An artificial-ice area in autumn and natural pond ice from late December in Karuizawa's Hoshino Area
For the latest skating dates, check the rink’s official information.
Kera-Ike is a skating rink formed when a forest pond freezes, next to the Karuizawa Wild Bird Forest, where many wild animals live. When the leaves turn, an artificial-ice area opens first, and in a normal year the natural-ice area freezes in late December and the whole pond becomes the rink.
The page calls its natural ice a rarity that only Karuizawa's very cold winters make possible, and reported the natural-ice area fully frozen on 7 January 2026. A neighbouring café sells forest-themed hot drinks for a limited season, and the Picchio centre in front of the pond runs nature tours to meet the forest's creatures.
This year the rink marks ten years since it opened, with free skating and special offers for Nagano residents from 30 October to 20 November.
Admission, rentals and arrival details, researched from official rink information. Source checks stay current for 30 days.
Skating costs ¥1,900 for adults (junior high school and over) and ¥1,300 for children up to elementary school, with hire skates included; during the special-price periods adults pay ¥2,400 and children ¥1,800.
Source checked · · Official source
Hire skates are figure skates from 15 to 31 cm, with double-blade skates for 15 and 16 cm. Helmets and sled chairs are lent free, and gloves (¥400) and knitted hats (¥500) are on sale.
Source checked · · Official source
There is no age or height limit. Children whose skate size is under 15 cm may enter only on a special bear chair that a skating parent pushes, at the child's fee.
Source checked · · Official source
Use the Karuizawa Hoshino Area P1 car park, about a five-minute walk from the rink.
Source checked · · Official source
A source check records what the rink published on that date. Session-specific booking details take precedence.
