Kera-Ike Skate Rink

軽井沢町 · Public skating times & prices

An artificial-ice area in autumn and natural pond ice from late December in Karuizawa's Hoshino Area

Public skating at Kera-Ike Skate Rink: the next 7 days

Currently out of season The operator's page says the Kera-Ike rink opens on Friday 30 October 2026 and runs to Sunday 7 March 2027, closed on 18 November, 24 February and 25 February. Hours are 10:00-16:00 from 30 October to 20 November, 10:00-18:00 to 28 December, 10:00-18:30 from 29 December to 31 January and 10:00-16:00 from 1 February, with last entry an hour before closing; dates can change with the weather. Official schedule update

Address
長倉2148（星野エリア）, 軽井沢町, 389-0111
Phone
+81 267 45 7777
Website
hoshino-area.jp
An aerial view of the Kera-Ike rink among autumn maples and larches, with the curved café building beside the white ice and the dark pond beyond. — Kera-Ike Skate Rink
An aerial view of the Kera-Ike rink among autumn maples and larches, with the curved café building beside the white ice and the dark pond beyond. Photo: Kera-Ike Skate Rink (Karuizawa Hoshino Area), official page · Source
The Kera-Ike ice lit blue at night by the winter stardust illumination, with bare trees and lanterns around the forest pond. — Kera-Ike Skate Rink
The Kera-Ike ice lit blue at night by the winter stardust illumination, with bare trees and lanterns around the forest pond. Photo: Kera-Ike Skate Rink (Karuizawa Hoshino Area), official page · Source

A skating rink that forms when a forest pond freezes

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.

Before you head out.

Admission, rentals and arrival details, researched from official rink information. Source checks stay current for 30 days.

Admission

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

Skates & rentals

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

Skating with children

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

Parking & arrival

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.