Karuizawa is not Tokyo.

Tokyo is beautiful, but created beauty. The lights advertising Pachinko parlors and tall buildings stretching up to the sky elicit their own sense of wonder, one that I admire every day as I go about Tokyo. But Karuizawa’s beauty is on a whole other level.

Even as we drove up, the views of the mountains were stunning. All eyes on the bus were glued to the glass of the windows, exceptions being made for those who’s cameras were glued to the windows. We had all seen nature before, with some of us even coming from rural areas in the US; that was not special. But the play of the light off the grass on the mountains…

Then, arriving at our destination, the beauty was magnified ten-fold. The scenery was incredible on the sunny, warm day. The trees lit up, dead grass from the prior cold weather became golden fields, and paths through the woods were pierced with Hellenic rays.

Karuizawa is not Tokyo, but it’s not bad either.