Skiing in Japan: The Best Pow Pow I’ve Ever Skied
One of the best things I did in Japan was to go skiing. It wasn’t actually on my list of things to do in Japan when I was planning my trip but the more I researched, the more I realised I definitely couldn’t miss out on that powpow (snow).
I actually ended up skiing in three different places in Japan over five days: Nozawa Onsen, Mount Zao and Niseko.
I definitely would’ve liked to do more once I’d started but with having to rent the whole kit it had got pretty expensive. It was around £75 a day for skis, boots, trousers, jacket, gloves and helmet, transport to the mountain and then the ski pass on top. I’ll go back, with more money.
Skiing in Nozawa Onsen
I went skiing in Nozawa Onsen as part of a tour group: The Tokyo Gaijins.
“For people who just wanted to meet people and make new friends. And also for people who want to party. We are just a big bunch of gaijins and some Japanese hanging-out, partying, playing sports and enjoying the Japanese outdoors.”
Gaijins just means ‘foreigners’ in Japanese – it can actually be quite offensive apparently. Anyway, we went on the Thursday and came back on Sunday night, very late, thanks to a flat tyre. Nozawa Onsen is a great little ski resort just three hours from Tokyo that you can easily reach by train.
It was the first time I’d skied for two years since I went to Canada so I was a bit nervous. Day one and I stuck to the green runs, there were so many of them I was kept busy. Day two and I was looking for more of a challenge, so I hung out with one of the other gaijins Jeff (great guy, in the US Navy in Japan) and he took me on some red runs and what eventually turned out to be a black run seeing as the tamer feeder runs turned out to be closed.
There are so many things to do in Japan in the winter that I think it makes a fantastic winter destination. I haven’t actually been in the summer yet, but from the six weeks over January and February I spent there, it’s going to be hard to beat.
Pin me
Visibility was pretty poor up the top on day two, which made it all the more scary. On the final day it was blue skies and a fresh dump of powder but I sacrificed the slopes to go and see the snow monkeys in Nagano.
Snow monkeys in Nagano
The Nagano snow monkeys are living the monkey dream. After causing absolute havoc in Nagano years ago the locals wanted to get rid. In stepped the environmentalists who said that if they chose an area where the monkeys wouldn’t be a pest and fed them there, they’d stay. And so the Jigokudani Yaenkoen Park began at the Yudanaka Shibu Onsen.
It’s a bit of a hike to get up to the Nagano snow monkeys, past geysers, along huge drops and up steps, and the conditions are harsh up there. It’s known as Hell’s Valley thanks to the tough seasons. Once you’ve made it up there though you can see hundreds of snow monkeys chilling, playing about, picking fleas off each other and scurrying about for food. The little troopers can survive the cold as low as -15C. More snow falls in the Japanese Alps than almost anywhere else in the world.
The snow monkeys, or Japanese Macaques to give them their proper name, come every day at 9 until 5 to start their working day. Job description: looking good lounging about in the onsen so tourists can take photos. Tough life. At the end of the day they go back to their trees in their family groups for the night.
The monkeys are so human like. Grooming each other is vital in the monkey community – it’s how you make friends, and how you get a free meal. Glad us humans don’t have to go quite that far.
Lucky for us it was a beautiful day and an easy hike the day I went. As you can see from the pics – it was the best 500 yen (£3) spent ever!
Where to stay
We stayed at the Ai Gokyo Ryaokan – the food every night was incredible. The chef there reminded me of Red off Orange is the New Black. I definitely ate well at Nozawa Onsen, the steak I was recommended at the mountain top restaurant excites me to think about.
Nozawa Onsen, as the name suggests, is known for being an onsen town. This is where I tried my first and only onsen. Too naked, too cold, didn’t like it.
Nozawa Onsen by night was pretty cool too. I made friends with some of the locals in the Heaven Karaoke Bar and sang Wannabe by the Spice Girls for them, at their request. While we were in the area it was the Diojin Fire Festival, which ended up being a great night full of sake and fire.
I’d definitely recommend Nozawa Onsen if you’re looking for a resort near enough to Tokyo to be there and back within a few days. Would go back!
Totally made me want to look into becoming a ski instructor one day!
One of my biggest travel regrets, that I was so close to achieving, was to teach English in Japan. It would’ve given me the perfect opportunity to see more of the country, and get out on the slopes. If you fancy learning more about teaching English in Japan, check out this post on thebrokebackpacker.com. Totally wish I’d done it now!
Skiing on Mount Zao
I’d heard about Mount Zao on the message boards on gapyear.com and I wanted to go and see ‘the snow monsters’. When I found out you could fit in some skiing too I was all for it.
