A Forest Retreat in ‘Tokyo’s Backyard’
KARUIZAWA IS OFTEN called “Tokyo’s backyard” because it’s here, an hour northwest by bullet train, that city people come to escape the summer heat. For the executives and government officials who own villas in the resort town, it’s akin to the Hamptons or Malibu but, rather than coastline, this mountainous part of Nagano prefecture is known for its natural hot springs and shadowy forests. Although it’s not only for locals: Over the past decade, Bill Gates has reportedly been building a mansion in town; in the 1970s, John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent months in the region, where her family had a summer retreat. The area was first developed by Canadian Christian missionaries, who erected several churches starting in the 1880s, punctuating their walls with geometrically patterned stained glass.
One panel inspired by that colorful, century-old glass is on display in a downstairs bathroom of the home owned by the architect Terence Ngan and the interior designer Ed Ng, longtime partners in life and work — they established the Hong Kong-based firm AB Concept in 1999 — who are among Karuizawa’s latest generation of expats. Both in their 50s, they’ve become known over the decades for their opulent lounges and restaurants throughout Asia and Europe commissioned by hotel brands such as Four Seasons and Shangri-La; before the pandemic, they’d often travel between four cities internationally for meetings in any given week. “When I was grounded, I was quite happy,” Ng says. But as Hong Kong went into lockdown, the couple decided to try running their business from Japan, inside a vacation home near the base of Mount Asama that they’d purchased in 2018.
In the living room, a 1970s brass chandelier with handblown frosted glass globes by Preciosa, a free-standing fireplace by Mitsuo Nishida, a Papa Bear chair by Hans Wegner, a Janus Wing chair and ottoman by Edward Wormley for Dunbar, a coffee and side table by George Nakashima and a Sengu sofa by Cassina. In the background are Viola armchairs designed by AB Concept for Poltrona Frau surrounding a game table.Credit…Josh Robenstone
Although the two had regularly worked in the country (their firm is currently renovating Tokyo’s Ritz-Carlton), neither of them ever imagined they’d settle permanently in Japan. Over the course of three years, however, they moved out of their Hong Kong apartment, sold their home in Taipei, Taiwan, and bought the last available piece of land next to their existing Japanese property, just over an acre crowded with cherry, pine and larch trees that flash gold, green or gray depending on the season. The pair had considered other Japanese locales where they could one day retire — snowy Niseko; Hakone, by the sea — yet it was ultimately in Karuizawa, Ng says, that they wanted to prove, after years of championing glamour and shine, that they could make someplace “supertranquil” for themselves.
