Pension Kiraboshi

A Highland Pension at 1,500 m, Under a Sky Full of Stars and Frost-Covered Trees

A small pension standing at about 1,500 m above sea level on Mine-no-Hara Kogen in Suzaka, Nagano. It is 5 minutes by car from the center of Sugadaira and about 30 minutes by car from the Ueda-Sugadaira IC or the Suzaka-Nagano-Higashi IC on the Joshin-etsu Expressway, making it a ski and outdoor base within day-trip range of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The owner family is a team of three - father, mother and their son, a gibier hunter - and the mother is a certified Shinshu Gibier Meister as well as a first-class skier and ski instructor. Drawing on their own experience raising children, they offer careful touches for families: a spacious playroom, allergy-friendly meals, baby food, hot water for formula, bed-wetting sheet sets, toilet-training seats and free rental of kids' ski wear.

A 22-Tatami-Mat Playroom Full of Plarail, a Trampoline and Picture Books

The semi-basement playroom directly below the dining room measures 22 tatami mats, and the Arare-chan door marks the entrance. Inside there are a Plarail train set, a trampoline, a play kitchen, picture books and manga, an indoor slackline, board games (Catan, Othello and a submarine game), shogi and a mahjong set, and the layout lets you watch the children play from the dining room. The bookshelf beside the front entrance holds a wide-ranging collection too, from children's literature and comics to natural science, science fiction and historical novels. The whole family can play as much as they like, but the rule is that everyone tidies up together afterward.

The Mother's Western-Style Course of Seasonal Ingredients, with Gibier, Halal and Allergy Options

Dinner is a Western-style course by the mother, generous with seasonal vegetables. From April to June it features wild mountain vegetables, in summer home-grown summer vegetables, in autumn a mushroom hot pot, and in winter either a Western course or a hot pot. On the wild-vegetable foraging plan (May to June) and the mushroom foraging plan (July to early November), you can taste what you gathered yourself at dinner. Gibier dishes made from game taken by the hunter son are served on a plan costing an extra 2,200 yen. Allergy-free meals (egg, wheat, dairy, soy, buckwheat, chicken and beef), vegetarian meals and halal meals can also be arranged, and all of these need to be discussed when you book. Baby food is 880 yen for two meals with advance reservation, made by hand to suit your child's age in months. Hot water for formula is available at any time.

A Bath Your Family Can Have to Itself (Not an Onsen), Plus Nearby Hot Springs

The bath at the pension is an ordinary household bath that a family is welcome to use privately; it is not an onsen, and it is not large. So that guests are not inconvenienced when the bath is busy, the owners honestly suggest a day-use onsen instead. There are many hot-spring facilities within a 5- to 40-minute drive: Yukkurando, 20 minutes away by car (discount tickets available), Jufuku no Yu at Jizo Onsen, 40 minutes away by car (discount tickets available), and Fureai Sanada-kan at Sanada Onsen, 15 minutes away by car, which has an onsen pool.

10 Guest Rooms in All: 2 with an En-Suite Bathroom, 8 Sharing the Bath

There are 10 guest rooms in total: 2 Western-style rooms with three beds and an en-suite bathroom with a toilet, and 8 Western-style rooms with three or four beds. Two of them are family rooms for four, and connecting rooms joining two rooms are possible as well. For families with small children, the owners will gladly discuss pushing three beds together so no one rolls off in the night. The toilets in the building, for both men and women, have a washing function; the whole building is non-smoking, with a smoking space at the entrance, and Wi-Fi is available.

Free Kids' Ski Wear and Sleds to Borrow, with the Mine-no-Hara Slopes a 2-Minute Walk Away

In winter, Mine-no-Hara Rewild Ninja Snow Highland is a 2-minute walk away (usually open from mid-December through March) and Sugadaira Kogen Snow Resort is 3 minutes by car, both with plenty of family-friendly slopes. Elementary and junior high school students staying at the pension ride the Mine-no-Hara lifts free of charge, and guests of high school age and above receive a staying-guest discount voucher. Kids' ski wear in sizes 80-160 cm, children's snow boots, sleds and adult wear in sizes M and L are available to borrow free of charge in limited numbers, and paid rentals can also be handed over at the front entrance. Ski boot rentals start at 15 cm.

Play Areas and Nature Experiences Nearby

Komorebi Hiroba, a 1- to 2-minute walk away, has large play structures and a zip line that are hugely popular with little ones. There are tennis courts a 1-minute walk away (2,000 yen per hour), Sugadaira Bokujo ranch within walking distance, Sugadaira Green Golf 2 minutes by car, Sugadaira Kogen Grandvrio Club 8 minutes by car, a fishing pond and mountain-stream fishing - a rich choice of activities whatever the season. The pension is also close to the trailheads for Mount Azumaya, one of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains, and Mount Neko, one of the 100 Famous Mountains of Flowers, and guests receive a Sugadaira Bokujo mountain entry ticket as a perk. At 1,500 m there is little light pollution, and the mother, a former astronomy enthusiast, will guide guests through the night sky on request.

Access and Parking

About 30 minutes by car from the Ueda-Sugadaira IC or the Suzaka-Nagano-Higashi IC on the Joshin-etsu Expressway. By train, it is about 50 minutes by taxi or rental car from Ueda Station or Nagano Station, with no pickup from bus stops. Parking is free for about 10 cars, and medium-sized buses can park as well. Check-in is from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. the next morning, and checkout is at 10 a.m. Payment is by cash or same-day bank transfer only; credit cards and QR-code payment are not accepted. In winter, from December to March, a heating charge of 1,100 yen per room per night applies separately, and from June 2026 the Nagano Prefecture accommodation tax is charged separately as well.