Ski resort guides | Japan
2025 SKI ASIA AWARDS
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Vote in the 2025 Ski Asia Awards for your chance to winVoting is now open – your chance to support the resorts, accommodation and service providers that have delivered the best experiences to their guests. You’ll also have the chance to win a $150 eGift voucher from backcountry.com.
Is Rusutsu the Japanese ski resort that truly has it all?
Ski trips inevitably involve some sort of compromise. It’s very hard to find a resort with great powder, modern lifts, slopeside accommodation, good food, activities other than skiing and snowboarding, …
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Choei Yuda is a tiny Japanese ski resort for “solitude-seeking skiers” and fresh tracks
Japan’s biggest ski resorts are getting busier every year, making it harder to find an affordable and quiet place to ski. That’s what makes local ski hills so important. Some …
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Kunimidaira is a tiny Japanese ski resort where skiing exists in its simplest form
Riding the Tohoku Shinkansen north from Tokyo in winter is like watching a landscape transform in fast-forward. As the train speeds through the countryside, the snow deepens, blanketing rice fields, …
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Owani Onsen is a tiny Japanese ski resort going through a heartbreaking decline
While bigger resorts keep expanding, many medium-sized and smaller resorts are downsizing. Owani Onsen Ski Resort is one of these places that, in its heyday, must have been a great …
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Avoid the Niseko crowds and get off the beaten track at Japan’s Aomori Spring ski resort
This year, Japan has exploded as a destination as coverage on TikTok and other social media has fuelled record visitor numbers to popular tourist spots and the famous ski resorts …
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Hakkoda is the “holy grail” of powder skiing in Japan
At the northern tip of Honshu, Aomori Prefecture boasts some of the most extraordinary winter conditions in the world. During the cold season, roads become towering snow corridors, houses are …
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Yamagata Akakura Onsen is a tiny Japanese ski resort with “the friendliest atmosphere of any resort I’ve visited”
Tucked away in the northeastern corner of Yamagata Prefecture, right on the border with Miyagi Prefecture, you’ll find Yamagata Akakura Onsen Ski Resort – often referred to simply as Akakura …
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Ani is a tiny Japanese ski resort and an “untouched powder paradise”
Ani Ski Resort, with its minimalist approach and focus on adventure, is a haven for powder skiing. It’s not flashy or commercialized, but it offers some of the best powder …
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Okunakayama Kogen is a tiny Japanese ski resort offering simple, timeless skiing
Okunakayama Kogen is a modestly sized ski area nestled in Ichinohe, Iwate Prefecture. Surrounded by larger and more commercialized ski areas, it stands out as a gem for those seeking …
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Jeunesse-Kurikoma is a tiny Japanese ski resort oozing natural beauty and charm
Tucked away in the southern mountains of Akita Prefecture, Jeunesse Kurikoma is a small ski area that charms visitors with natural beauty, minimal lift lines, and little foreign influence. This …
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Deep dry powder and a world-class superpipe at hidden gem Aomori Spring
There’s something about Aomori Spring that adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Like many resorts in Japan, it’s not big and the runs aren’t very long, …
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Is Appi Kogen the best ski resort in Japan that nobody has heard of?
When you tell people you’re visiting Appi Kogen resort you usually get blank faces, but Appi is up there with the largest in Japan. Shiga Kogen leads the way with …
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Amihari Onsen is a beautifully quiet Japanese ski resort where nothing has changed for 30 years
If you’ve never done any tree runs or powder skiing, Amihari Onsen Ski Resort is one of the best places in Japan to start. It’s a compact resort close to …
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Geto Kogen is hands down one of the snowiest ski resorts on the planet
With more than 18 metres of snowfall in good seasons and around 10 metres in “bad” years, it gets even more snow than Niseko and puts world-famous resorts like Whistler …
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Hoshino Resorts Nekoma Mountain is “one of Japan’s last secret spots”
Hoshino Resorts Nekoma Mountain is a “new” ski resort based in Aizu, a mountainous region of Fukushima known more for its saké production and samurai culture than its skiing – …
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Bluebird powder, pristine pistes & free skiing for kids!
A complete guide to Furano – bluebird powder, pristine pistes & free skiing for kids!
Discover Furano ski resort, a hidden gem amidst Japan’s renowned ski destinations. With quiet slopes and an authentic Japanese atmosphere, Furano offers a refreshing escape from the crowds. Nestled on …
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Palcall Tsumagoi has the long, wide, perfectly-groomed runs you’ve been looking for
Palcall Tsumaoi is not particularly well known internationally, but don’t be fooled: Japanese skiers and snowboarders know and love this resort, and for good reason. It is the largest in …
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Hakkoda is the Japanese ski resort that will make you fall deeply in love
Hakkoda is a love with a slow burn: unassuming at first, but once you get to know it, its full of deep surprises and will take your breath away!
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Zao Onsen
Zao Onsen is one of those places that transports you not only in time but also in spirit. Being one of the most traditional resorts in Japan, you will be …
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Japan's best family resort ... for everyone
Tomamu
Tomamu has developed a reputation as one of Japan’s best family ski resorts, but anyone who has visited will tell you that this description is somewhat limiting. it is a …
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Information on skiing in Japan, Korea and China.
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