アルプス広場マレットゴルフ場

Matsukawa Village sits in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture's Azumino region, tucked between the Hida and Nagano mountain ranges where the Japan Alps form one of the most dramatic backdrops in the country. The Azumino valley floor — flat, well-watered farmland threaded by clear mountain streams — has long attracted visitors drawn to its scenery and clean highland air, and the village itself is small and quietly proud, perhaps best known outside Japan as the real-world setting that inspired picture-book illustrator Elsa Beskow's Swedish countryside in the imagination of author Anno Mitsumasa.

Mallet golf, known in Japan as maレットゴルフ or park golf's close cousin, is a popular recreational format here, designed for accessibility across all ages and skill levels. Courses of this type typically feature compact, thoughtfully routed layouts where reading the contours of each hole and managing a single mallet club matter far more than power. アルプス広場 — Alps Plaza — signals exactly what the setting offers: open-air play with the Northern Alps as a constant, commanding presence on the horizon.

This is community recreation in one of Japan's most scenically rewarding corners. Visitors passing through Azumino on their way to Omachi, Hakuba, or the Daio Wasabi Farm will find courses like this one offer a relaxed, unhurried way to spend time outdoors in landscape that genuinely earns its alpine name.