The Old Mikasa Hotel was a truly Western-style wooden hotel representing the history of Karuizawa which was developed as a resort area and its design and construction by the Japanese is its notable feature. Following its opening in 1905, the mandarins of the political world stayed at the hotel whenever they came to Karuizawa, and it was known as the socializing area for the well-to-do of Japanese society. The interior of the hotel which has been preserved from those days can be toured for a fee and you can observe documents telling of the history of the area as well as the furniture that was used back then. The area around the hotel is the oldest cottage site in Karuizawa where you can sense the relaxing atmosphere of a high-class summer resort among the forest of Japanese larch.