Experience the Shishi-Iwa House Collection and an architectural tour of Karuizawa over five days in February 2025, hosted by Design Anthology.
February marks the debut of Design Anthology’s travel experiences, design-led trips curated and hosted by our editorial team.
The first Design Anthology Retreat will be held from 12–16 February 2025 in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa in partnership with architecture and culinary destination Shishi-Iwa House. Open only to Design Anthology members, the retreat takes place over four nights and five days, with all accommodation, meals and activities included.
Shishi-Iwa House Collection
Just an hour by train from Tokyo, Shishi-Iwa House comprises three architectural masterpieces, each designed by a Pritzker Prize-winning architect. The first two houses were designed by Shigeru Ban in 2018 and 2022 respectively, while the third house is by Ryue Nishizawa of Sanaa Architects, opened just last year.
The properties were Ban and Nishizawa’s first hotel projects — and we now invite you to join us in Karuizawa to explore the houses and enjoy a bespoke itinerary covering the best of the town’s architecture, design and dining highlights. And given the town’s close proximity to Tokyo, it’s the perfect opportunity to tack on a few days in the capital.
Itinerary
Karuizawa is known for its rich architectural heritage and is home to significant architect-designed buildings and striking examples of traditional styles. Guests will have the unique opportunity to experience and learn about the area’s 19th-century Rokumeikan architecture, a formative period in the development of the Japanese vernacular, and visit landmarks such as Kazuo Shinohara’s Tanikawa House, the Hoshi Onsen and historic soba restaurant Kagimotoya.
The itinerary includes fine-dining and farm-to-table meals, guided tours of all Shishi-Iwa House properties, exclusive access to renowned buildings, private homes and storied hotels, as well as sake and wine tasting, wellness activities and the requisite spot of shopping.
A tentative itinerary can be seen below. Kindly note that this itinerary may change prior to the experience.
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14:00–16:00
Arrival. Pickup at Karuizawa Station and check-in at Shishi-Iwa House.16:00–17:00
Welcome drinks. After you’ve arrived and settled in, there will be welcome drinks at the bar.19:00
Dinner at Shola with Japanese sake and wine tasting. Enjoy our welcome dinner at Shola, known for using fresh sustainably raised ingredients directly from nearby farms. Executive Chef Masashi Okamoto and his team serve up creations that are visually striking and deeply in tune with nature. The special menu will be served with Japanese wines from the Nagano region. A special selection of wine and sake from the Nagano region will also be available for tasting during dinner. -
08:00–09:30
Breakfast at Shola. Traditional Japanese breakfast using mainly fresh Nagano ingredients.09:30–11:30
Architectural tour of Shishi-Iwa House. Learn about the architectural concept behind each house and the art collection within with Grant Suzuki, partner at Shigeru Ban Architects.12:30–14:00
Lunch at Kagimotoya. Kagimotoya is the oldest soba restaurant in Nagano that started its business in the Meiji period in 1870. It has wonderful architecture. It is renowned for its hand-made soba and has stayed true to its tradition.14:00–16:00
Visit to Uchimura Kanzo Memorial Hall Stone Church. Completed by American architect Kendrick Kellogg in 1988. It features a series of arches that were built by using stones, rocks and glass.16:00–18:00
By guest’s selection. Forest bathing waterfall walk at nearby Sengataki waterfall or a visit to Sengataki Onsen. A private traditional shiatsu massage can also pre-arranged.19:00–21:00
Dinner at Kuroiwa Muni. Kuroiwa Muni is one of our favourite Japanese fine dining restaurants favoured for its seasonal kaiseki set course celebrating traditional Japanese cuisine, cooking with unique produce from Nagano region. -
08:00–09:30
Breakfast at Shola. Traditional Japanese breakfast using mainly fresh Nagano ingredients.10:00–14:00
Visit to Tanikawa House by Kazuo Shinohara. ‘A house is a work of art,’ famously quoted legendary architect Kazuo Shinohara. Built in 1974 for poet Shuntaro Tanikawa, it is one of the masterpieces by Shinohara. The brief was that client needed a “fortress”, a place of calm, to live with his family and conduct his work. Shinohara is known for rejecting large scale modernist structures popular after the war and focused instead on adapting individual human-scale dwellings as a basic unit to form the fabric of each community. When asked if it was comfortable to live in this house, Tanikawa answered: ‘I do not seek comfort for a house because it has to be the representation of your spirit. Comfort is its enemy.’ For Shinohara and Tanikawa, a house and living itself were literally works of art.16:00–17:00
Tour of Hoshi Onsen Chojukan. One of the renowned onsen hot springs in Japan. A historical inn with an architectural narrative that dates back over 140 years and has attracted renowned artists and writers. The architecture is based on Rokumeikan style. Registered as a national tangible cultural property.17:00–19:00
Onsen. Experience the historic onsen bathhouse with natural hot spring water directly from the mountain. The spring properties include colorless and transparent calcium, sodium sulfate at 43 degrees Celsius, which help cure illnesses and injuries.19:30
Traditional dinner at Hoshi Onsen. The restaurant uses high-quality local produce of Gunma Prefecture such as Akagi Beef, Haruna Pork, and Furai Chicken, which vary depending on the season. Much of the vegetables are also produced in the local town of Minakami or Gunma Prefecture, which are selected with a focus on safety and reliability. -
08:00–09:30
Breakfast at Hoshi.09:30–11:30
Drive back to Karuizawa.12:00
Lunch at Shola.14:00
Visit to Mampei Hotel. Formerly known as Kameya Inn and opened in 1764, Mampei Hotel was the summer retreat of John Lennon. One of the first western style hotels in Japan. First opened in 1894, the Alps building was built in 1936 and is a registered national tangible cultural property.16:00
Visit to Harmony House. Harmony House by master architect Junzo Yoshimura completed in 1963. This house was initially built as a vacation home for his family. It is the first built example resulting from the studies dedicated to a residential typology in wood, anchored to a reinforced concrete slab and with a single plain inclined roof. The cedar plank wall cladding, cypress floors, the wooden structure of the roof and the large glazed surfaces define a seamless continuity between interior and exterior, reinforcing the symbiotic relationship between man and nature, characteristic of Japanese philosophy. This is based on Shoin style with certain subtle influence by Frank Lloyd Wright.19:00
Celebration dinner at Shola. A special six-course gastronomic set menu prepared by Chef Masa to celebrate the end of the journey.21:00
Craft gin and whisky tasting at Shola. This optional experience allows guests to taste and compare different local craft gin or Japanese whiskies at the bar. -
08:00–09:30
Breakfast at Shola. Traditional Japanese breakfast using mainly fresh Nagano ingredients.09:30–11:00
Visit to Onioshidashi Volcanic Park. This optional experience allows guests to visit to Onioshidashi Volcano Park, characterised by volcanic sediments that were deposited here during the great eruption of the mountain in 1783. The great diversity of alpine wildlife in front of the volcanic landscape offers some truly spectacular sights, black rocks formed by hardened lava criss-crossing the landscape. The volcanic soil is one of the reasons that makes Nagano a special place for farming.09:30–12:00
Outlet mall, farmer’s market and bee farm. This optional experience allows guests to visit the Karuizawa shopping outlet, with more than 200 shops and restaurants. It’s not uncommon for people from Tokyo to make a day trip just to visit. Afterwards, guests will visit the farmer’s market for the local’s choice of fresh farm produce, followed by a tour in the largest bee farm in the region for a taste of different honeys.12:00
Check-out. Guests are invited to check-out of Shishi-Iwa House at noon and will be offered transport to Karuizawa station.
Pricing
Based on double occupancy in a Shishi-Iwa House Superior room, the retreat is priced at JPY 465,000 per person.
Based on single occupancy in a Shishi-Iwa House Superior room, the retreat is priced at JPY 570,000 per person.
Pricing excludes taxes and service charges.
Applications
Apply now to express your interest in joining us in Karuizawa. Spaces are limited and available by application only. Successful applicants will be notified by email, after which payment will be due. If you have any questions, please reach out to hello@design-anthology.com.
