Early in the month of September 1945, a small band of American soldiers on a reconnaissance mission through the central mountain region of Honshu, main island of Japan, arrived in Karuizawa.
By the cessation of hostilities, due to unrelenting bombing attacks, almost every close by city and town stood in pathetic ruins..
How they happened upon this tiny remote village remains a mystery, except as it turned out, Karuizawa offered the only habitable accommodation for miles in any direction.
Early in the month of September 1945, a small band of American soldiers on a reconnaissance mission through the central mountain region of Honshu, main island of Japan, arrived in Karuizawa