A Forest Residence Built For Every Season — Design, Function, And 284 Sqm Above Karuizawa

①Property Highlights
Completed in July 2023, this residence was designed around a single principle: that a house in Karuizawa should perform as precisely as it looks. The exterior — stone art cladding finished with Kmew SOLID panels — announces arrival with quiet authority. Behind it, a structure built to Seismic Grade 3, with a thermal insulation coefficient of C-value 0.18 and whole-house ventilation throughout, ensures that the quality of living inside matches the quality of the materials that surround it.

The floor plan spans 284.20 sqm of interior space — plus a 13.24 sqm balcony and a 32.63 sqm loft — across a 3LDK configuration with a multipurpose hall, private study, loft, and built-in garage. A double-height central void anchors the residence, with a galleried corridor above that creates the particular sense of connection that only a house of this scale can produce. The second-floor living area opens to a southward view that, within a residential neighbourhood, is genuinely rare. Floors, walls, and ceilings throughout are finished in natural materials — and the kitchen is a fully bespoke Cucina installation, arranged with a Miele dishwasher and IH cooktop.

On the ground floor, the hall — centred on a private mini bar with a view of the autumn foliage — divides naturally into two distinct zones: a guest and leisure area incorporating a multipurpose space, a Western-style room, and a private simulation golf studio; and a private work zone comprising a dedicated study and generous storage. The entrance passage, finished in Mortex, sets the tone from the moment of arrival. A 10kW solar power system, battery storage, and V2H EV-compatible infrastructure complete a residence engineered as much for the future as for today.

284 sqm. Loft. Built-in garage. Simulation golf. Completed 2023. Karuizawa. ¥358,000,000.

This is not a compromise between design and function. It is the proof that the two are the same thing.

②The Neighbourhood
Karuizawa occupies a position in Japan that St. Moritz holds in Switzerland or Aspen in Colorado — a destination defined not by what it offers, but by the community that has chosen it. Technology founders, executives, and internationally mobile families have been quietly assembling here for decades, drawn by cool summers, mature forest, and a quality of life that the city, by definition, cannot replicate.

The Kaedegahara area of Nakagaru sits within this tradition — a residential enclave within walking distance of Nakagaru-izawa Station on the Shinano Railway, approximately 90 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen. The second-floor living area opens southward to a view that the surrounding residential neighbourhood makes genuinely rare: open sky, forest canopy, and the particular quality of light that Karuizawa’s altitude and tree cover produce together across all four seasons.

Nakagaru-izawa Station: approx. 950m — 13 min. walk
Tokyo: approx. 90 min. by Shinkansen from Karuizawa Station

③Why TonTon
This is the kind of asset that does not reach the open market through conventional channels. As the exclusive Japan licensee of Forbes Global Properties, TonTon operates at the precise intersection of deep local knowledge and a truly global network — giving our clients access not only to properties of this nature, but to the discretion, due diligence, and cross-border expertise that a transaction of this significance demands.

Our advisory team brings together backgrounds in international finance, Japanese property law, and cross-border transaction management — fluent at a native level in Japanese, English, Mandarin, Hindi, and Korean. From corporate structure establishment and tax advisory coordination to post-acquisition asset management, we provide end-to-end support across the full acquisition journey.

For clients whose ambitions extend beyond the visible, our private portfolio awaits.