Karuizawa Town, Nagano Prefecture
A report on a day trip to Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, to view art, taking an express bus from Yokohama.
Table of contents
Itinerary (2024.10.24)
- 07:50 Start of outbound journey (Departing from Yokohama, Tokyu Bus)
- 12:30 Arriving at Karuizawa Station
- 12:35 Karuizawa New Art Museum
- Irreplaceable things – Earth, landscapes, and the environment
- MADARA MANJI: IT WAS
- Chapel tour
- 13:45 Richter Raum
- Birkenau (photo version)
- Strip Sculpture Karuizawa, 2023
- 14:35 Karuizawa Ando Museum of Art
- Special project to celebrate the second anniversary of the museum’s opening: “Tsuguharu Foujita’s Beloved Things”
- Hario Cafe
- 16:55 Return journey begins (Tokyu Bus departing from Karuizawa Station)
- 20:55 Arriving at Shin-Yokohama Station
Travel Report
Introduction
- Since I can get to Karuizawa from Yokohama Station, which is close to my house, I decided to take a quick trip to see the special exhibition “Birkenau (Photo Version)” being held at Richter Raum in Karuizawa, as it was nearing the end of its run.
Start of outbound journey (Departing from Yokohama Station, Tokyu Bus)
- The bus left Yokohama Station at 7:55 and took about two hours to get out of Tokyo as it was the morning and business vehicles were busy driving around the city.
- The reason why buses use the Shuto Expressway is probably because it is shorter than other routes and therefore takes less time even if you endure traffic jams. If they take the alternative route around Hachioji on the Tomei Expressway, the distance is longer and they would end up in three consecutive traffic jams at Machida, Atsugi, and Hachioji, so there is no time advantage to using it.
- The view from the bus on the way there was Mount Fuji as we drove along the Shuto Expressway, and scale clouds filled the sky along the way. As we got closer to Karuizawa, the black clouds got thicker. After leaving Tokyo, the bus continued to run smoothly, and after about an hour we arrived at the Kamisato Service Area, where we took a break and headed for Karuizawa. The closest interchange to Karuizawa, Usui Karuizawa Interchange, seemed to be congested, so we got off at Matsuida Myogi Interchange and drove on a regular road. Because we were using a regular road, we arrived in Karuizawa at around 12:05, about 30 minutes later than the scheduled arrival time.
- I was hoping it wouldn’t rain because I was planning to ride my bike around Karuizawa. It was cloudy all day, but luckily it didn’t rain.
- Rental bikes are reasonably priced in tourist areas, and the shop in front of the station was renting one for over 1000 yen. I rented one for 770 yen on weekdays from a bike rental shop a little further away, and used it for today’s trip.
- The shop assistant asked me one last time, “Are you sure you want a bike with no gears and no electric assist?”, but I didn’t think I needed gears or electric assist because I was riding on flat ground. In fact, there were no roads where I would need an assist.
- As for the trip to Karuizawa, it might be easier to go through Tokyo by train than to take a bus through Tokyo. If you use the express bus from Shinjuku or Nerima, you can start traveling on the bus that departs from Nerima Ward Office at 7:35 and arrive in Karuizawa at 10:07. It takes an hour from my house to Nerima Station, so if you leave your house after 6:00, you can get on this bus and arrive in Karuizawa at 10:00. You can stay in Karuizawa for about 2 hours more than if you leave Yokohama at 7:50, which is a late departure time and gets stuck in traffic in Tokyo. Also, this bus leaves from Shinjuku, and if you get on from Shinjuku, it leaves Busta Shinjuku at 6:45. It is set to travel about 10km from Shinjuku to Nerima in 50 minutes because it passes through several stops to pick up passengers. If you want to reduce the bus ride time, it would be better to take the train to Nerima.
Karuizawa New Art Museum
- This is a private art museum that opened in 2012 and is run by WHITE STONE GALLERY, with a gallery space on the first floor. Special exhibitions are held from the second floor onwards, and there is a chapel designed by Kengo Kuma at the back of the first floor.
- On the day of this visit, the shop and gallery on the first floor were free to view. Admission to the special exhibition on the second floor, which includes a chapel tour, costs 2,000 yen. If you only want to take part in the chapel tour, it costs 500 yen.
- Irreplaceable -Earth, Landscape, Environment
- 2024.04.13 – 2024.11.04
- Karuizawa New Art Museum
- Exhibition rooms 1-6 (2nd floor) Opening hours 10:00-17:00
- (July-September 10:00-18:00)
- *Entry is allowed until 30 minutes before closing. Closed every Monday (or the following day if Monday is a public holiday)
- Photography was allowed in rooms 1, 2, 3, and 6. Photography was not allowed in rooms 4 and 5.
- Room 4 was dedicated to Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and included a screening of Running Fence as well as other project materials and books.
- Room 5 contains many works by contemporary artists, including Nakanishi Natsuyuki’s “G/Z to May Ⅳ,” a large piece measuring 2m x 2.5m; its painting style and the vivid green in the center of the painting make it instantly recognizable as Nakanishi’s work.
- The six-room “ancient aquarium” by daisy* features an AI-generated image of a coelacanth swimming gently on a monitor installed in a dark room. The image projected on the floor looks like a different creature from the clear image of the coelacanth on the monitor.
- MADARA MANJI: IT WAS
- Karuizawa Gallery 2, 3
- 2024.10.12 – 11.10
- WHITE STONE GALLERY KARUIZAWA
- A solo exhibition by MADARA MANJI, who creates unique sculptures.
- The first photo is a mysterious sculpture that does not feel the weight of its metal, perhaps because it is supported by a single leg.
- The second photo is a work titled 36.3497053, 138.6345471 / 2024.10.11 16:11, in which a pattern appears on the metal plate, but I couldn’t get close enough to tell if it was a reflection of the light or a pattern.
- A windy forest of birches and moss
- Architect Kengo Kuma x Contemporary Artist Jean-Michel Othoniel
- The church was designed by architect Kengo Kuma. The ceiling and walls are made of glass, and the pillars look like birch, but because it snows, birch wood cannot support the weight of the ceiling or snow, so it has steel frames. It looks beautiful from a distance, but when you get closer, it looks like cut wood has been simply pasted onto the cross-shaped steel frame, and when you get closer, you notice the gaps between the steel frame and the wood, and the peeling bark of the birch.
- Kuma’s architecture is often talked about in the news in the 2020s, and this pillar is also likely to be controversial. The birch wood pasted on the church pillars is probably purely decorative, but it feels cheap. To the untrained eye, white steel frames seem sufficient for this decoration, but the building was built with the agreement of the client and the contractor, and since the building is intended to be repaired, if the client is aware of this, it is not for a third party to say anything.
- It can be used for weddings, but since it is made of glass, it is said to be very hot in the summer, and the chairs are also made of glass, so it seems difficult to sit during the ceremony.
- Public Spaces
Richter Raum
- Richter Raum is located on the old Nakasendo road on the north side of Karuizawa Station. It is a flat road about 2km away on foot from Karuizawa Station, but it takes about 30 minutes. By bicycle, it takes about 10 minutes to get there from Karuizawa Station.
- This facility is operated by WAKO WORKS OF ART, and it is not a free gallery but a paid facility.
- Since it is an outdoor exhibition with three rooms, the scale of the exhibition is not large, but the admission fee is quite high, so it is best to check the contents of the current exhibition before entering and decide whether to visit.
- On the day I visited, there were several groups of visitors, but some left after about 10 minutes. It is not good to stay for a long time, and it is fine if the visitors are satisfied even for a short time, but I am worried that they will feel unsatisfied after paying the admission fee and will have negative comments.
- This facility is a space created by WAKO WORKS OF ART’s long-standing relationship with Richter, so I hope it will continue for a long time. I think it is very luxurious to have a space where you can visit and see the artist’s work.
- Special Exhibition
- Gerhard Richter
- BIRKENAU (Photo Version)
- Saturday, May 25, 2024 – Thursday, September 28, October 31
- Richter Raum
- Richter’s BIRKENAU (Photo Version) was displayed on the wall of the largest room, with several other works also displayed in the corridors and smaller exhibition rooms.
Strip Sculpture Karuizawa, 2023 is on display in an outdoor space, and the scenery is reflected on the colorful stripes, creating a fantastical pattern.
Karuizawa Ando Museum of Art
- Karuizawa Ando Museum of Art, which opened in 2022 and is celebrating its second anniversary, is a private museum that collects only works by Tsuguharu Foujita, and the quality and quantity of the works on display are impeccable.
- Photography inside the museum is prohibited, except for close-up shots of one or two works that have no photography signs, but exhibition landscape photos that include three or more works are permitted.
- This museum does not have fences, but has sensors in front of the paintings, and if a viewer gets too close to a painting, an announcement is played in every room to warn them.
- The cafe at Karuizawa Ando Museum of Art is the Hario Cafe. When I entered the shop at around 3:30 p.m., all the cakes for the day were sold out, so I ordered a set of basil chicken sandwich and drip coffee. I’m glad I had a light lunch. The flask coffee was about one and a half cups.
- You can choose from four types of beans for drip coffee, and they will brew it after you order. The brewing tool is to put water in a flask-shaped container, heat it at a high temperature of 400 degrees from the bottom, move the steam to the upper container where the beans are, and extract the coffee from the beans, and when it cools down, it falls into the flask. It’s fun just to watch the staff brewing.
- If you have an admission ticket to the Ando Museum of Art, you can get a 10% discount at this Hario Cafe. If you want to take a rest before viewing the exhibits, it’s best to buy a ticket first.
Return journey begins (Departing from Karuizawa Station, Tokyu Bus)
- The return bus arrived at Karuizawa Station at 16:55 as scheduled, and after driving for about an hour, we took a break at the Kamisato Service Area at 18:00. It started to rain at the Kamisato Service Area, but I told the driver to drive carefully and entrusted myself to him. From there to the Nerima Interchange, the journey was relatively smooth and we arrived an hour later at 19:00.
- As expected, after passing through Nerima Interchange and entering Tokyo, the bus moved slowly due to the traffic lights and traffic jams on the Kanpachi Expressway. The first destination, Tama Plaza Station, was only about 25km away, but the bus was moving slowly, so I had a light midnight snack and fell asleep while watching the night view, and arrived at Tama Plaza Station 1.5 hours later at 8:30 p.m. There were quite a few people getting off. I arrived at Shin-Yokohama Station, my disembarking point, 30 minutes later, just before 9:00 a.m.
About Transportation
- If you’re looking to travel from the Tokyo metropolitan area to Karuizawa, the Hokuriku Shinkansen is undoubtedly the easiest option if you’re looking to spend some money.
- For budget travelers, the JR local line stops at Yokokawa Station, so you have to travel by bus, which is a hassle. In this case, renting a car at Takasaki Station and going to Karuizawa is a safe choice, even when considering transportation in Karuizawa.
- If you live on the sea side of Yokohama or Tokyo, it might be better to take a train instead of taking two hours to get through the city by bus. The highway bus to Karuizawa leaves from Shinjuku and Nerima. If you start traveling on the bus that leaves Nerima Ward Office at 7:35, you will arrive in Karuizawa at 10:07. How long it takes to get to Nerima Station depends on where you live. In my case, it takes about an hour, so if I leave my house after 6:00, I can get on this bus and arrive in Karuizawa at 10:00.
- It’s a late departure time, so you can stay in Karuizawa for about two hours longer than if you leave Yokohama at 7:50, which is congested in Tokyo. Also, this bus starts at Busta Shinjuku and departs at 6:45. From Busta Shinjuku, it goes through several stops and is set to travel about 10km from Shinjuku to Nerima in 50 minutes to pick up passengers. If you want to reduce the bus ride time, it’s better to take the train to Nerima.
- On the way back, there are buses that go to Nerima or Busta Shinjuku, but they leave Karuizawa at 6 or 6:30 p.m., so you can relax in Karuizawa more than on the Yokohama-bound bus, but you won’t arrive in Tokyo until around 9 p.m., and won’t return to Yokohama until around 10 p.m.
- If you’re just traveling for a day trip with hand luggage, the above method of transportation is efficient, but if you have large luggage or are pulling a suitcase, it’s a hassle to include train travel, so it’s probably safer to use a nearby bus stop.
- The biggest advantage of traveling by bus is that even if you get stuck in traffic, the driver will drive you, so passengers can just sleep. Accidents do happen, so make sure to fasten your seat belt.
Gallery
Photo equipment
- HASSELBLAD X2D +XCD 28mm P
- CANON IXY3
- iPhone 12 mini
Cost
- Bus: 7,000 yen (4,000 yen for designated outbound fare, 3,000 yen for weekday return fare)
- Bicycle: 770 yen (weekday special discount for rental bicycles)
- Admission: 2,000 yen (Karuizawa New Art Museum)
- Admission: 1,200 yen (Richter Raum)
- Admission: 2,000 yen (Karuizawa Ando Museum of Art)
- Lunch: minced cutlet bread + coffee: 700 yen
- Snack: basil chicken sandwich + coffee: 1,170 yen
- Food: 2,000 yen
- Total: 16,840 yen
Reference links
- The following are links to external sites
- Karuizawa New Art Museum
- Richter Raum
- Karuizawa Ando Museum of Art
- Tokyu Bus Yokohama to Karuizawa
- Seibu Bus Nerima to Karuizawa
Notes
- This was carried out on 24/10/2024, and it is possible that this may no longer be possible in the future due to changes in transport timetables, so please use your own judgement as you believe that when travelling, you can either plan your trip well or go with the flow.
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