What made me move over to Karuizawa although I was born and raised in Tokyo? 

That goes back to the experience during my stay in France.

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As I always loved to travel​, I used to travel around both domestically and internationally whenever I had time and money since I was a student. After my graduation at my university, I went to Angers; a country town in France to continue studying French and also to learn tourism.

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It's often said that  “French people are experts when it comes to enjoying life”and I actually saw that with my own eyes.  French people really had pride in their hometowns and enjoyed their lives to the fullest.

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With this fascinating culture and the landscape France, more than 80 million tourists from all over the world travel to France not only to visit Paris but to visit the countryside which may seem at first for some Japanese people, noplaceville

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I began my career in tourism after I returned to Japan, and while I was travelling many country towns in Japan, I felt many of those towns became characterless. They all seemed to have been developed in a very same way after the war, and the scenery looked identical. 

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However the landscape I saw in Karuizawa was completely different from other country towns.

I found a rich natural environment, streetscapes nestled in deep forests, and there were no typical large hotels or Ryokans. Karuizawa still retained its same charm as when missionaries first discovered it more than a century ago.

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Karuizawa is a small country town with a population of 20,000 people but  numerous culture figures, artists, and writers are attracted to this town and make it their home.

 

I feel that the lifestyle of people in Karuizawa, to enjoy their life vibrantly, makes this town one of the most leading resort and sightseeing destinations in Japan.

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This is exactly the "Sightseeing" rooted in the community I saw in France, the number one major tourist country in the world.

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Karuizawa is where you can get in touch with not "extraordinary life" but "unusual regular life".

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I would contribute the sustainable development of community and revitalization of Japan with my principle "Planning a trip is planning a town".