Declaration
The Natural Townscape of Karuizawa
Japan’s Precious Asset
---------- Declaration of the Karuizawa Townscape Method-------------
The town of Karuizawa has been one of the most famous Japanese resorts
since the Meiji Era. It is blessed with a beautiful landscape, rich
local wildlife and culture, but seasoned with a unique international
flavor. This designated Town of International Exchange, Culture and
Tourism is growing every day. Thick forests, singing birds, pleasant
cool breeze blowing through trees….these refreshing images, easily
associated with Karuizawa, remain unblemished thanks to the maintenance
of a townscape with low level buildings as a key component. Nurtured in
the heart of nature’s bounty, history and tradition have combined to
allow Karuizawa to develop its unique atmosphere.
Over recent years, there has been a remarkable increase in the numbers
of newly developed residential areas, along with the spread commercial
facilities such as restaurants and wedding ceremony halls. This is due
to the expansion of feasible commuting distances thanks to the dramatic
development of high-speed transportation systems, and the consumer
demand for real estate due to the continual drop in land prices.
However, in the current situation of rapid economic efficiency-centered
developments taking place one after another, the environment of this
historic town of Kazuizawa is changing apace. There is an understandable
concern about conserving the town’s special environment for the future.
It is high time that we give proper respect and consideration to the
unique historical, traditional, cultural and natural facets that combine
to create the special landscape of Karuizawa.
In order to ensure that future generations inherit an un-spoilt
environment in which they can continue to enjoy their summer retreats,
Karuizawa Town issued the “Declaration of the Karuizawa Method for
Condominiums” on December 11, 2001, in conjunction with Governor Yasuo
Tanaka. Concurrently, the town revised the “Outline of Karuizawa Nature
Conservation Measures (hereinafter referred to as the “Outline”). We
have decided to further revise this Outline and formulate the Landscape
Guideline (hereinafter referred to as the “Guideline”) based on the
Nagano Prefectural Landscape Ordinance by the end of the fiscal year
2005, in an integrated efforts between the town and the prefecture. This
will facilitate our ideas about landscape and further foster
conservation of the natural townscape of Karuizawa. To put it more
concretely, the town’s Outline details regulations- for example, an
apartment building should have less than 20 units with the minimum
distance of 2.5m in principle away from the lot party line, which may
vary according to the type of the area and the number of units. By
stipulating such details we hope to restrain the increase of the total
floor area. Also, the Prefectural Guideline clearly regulates designs
and types of buildings, and encourages planned maintenance of existing
trees to conserve the beautiful resort environment.
Our grand design for the overall townscape was drawn in cooperation with
a master architect known for his deep insight and high sensibility.
Pioneering ideas arising from this design process have already been put
into practice in the creation of various local public facilities. Going
beyond the boundaries between public and private, regardless of the
sector the facility belongs to, in the future we will extend this
measure throughout the town to create the integrated natural townscape
of Karuizawa.
The respective administrations of Karuizawa Town and Shinshu-Nagano
Prefecture, deeply recognise that the beautiful, rich natural
environment and townscape of Karuizawa represent a precious common asset
not only for people of Nagano Prefecture, and for the entire population
of Japan, but for people throughout the world. This resource must be
passed to future generations. Therefore, we carry out our responsibility
to properly conserve and nurture this asset.
This first ever declaration that Shinshu-Nagano Prefecture issues in
collaboration with a municipality also represents the “will” of great
number of citizens of this prefecture who strongly hope to conserve our
precious natural inheritance, the wildlife and landscape in a given
area, by creating a solid regulatory system. Nagano Prefecture is
committed to promptly bringing these hopes to fruition, conserving this
wonderful place for future generations, without any personal interests.
Historically, the unique natural environment and townscape of Karuizawa
has developed thanks to the efforts of ordinary citizens, the people of
the “commons”. In order to respect these efforts, Karuizawa’s precious
assets should continue to be protected and fostered. This strong
awareness and integrated effort must not apply to town residents alone,
but is a philosophy to be shared by visitors, landowners, land and
buildings users alike, as well as businesses and designers. We strongly
request that even before the implementation of the revised Outline and
Guideline, businesses and designers should act in accordance with this
declaration.
December 22, 2005
Masayoshi Sato
Mayor of Karuizawa Town
Yasuo Tanaka
Governor of Nagano Prefecture
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