We live in the big city, and sometimes we fantasize about owning a summer home in Karuizawa 軽井沢. I wrote about this beautiful place before, and over the years of visiting this part of Japan there is still plenty to write about and many things to love.
This summer we visited the northern (北 “kita”) area above Karuizawa, aptly called Kitakaruizawa 北軽井沢. This isn’t an address in the map, though, but the name of a train station and used to designate what’s north of the famous resort town, encompassing both Nagano and the neighboring Gunma Prefecture. (Continued after Japanese summary)
シューレビュー
先月は北軽井沢に行きました。都会と違って空気が美味しい~ 広々としたキャベツ畑に感動しました!泊まったペンション「シューレビュー」はキャベツをふんだんに使った新鮮な料理で有名です。お部屋は可愛らしく、館内にはハーブがたくさん飾られ温かみのある空間でした。主人の誕生日をお祝いしたく、ケーキを頼みましたが、手作りですごく美味しかった^^ 甘いものをあまり食べない主人も絶賛しました。満足したディナーの翌日は、手作りパンを食べ放題!数回もおかわりするほど絶品でした。オーナーご夫婦もフレンドリーで、また足を運びたくなるペンションでした。
Cabbage Farms and Flowers
There are plenty of veggie fields in Kitakaruizawa, and since its in the mountains the produce is called 高原野菜 “kougen yasai” or highland vegetables.
We were delighted with the fields of cabbages that we saw at Tsumagoi, Agatsuma District, in Gunma Prefecture 群馬県吾妻郡嬬恋村. Even the flowers growing by the fields were lovely.
It took us about 40 minutes by car from Karuizawa to reach this spot.
Small and Sweet
Of course, we didn’t drive here all the way just to see the vegetable farms. We stayed at Chourever, a small resort inn that was just a step away from the cabbage fields.
The inn was lovely, with dried herbs decorating the doorway, and pretty lace curtains on the windows overlooking the greens of the fields on one side and the garden and forest on the other.
Room for Two
The room was small with two single beds (narrow!) but was altogether quite cozy. I loved the porcelain figurine next to the old TV.
Nothing beats keeping the windows open to take in the fresh air of Kitakaruizawa!
My one complaint about the room is that the bathroom’s toilet paper holder is at a weird angle, not easy to reach! Apart from that everything was lovely, from the closet to the wicker chairs.
Fresh Cabbages for Dinner
When a hotel is located right next to a beautiful field of cabbages the chef would be crazy not to offer the fresh produce among its restaurant offerings. The cook at Chourever was far from crazy, and we enjoyed the best fresh cabbages the area had to offer.
Dinner was quite filling 🙂 It was a meal I was looking forward to since it got many nice reviews on the local travel sites. Totally worth it! One of the guests was a family with little children; they made sure the seating was arranged in such a way that couples, groups of friends, and families each had room to move and privacy in their conversations.
Birthday Celebration
We celebrated my husband’s birthday at Chourever. When making the reservations I asked for a birthday cake (extra charge, of course), and they came up with this handmade creation.
It had fresh bananas, blueberries and cream. My husband loved it, as it wasn’t too sweet and the cake had just the right sponginess to it. In addition to the birthday cake, we also got to eat the regular dessert, cabbage chiffon cake, the inn’s specialty.
Homemade Bread for Breakfast
One of the reasons we chose this inn was for its famous freshly-baked, homemade bread. Yes, right from the oven, definitely one of the joys of life 🙂 There were four flavors, and it’s eat-all-you-can, yey!
The jam, too was homemade. Just one of the many reasons to love B&B’s like this!
Will Return!
My husband and I truly enjoyed our stay at Chourever. If there is one thing I’d like to make a change to, it would be breakfast time, which starts at 8 AM. We like an early breakfast (7 AM). But then again, if you set up a leisurely itinerary (which we didn’t) 8 AM would be quite reasonable.
All in all, Chourever was a pleasure to stay in. The owners, a husband-and-wife team, were nice and friendly. Our stay was very quiet and relaxing.
Oh, and before I forget, upon checking out you get a voucher for a free head of cabbage that you can pick up from the nearby farm! 🙂
This part of Japan is most famous as a summer resort, but it’s also gorgeous in autumn (check the links below for proof!). We’d love to visit here again!
How To Get There
Chourever is a micro-business and not the typical tourist hotel, so every transaction has to be done in Japanese. Reservations to the inn can be made through Rakuten Travel, Jalan or the inn’s website. There is a 3000 JPY reservation fee that can only be made through the post office in Japan.
Pension Chourever
1053-12534 Kanbara, Tsumagoi, Agatsuma District
Gunma Prefecture 377-1615
Tel 0279-86-4406
Access: 50 min by car from Usuikaruizawa on the Joshin-etsu expressway.
〒377-1615
群馬県吾妻郡嬬恋村鎌原藤原1053-12534
ペンションシューレビュー
Tel 0279-86-4406
アクセス:上信越道 碓氷軽井沢から車で50分
I Would Love to Hear from You!
So, what do you think of this article? Please share your thoughts and opinions in the Comments section below.
この記事についてのご意見・ご感想を是非、お聞かせください!コメント欄↓に書きこんで頂けると幸いです!
External Links
キャベツ畑のパン&デザート工房 シューレビュー Chourever – 公式サイト official website
北軽井沢観光協会 – 公式サイト Official site of the tourism board of Kitakaruizawa.
信州の四季の便り – 北軽井沢の秋の様子 Beautiful photos of autumn leaves in Kitakaruizawa, taken in mid-October.
Books to Consider
関連書籍
一面に広がるキャベツ畑は壮観なながめです。さえぎるもののない畑の上、夜は満天の星空でしょう。
キレ~イな空気でハイキング等のアウトドア活動をしたくなりますね。天体望遠鏡を持ち運んで畑に囲まれて空を観察するのは素晴らしい案ですね!次回は是非^^
Nice place. Did the cabbage chiffon taste like cabbage?
What did you make with your free cabbage? 🙂
Hmm, now that you asked…it was delicious but if no one told me there was cabbage in it I wouldn’t have figured it out, judging by the taste alone. It did have a pretty, light green color, though, so I would have thought of some kind of vegetable 🙂 But taste-wise, it was much harder to pinpoint than, say, carrot cake.
Those are very nice photos! Now I want to go there 🙂 The bread is eat-all-you-can? How many times did you ask for a new basket? 😉
Thank you! It was so much fun photographing both indoor and outdoor at this place. I wish we had more time just to lounge about; we had a pretty tight schedule so I just snapped away like mad. The bread? I ate a basketful, and then had another! 😀
(〃´・ω)ノ コンバンハ♪
素敵な写真ばかりですね
。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆ very d(*⌒▽⌒*)b good 。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚☆
お食事は美味しそう
私も旅に行きたくなりましたよ〜 ワクワク♪o(^o^o)(o^o^)oワクワク♪
miccaさん、コメントありがとうございます!是非、機会があれば行ってみてください♪ 行く価値ありです^^