A Community in Harmony with Nature, Striving for Energy Self-sufficiency
To preserve its uniquely beautiful nature, Karuizawa adopts such policies as subsidizing the purchase of electric vehicles.
The town of Karuizawa is located on a plateau and ensconced within a beautiful natural environment, just over an hour from Tokyo by the Shinkansen bullet train. It welcomes some 8.5 million visitors annually as one of Japan’s preeminent resort areas. In 1886, the Canadian missionary Alexander Croft Shaw praised the town as “a hospital without a roof,” and since then it has developed into a place for getting away from the summer heat, as well as an international setting for health and recreation.
Under the slogan “Karuizawa Smart Community,” there are ongoing efforts to reduce the environmental impact by not only equipping public facilities with renewable energy systems, but also providing subsidies for the installation of residential solar panels and the purchase of electric vehicles. Through those measures, the town hopes to promote energy conservation and “local production for local consumption” in the area of energy. Its goal is to become a community grounded in coexistence with nature.
As the host of the meeting, the town hopes that future generations will come to see the meeting as a big turning point regarding the world’s environmental issues, and aims to create the best possible environment for productive discussions, while informing visitors about such efforts.
G20: Inspiring cities of Japan - Karuizawa
The G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth will be held in Karuizawa town. Known as a “four-seasons premier mountain resort”, the town is recently making actions to utilize natural energy in daily basis. See more of the unique cases in Karuizawa to become environmentally friendly town.
Karuizawa
The G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth will be held in Karuizawa town. Known as a “four-seasons premier mountain resort”, the town is recently making actions to utilize natural energy in daily basis. See more of the unique cases in Karuizawa to become environmentally friendly town.
Information & Access
Population | : | 20,230 (as of May, 2018) |
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Access by Air | : | Seoul (115 min.), Shanghai (150 min.), Hong Kong (4 hrs. 10 min.) *Flight time to Haneda Airport |
Access by Train | : | Tokyo (70 min.) |
Contact | : | The Prefecture of Nagano 692-2 Habashita, Minami-Nagano, Nagano, 380-8570, JAPAN TEL: +81-26-232-0111 ext.2738 FAX: +81-26-235-7491 |