Just an hour away from Tokyo by bullet train, Karuizawa is a popular destination for city slickers looking for a breath of fresh mountain air. Sitting at the base of Mt. Asama, it has many of the comforts of the city, all surrounded by lush forests and teetering snow-capped peaks.

You can enjoy the cool weather and tranquil scenery from a café terrace or even Karuizawa’s shopping mall, but for a closer look at Karuizawa’s wildlife, you’ll have to travel a little farther away from civilization.

The Picchio Wildlife Research Center both monitors local wildlife and operates nature tours around the area, and thanks to their extensive knowledge of Karuizawa and its surroundings, they know just where to take you to see all sorts of nocturnal creatures.

See Karuizawa’s Nocturnal Wildlife on a Night Safari tour

The highland plateau of Karuizawa has a diversity of wildlife thanks to the nearby mountains and plentiful forests. There are rabbits, deer, Japanese serow, foxes, Asiatic black bears, flying squirrels, martens and more. While you won’t find these animals easily in the middle of town, there are several places nearby with consistent wildlife sightings.

During the summer months, Karuizawa Prince Ski Resort is a great place to see wild animals. It’s right near the center of town but has plenty of grassy hillside on which to graze and wooded areas to rest and hide. When the ski resort is open for winter, Karuizawa Prince Asama Golf Course becomes the next best option, its vast fields making it easy to observe herds of animals out in the open.

This tour replicates a technique called spotlight surveys used by wildlife researchers to count nocturnal animal populations. Using a powerful flashlight, you search the woods for signs of animals—usually by the shine of their eyes—and then identify the animal using binoculars. This is just one of many techniques that Picchio uses in its own wildlife research and happens to be a fun way for visitors to experience the area’s wildlife.

Learn More about the Local Fauna

The Picchio Wildlife Research Center monitors Karuizawa’s wildlife and supports their conservation, so they are intimately familiar with the area and the animals that live here. After identifying an animal or its tracks, your guide can give you a good idea of what they were doing and where they were headed.

See Beautiful Evening Scenery

On the night safari tour, you’ll have a chance to explore areas that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to access. During summer, you’ll climb to the top of the Karuizawa Prince Ski Resort (by car) and gaze down on Karuizawa Town from above. During winter, you’ll drive around Karuizawa Prince Asama Golf Course. In the middle of wide-open, unlit fields, you can gaze up at beautiful starry skies.

Tour Schedule

Meet with your Guide (18:30 or 19:30)

Depending on the time of year, the starting time and starting location for the tour changes. From April to August, the tour begins at 19:30. As night falls earlier from autumn onward, the tour begins at 18:30. For most of the year, the tour meets at the Naturekids Forest House between the Karuizawa Prince Shopping Mall and Karuizawa Prince Hotel East. For the winter tour, you’ll meet at the Karuizawa Prince Asama Hotel.

Your guide will give you some equipment to help you spot animals on your tour: a pair of image-stabilized binoculars and a large flashlight. The binoculars, when turned on, greatly smooth out the image you see, making it much easier to spot and observe wildlife. The flashlight will let you find and illuminate animals grazing in the fields and woods around you.

Depart on the tour (18:45 or 19:45)

Your guide will direct you to their night safari van. After getting in and getting comfortable (blankets are available for the winter tour to help keep you warm during winter), you’ll depart on your night adventure.

Equipped with LED floodlights on either side, the night safari van brightly illuminates its surroundings and makes it much easier to spot critters nearby. Using your flashlight, you’ll search through the woods and up in the trees, looking for the distinctive shimmer of light reflecting in animals’ eyes.

When your guide finds a promising spot, you may get out of the van to get a better look. These quiet locations are also great places for stargazing. Turn off your lights and you can enjoy glittering night skies above.

Return to your meeting place (20:00 or 21:00)

After circling around the resort, you’ll head back to your meeting point to end your safari. After returning your binoculars and flashlight, your guide may show you a few props or videos that relate to the encounters you had. Picchio’s instructors often find interesting items in the wild during their research like deer antlers and fallen bird’s nests.

Update:2021/03/02

Wildlife Night Drive (Spring to Autumn)

Operating Period	April to end of October
Time	1.5 hours
Reservations	Necessary
Price	6,500 yen

 

Wildlife Night Drive (Winter)

Operating Period	January to March
Time	1.5 hours
Reservations	Necessary
Price	6,500 yen

 

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