canadian-born British missionary, A. C. Shaw, visited Karuizawa unexpectedly and immediately fell in love with it. He and his family, accompanied by his friends, spent the whole summer there. After that, Karuizawa became (and still is) a popular summer resort for foreign residents, Japanese business executives who have lived abroad, and even the Imperial Family and other noble people. The high class Mikasa Hotel was born to the satisfaction of such 'high-level' people. The number of rooms totaled only 30 and the hotel was equipped with a swimming pool, flush toilets, beautiful chandeliers lit by electricity, and other extravagant interior touches that decorated each room. The hotel even offered its guests a deluxe horse-drawn carriage service from Karuizawa Station to the hotel!
Tom Mulhall
8 years ago
I was stationed at Mikasa in 1947. Wonderful place. The officers stated at the Mompei hotel nearby. Bigger and better place. What a wonderful year for a 19 year ok kid.
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Larry Knipfing
9 years ago
Wish I could take a time machine back to this golden era. This is the next best thing!
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