The Karuizawa Resort Telework Committee is a private sector group composed of Karuizawa Tourism Association, the town Chamber of Commerce, and Karuizawa Ryokan Association.

Situated about 1,000 m above sea level, Karuizawa was rediscovered as a retreat from the heat by foreign missionary A.C. Shaw after the Nakasendo highway fell into disuse. The Mikasa Hotel, a western-style building completed in 1905, not only lodged political and business heavyweight of the day Shibusawa Eiichi but also the last emperor of the Qing dynasty Puyi, being dubbed “Karuizawa’s Rokumeikan” and giving rise to “Karuizawa salon culture.”

Ever since, social life centered on the vacation homes of heavyweights from the worlds of politics and business has flourished, and it gained fame as a summer retreat. Its history of salon culture helped telework spread more naturally.

The Karuizawa Resort Telework Committee makes appeals based on the charm of the climate, nature, and variety of places for people to gather, trying to raise awareness of resort telework in businesses and groups both inside the town and elsewhere.