Hoshino Resorts’ original property is located in Karuizawa, an area of Nagano Prefecture, under Mount Asama, first deemed fit as a resort and villa spot in the late 19th century by foreign missionaries like British/Canadian theologian Alexander Croft Shaw in (1886).

Emperor Akihito met his wife Michiko in the area, and it is the only place in the world to have hosted both summer and winter Olympic events. Hoshinoya Karuizawa is located on the banks of the Yukawa river.

First opened in 1914, it was closed in 1995 for ten years by Yoshiharu Hoshino, before being reopened as Hoshinoya Karuizawa in 2005, the first eco-resort in Japan. The resort and its ‘Tombo-no-yu’ hot springs are powered by geothermal heat from the volcanos in the surrounding topography. This, as well as hydroelectricity from mountain streams, provides the energy for the rest of the resort’s power. The property is Hoshino’s first to achieve the policy aim of zero-emissions.

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