Japan - An Excellent 2024/25 Winter!

ChrisC

ChrisC

Well-known member
I keep watching the total snowfall and reports coming out of Japan this winter in Honshu and Hokkaido. It looks like Kiroro, Sapporo Teine, and the Nagano/Niigata regions (Hakuba, Myoko, Nizawa Onsen).

It seems like everyone is there this winter, and I am bookmarking reports. It's the place to be for snow!

Luke Snow from OpenSnow took off to Honshu. He received 21 ft/ 256 inches in 2 weeks: LINK
His Profile for posts and reels


Kiroro has received 540" so far this winter, with 120" base LINK


An Excellent NYTimes about some of these resorts:

A First-Timer’s Guide to Skiing in Japan Link
Don’t expect raucous party scenes or over-the-top après-ski. In Japan, it’s all about the snow. Here’s a primer on where to go, stay and eat.
 
Last edited:
Yesterday I booked some accommodation for next year which could well be a poor snow year like there have been in 3 of the past six. (They’ve had more mid winter rain in Hokkaido the last 5 seasons than the previous couple of centuries apparently). Low elevation makes warm ups regular occurrences.
The NT article didn’t mention Shiga Kogen which is the largest linked Japanese ski area but also has the highest base. (It’s not very westernised though).
If you go to any of the resorts mentioned in the article it would be best you brush up on your Australian language skills.
 
Sbooker said:
Yesterday I booked some accommodation for next year which could well be a poor snow year like there have been in 3 of the past six.
Click to expand...

I have not been watching Japan's snowfall. This year, so many reports are due to Japan's belated reopening and significant snowfalls on Honshu.

I look at the following for snowfall data:

SnowJapan | The independent guide to skiing, snowboarding and ski resorts in Japan

www.snowjapan.com www.snowjapan.com

Snow Reports | 360 Niseko

360niseko.com 360niseko.com

Some old sites are no longer reporting data.

Interesting about rain. I did see that mentioned at times, but I did not experience it on my 2020 trip. Mainly continuous cold NW flows resulting in snow almost daily (typically 2-6, but we had 8-12 occasionally) in a poor season.
 
Some Japan forecasts...nice!

1739415020980.png

1739415104362.png
 
You may wonder why I would book somewhere so far out. And that’s a fair point.
The place I booked in Myoko Kogen is very hard to get into (apparently) as it’s frequented by regular year after year clientele. I booked mainly for the outdoor onsen overlooking the hill but it also has a great location and meals apparently.
h-taiko.net

Hot spring | Hotel Taiko

Government registered international tourist inn Hotel Taiko. New style of modern guest room.Large public bath and the open-air bath in Akakura Onsen with superb view of Mt. Myoko.
h-taiko.net h-taiko.net
Check out the onsen.
 
Sbooker said:
You may wonder why I would book somewhere so far out. And that’s a fair point.
The place I booked in Myoko Kogen is very hard to get into (apparently) as it’s frequented by regular year after year clientele. I booked mainly for the outdoor onsen overlooking the hill but it also has a great location and meals apparently.
Click to expand...

You do need to book ahead for Japan.

Restaurants are super small, with 10-20 seats, so they need to know you are coming. It's the same with places to stay - typically smaller. Also, ski tourists often come from considerable distances, so they tend to book ahead. For example, Rusutsu's bed base is minimal for a major resort.

We had to book our AirBnb in Niseko many months ahead. In 2019/20, we almost pulled the plug on January 1st, but the snow finally arrived in January to make things decent, and we wound up with typical daily ocean effect snowfall our work. If we were going to the Honshu areas for a segment, we would have canceled that portion - the skiing was not passable the entire winter.


Yes, our Niseko portion - particularly Hirafu Village - was similar to my time in Sydney and Airlie Beach. With a few Americans and Chinese thrown in.

The other Niseko villages were more traditional Japanese, but Central Hokkaido or Honshu resorts are much more authentic visits. I am interested in going back one more time to add some other ski areas and cities.
 
^^
I’ve only booked 5 nights there and will have a car so if the skiing is poor we can do tourist things around Nagano area. The much higher elevation Shiga Kogen only an easy hour away and offers a big complex that should have decent groomer skiing if the snow doesn’t cooperate.
I’m told last minute lodging for a couple in the cities is easy to source mid week so most of the trip will be booked on the fly.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top