Skiing in Japan

Japan is one of my favorite places to ski. Even when the skiing isn't great (which is relatively rare), there's so much else to keep you occupied — ryokans, onsens, incredible food, temples. Over two trips I've explored Hokkaido and Tohoku, intentionally seeking out the less touristy parts of the country. Here's what I've learned.

Hokkaido - Furano

We thought about going to Niseko, but heard it was rather western with more Australians than Japanese people. After a bit of digging we decided to go to Furano instead which has a slightly more Japanese vibe. It's more inland and has drier snow (but also less). As I understand it Niseko has a more maritime climate (like Washington) and Furano more continental (like the Rockies).

We stayed at the Dormy Inn La Vista Furano Hills. The room was pretty small, but the amazing breakfasts and in-hotel onsen more than made up for it. We skied at Furano Ski Resort for 2 days which had some nice "side country". We also went touring one day up by Mount Furano with a guide. It was unusually cold and windy the day we toured up there and the skiing was garbage windboard. Luckily the onsen up there (Fukiage) made up for it.

Tohoku - Morioka

I picked the Morioka/Tohoku area because it is far less touristy than other parts of Japan. Most days we didn't see another westerner. I arranged a ski guide (not a proper mountain guide) to drive us to resorts in the area and show us where the good skiing and onsens were.

We stayed in town at the Art Hotel Morioka for the first few days. Nothing special, but breakfast was pretty good and there are lots of good restaurants within walking distance.

From here we skied 5 different resorts that were all pretty small mom & pop operations with only a few lifts, but even fewer people and delicious food on the mountain. It felt like we had the mountains to ourselves. We rarely waited more than 5 minutes total per day in lift lines.

The day that we skied at Tazawako we went to a 600 year old onsen. It's a mixed onsen (most are separated by gender), but the water is super cloudy and women can enter the joint pool from inside (already underwater).

We also spent one night at a fancier ryokan with half board — an amazing dinner and breakfast and a cool onsen. The last night in the area we spent at the Hachimantai Mountain Hotel at the base of a ski area. It's also near Shimokura which has more interesting skiing.

Angela Crampton has a good blog post about Tohoku if you're looking for more detail on the area.

Getting Between Regions

To get to Hokkaido you more or less have to fly, but you can take a fast train from Tokyo to Morioka. Once in Morioka you'd definitely want a car or a driver.

On our first trip we flew from Furano to Aomori (the snowiest city in the world, which was an experience itself) and then took trains to Morioka. If you do go to Aomori, there is a ski area with a single lift and touring potential on Mount Hakkoda that is supposed to be legendary. There's also the Nebuta Museum WA RASSE in town that is super cool.

Hokkaido - Otaru

On our second trip we based ourselves out of Otaru, a coastal city not far from Niseko but distinctly more Japanese with amazing seafood. We picked it to get a good combination of food, culture, and access to skiing — if you need a break from skiing or conditions aren't stellar you can wander around town.

We stayed at the Dormy Inn Otaru for 3 days. I love Dormy Inns because they mostly (all?) have onsens and their breakfast is an amazing assortment of Japanese and other delicacies. We were in Otaru during the snow light festival which was cool to see while walking around at night.

We spent one night at a ryokan which was spectacular (but pricey). Kind of wish we had spent 2 nights to enjoy the property more, but even one is worth it — just make sure you get there soon after check-in so you can enjoy the full experience (kaiseki dinner & breakfast, 2 different onsens, and cool fire/gardens). I had to book it on Trip.com.

The Sankaku market in Otaru is overwhelming but awesome. Definitely go for a meal there — we got seated in a tatami room in the back of one of the stalls that had tons of live crabs.

Isezushi is a Michelin Star omakase sushi restaurant that's worth booking (we used jpneazy to reserve).

Ski Resorts Near Otaru

• Kiroro — has cool backcountry terrain around the resort
• Teine — above Sapporo, was built for the Winter Olympics that happened in Sapporo
• Kokusai
• Rusutsu — has amazing perfectly spaced in-bounds trees and cool views of a lake at the top. Definitely the best ski resort of the lot. The Rusutsu Resort hotel is really weird — 80s finishes with carousels, animatronic statues, and water light shows. Feels like a run-down Soviet era Vegas. But the onsen is super new and really nice, so I'd stay there again for that + the ski resort access.

We didn't go to Niseko because I like staying away from other westerners to the extent possible while abroad. There is a cool onsen between Niseko and Rusutsu worth checking out though.

Nagano

If you don't have as much time, the skiing around Nagano is supposed to be awesome (generally steeper terrain than Hokkaido) and is accessible via train from Tokyo in less than 2 hours. I hear Madarao and Myoko Suginohara are cool, and I think Lotte Arai is on the Ikon pass. I haven't been to this area though.

Tokyo

• Meiji Jingu — one of my favorite spots in Tokyo. Ornate Shinto shrine in a giant beautiful wooded park.
• Itoya — cool 12 story stationary and more store
• Kappabashi — kitchenware district
• Ichiran Ramen — many around the city. Amazing tonkotsu ramen. There's always a line outside, but well worth the wait.
• Tsukiji — old seafood market where you can eat lots of prepared food, sushi, uni, etc.

Tips

Black Cat Luggage Shipping

There is a service called Black Cat (Yamato Transport) that ships luggage — including skis — between cities, airports, and hotels. When we got to Haneda airport we went to the kiosk and shipped our skis (one sport tube + 2 boot bags) to our hotel in Furano. This only cost ~$50 and meant we didn't have to lug our skis around during our time in Tokyo. We also used it to ship between Furano and Morioka which took less than 2 days (the skis got there before we did).

One thing to be aware of: on the way back, they require that packages get to the airport at least 24 or 48 hours ahead of your flight, so they wouldn't accept our package on the way back. We ended up taking skis via the Shinkansen and subway which was a little annoying but not the end of the world. Plan ahead if you want to use it for the return trip.

Strava Heatmap

If you use Strava, the global heatmap is great for seeing where people ski and tour in Japan.