Karuizawa is one of the most popular tourist destinations. There are many attractive spots such as a large shopping mall and a historic church.

If you are planning a gourmet trip to Karuizawa, you should not forget the Karuizawa Ginza Shopping Street. There are cafes, souvenir stores, bakeries, and other stores lining the "Gourmet Road" where you can enjoy a variety of food!

Freshly made gelato "Livisco

The first shop is Livisco, a gelato store located on the Old Karuizawa Tennis Court Road. The showcase is filled with a wide variety of flavors made from fresh ingredients. After much deliberation, we ordered "Shirayuki Pumpkin & Kawakami Village Strawberry" and "Obuse Milk & Golden Peach. Priced at 550 yen each.


All the flavors have a crazy rich taste of ingredients! The pumpkin, which is kneaded with the whole skin, has an impressive sweetness. Another high point is that the smooth texture of the pumpkin still retains the fibrous texture that is typical of pumpkin.

Shirayuki Kabocha & Kawakamimura Strawberry

Obuse Milk & Golden Peach

Obuse milk is as fresh as the milk you drink on the farm! It is rich in flavor, but has a surprisingly refreshing aftertaste. It has a pleasant aftertaste and sweetness that makes it easy to eat as much as you want.

Chestnut Zenzai" at Chimoto Sohonten

Next is "Chimoto Sohonten," with its eye-catching old private house-style exterior. I really wanted to eat dumplings here, but the shop was closed for the day, so I ordered "Chestnut Zenzai". The price was 864 yen.


The rice cake covered with a generous amount of azuki beans, which still have a moderate graininess, is delicious. Occasionally, large chestnuts can be found. The warm and flavorful zenzai soaked into my gelato-cold body (it was 16 degrees Celsius at the time).

Karuizawa Korokkeiya-san

Karuizawa Korokke-ya-san insists on making each croquette by hand. The croquettes are deep-fried to order, so you can enjoy hot croquettes.

Potato Croquette

The most popular "Potato Croquette" (168 yen) is crispy on the outside and crunchy on the inside. The sweetness of the potato's natural flavor fills your mouth. Why do freshly made potato croquettes taste so good?

Special Menchi-Menchi

The "Special Menchi-Menchi" (228 yen) is juicy and delicious! There is no smell of meat at all. The savory batter catches the juices that overflow from the meat and makes you happy.

Ishibiki Soba Koishikawa "Thick Unitsuke Soba

We have eaten a variety of food so far, but we cannot leave Nagano without eating soba. The final dish is the "Thick Sea Urchin Soba" at Ishibiki Soba Barrel Koishikawa, priced at 1,480 yen. The price is 1,480 yen.


The aromatic buckwheat noodles and seared sea urchin in the slightly seashore-scented broth are a delight to eat. The rich sea urchin flavor is not overshadowed by the soba's unique savory aroma, which wafts through your nose. You can add wasabi (Japanese horseradish) or a squeeze of lemon to the buckwheat to give it a different flavor. Even the soba-yu (buckwheat water) was delicious.


The Karuizawa Ginza shopping street was a great place to eat and walk around, satisfying both the stomach and the mind. There were many other stores that we found fascinating. We plan to introduce some of the souvenirs we bought along the way at a later date, so stay tuned!