Nozawa Onsen - The Perfect Recovery After Tokyo Summit

Team Retreat to Nozawaonsen - We Needed This So Bad

After the HOLOLIFE Summit Tokyo wrapped up, my team was absolutely cooked. I mean, we pulled it off - the event was incredible, everyone worked so hard - but we were running on empty. Years of planning, last-minute sponsor calls, last-minute changes, speaker schedules. I don’t even know how I survived from chaos.

My team made a decision right after the summit. "We're going to Nozawa Onsen. All of us. Two days. No laptops."

I was like… why Nozawa? I just wanted to sleep hard, but post event adrenaline somehow kept me going, and then next second I was shouting in my mind “Sweet“! However, I had to work for post event deal, so my team went to Nozawa first, and I joined next day.

Getting Out of Tokyo

We took the Shinkansen to Nagano, then a local bus up into the mountains. About 3 hours total from Tokyo. The moment we left the city, I could see people's faces changing. Shoulders relaxing.

Nozawa Onsen sits at about 600 meters elevation in Nagano Prefecture. Famous for skiing in winter, but in autumn? Perfect. The air was crisp, leaves changing colors, and that smell - you know that mountain air smell? Clean. Pure.

First thing we saw when the bus pulled into town? This crazy green dome building. Like, really green. Really dome. Everyone immediately took photos. An egg-shaped building in front of the ski resort. It is a lodge like a "hideaway" where you can feel at home and comfortable. Built in 1969 by Takamasa Yoshizaka, it catches everyone's eye. A place where everyone gathers in a homely atmosphere despite being in a historical building. That is Nozawa Onsen Lodge.

Tengu Sushi - The Sushi Night That Made Up For Everything

We found this sushi place called Tengu Sushi (天狗寿司) on the second floor of a building. Perfect location, looked amazing from outside. We climbed up the stairs, all excited, ready for some fresh sushi after the long day.

The chef behind the counter was serious and friendly, but more than anything focused when it comes to preparing sushi. This is omakase style - chef's choice. You don't order, you just trust. He looked at us, nodded, and started working.

They understood after the first bite. Especially, after the summit and onsen soaking, sushi brought us to the another level. The chef watched us, saw our reactions, smiled just a little. Then kept preparing. Piece after piece. Each one different. Each one perfect.

The Public Bath House

In two days, We enojoyed some of the 13 public onsen in the village. The traditional wooden building with separate entrances - 男湯 (men) and 女湯 (women). For those who haven’t been to Japan, I would say "You're going to be naked with strangers. It's going to be hot. Like, really hot. But this is 1000 years of Japanese wisdom. Trust the process." I keep saying my friends viting Japan, but now I write this blog, so you learn what we do in advance.

When I dipped into one of onsen hot springs right after joined in team at day2, all my pressure, stress, and chaotic mixed feelings were gone.Strangers don’t know how tired I had been, and neither do I. That's the thing about onsen - it's a great equalizer. Doesn't matter if you're a CEO or a student, everyone's naked, everyone's human, everyone's dealing with the same hot water. After soaking, my team understood. You could see it in their eyes. The tension from months of work - just melting away into that mineral-rich water.

The Little Moments

Throughout our two days, we discovered so many small things. Local shops selling mountain vegetables in these old-school self-service displays - you just take what you want, put money in a box. Honor system. Can you imagine this in most places?

We found the free foot baths - ashiyu - where you can soak your feet in hot spring water while watching the street. We sat there like a bunch of tourists, legs in hot water, laughing about the summit chaos, making plans for next year.

Going Back to Reality

On the bus back to Tokyo, everyone was quiet. But good quiet. Peaceful. One of my team members said, "I needed this more than I knew."

We all did.

Back in Boston now and already started working my team in E.U, I would say this when work gets stressful or someone's having a hard day, we reference Nozawa. "Remember the hot spring?" "Remember Tengu Sushi?" It's become part of our team culture. That shared experience we all went through.

After the next summit in Japan, we'll return to Nozawa Onsen. It's become our tradition now.