Commongrounds, Karuizawa: A Forest Complex to Visit With Your Dog
Commongrounds sits in the woods on the Naka-Karuizawa side of town, a low scatter of buildings among the trees that feels like a hidden oasis. It opened in 2023 in a renovated former junior college dormitory, and the design kept as many of the original trees as possible. The ground is laid with soft wood chips, the buildings are linked by forest paths, and the bookshop, cafés, restaurants and shops sit close together, just the right size to wander slowly with your dog. Enjoy a morning coffee, or sit in the shade of the trees with a book. For a morning when you want to take your time with your dog, it is one of the most pleasant places in Karuizawa.
Getting there
- About a 20-minute drive from Karuizawa Station, or roughly 5 minutes from Naka-Karuizawa Station
- By train, it is around a 15-minute walk from Naka-Karuizawa Station (one stop from Karuizawa Station)
- 1690-1 Toriihara, Nagakura, Karuizawa, Nagano
A complex built into the forest
The heart of Commongrounds is Karuizawa Bookstore (Naka-Karuizawa), run by the team behind Tsutaya. It is part bookshop, part café, part coworking space and part art gallery, and the symbol of the whole place.
Around it, restaurants, a bakery and food shops are loosely scattered, and an international school shares the grounds. Tables and benches are dotted between the buildings, so you can enjoy bread from the bakery with a coffee, or rest in the shade with a book, and spend the time however you like.
The whole site has a relaxed, open feel: you can pick something up at one shop and enjoy it wherever you like. Moving between the shops feels like a walk in the forest, and you can choose how to spend your visit to suit your mood. That is a big part of the charm of Commongrounds.
The shops and restaurants
- SHOZO COFFEE KARUIZAWA: Coffee and scones from the Nasu-based roaster, plus croissants and baked goods, with a generous terrace. Across the forest path from the bookstore, a small baked goods-only café, SHOZO COFFEE OVEN, has also opened.
- PUBLIC食堂 (Public Shokudo): A breakfast-and-lunch diner from the people behind Naka-Karuizawa's PUBLIC BAR. Its range of toasts is popular. Counter seating only, and some dishes are limited, so go early.
- OSOBAR: Standing-style Shinshu soba made with buckwheat from Yatsugatake, in a rather stylish setting. Rarely have we visited and not seen a queue.
- RK DAYS: Deli dishes and bento made with additive-free vegetables and carefully chosen ingredients, alongside a small range of homeware.
- a Vin bio wine shop Karuizawa: A wide selection of wines from the south of France and from Nagano, with red and white by the glass on the front terrace.
- Karuizawa Iburu: Cold-smoked foods and seasonings that make good gifts to take home.
Visiting with a dog
Commongrounds is built for slow outdoor time, which is what makes it work so well for dogs. The forest floor and the shade between buildings mean there is somewhere cool to stand even on hot days, and the place invites a gentle wander beside your dog rather than a wait in line.
Dogs on a lead are welcome throughout the grounds. The bookstore and SHOZO's café area allow dogs inside (and dog strollers are available to use), and the SHOZO terrace is roomy enough for a large dog to relax. Public Shokudo welcomes dogs indoors too.
At the shops that don't allow dogs inside, the open-air setup works in your favour: order to take away, carry it to one of the outdoor tables, and your dog can stay beside you through the meal.
Bring water and a lead when you head out.
Pair it with a Tsuruya run
Tsuruya, one of the two main supermarkets in Karuizawa, is only about three minutes away by car, which makes Commongrounds an easy first stop on a day out. Coffee and a slow loop through the trees, then Tsuruya on the way home. Much of what fills the shelves there, from apples and root vegetables to mushrooms, comes from the same Nagano hills the forest grows out of. A walk in the woods, then the flavours of the area to take home: a very Karuizawa kind of day.
