Honshu

Honshu, the main island of Japan, has more than 500 ski resorts so you’ll be spoiled for choice.

Honshu Ski Resorts Japan Nagano Ski Resorts
Many of the ski resorts are within the Japanese Alps in the prefectures of Nagano and Niigata, with quite a few situated near the city of Nagano (northwest of Tokyo) which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics and put some of these areas on the map. Nagano ski areas include:

The Hakuba Valley ski area consists of 10 resorts that are interlinked via buses. Hakuba is a 90 minute bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano, and then a one hour bus from Nagano to Hakuba.
Shiga Kogen is a group of ski areas that are largely interconnected via the slopes. Access is via a 90 minute bullet train from Tokyo, and then a 70 minute bus ride from Nagano to Shiga Kogen.
Nozawa Onsen is the Kyoto of ski resorts, a historic hot springs and ski resort town in northern Nagano. Nozawa Onsen is a 1:20 hour bus ride from Nagano train station.
Myoko Kogen is a group of 10 ski resorts located one hour north of Nagano in the Niigata prefecture.

Yuzawa Ski Resorts
The town of Yuzawa is also in the Niigata Prefecture and only 70-90 minutes from Tokyo on the Joetsu Shinkansen. The area is a treasure chest of ski areas with more than a dozen places to play near Yuzawa. A juggernaut with all the bells and whistles is the Naeba ski resort. Next door is Kagura ski resort which is quieter and more laidback.

Tohoku Ski Resorts
Tohoku, the north eastern region of Honshu, includes the prefectures of Yamagata, Iwate, and Aomori.

Zao Onsen is an onsen (hot springs) and ski resort town near Yamagata that is famous for its snow ghosts (ice rain covered trees). Zao is accessible via a 2.5 hour Shinkansen ride from Tokyo to Yamagata and then a 40 minute bus to the resort.

Appi Kogen is a classy ski resort that keeps discerning skiers and boarders very ‘appi! Appi Kogen is located near Morioka in the Iwate Prefecture, a 2 to 2.5 hour bullet train ride from Tokyo.

Even Hakkoda in the Aomori Prefecture 710km north of Tokyo is easily accessed from Tokyo. The bullet train (Shinkansen) only takes 3 to 3.5 hours. Hakkoda isn’t so much a ski resort, but rather a cable car accessed backcountry experience where there’s so much powder you won’t know what to do with it.

Skiing Honshu versus Hokkaido How does skiing in Honshu compare to Hokkaido skiing? For detail on how Powderhounds.com rates the Honshu and Hokkaido ski resorts on factors such as powder, terrain, lift infrastructure, nightlife, family friendliness and cost, see our ski resort ratings.

Honshu Snowfall
As a general rule, it doesn’t snow as much in Honshu compared to Hokkaido. The ski resorts near Nagano come close to the amazing snowfalls of Hokkaido. The main Nagano ski resorts have an average annual snowfall of 10 to 13 metres which is nearly the 14 to 15 metres of Rusutsu and Niseko in Hokkaido. Another exception is Hakkoda where there’s so much snow no one can really measure it. If it snows 8.1 metres per season at sea level in Aomori, you can start to imagine how much it snows up at 1,600 metres!

The powder in Honshu is usually not as dry and fluffy as in Hokkaido, and this includes the Hokkaido ski resorts that are in close proximity to the coast.

Deep and Steep?
Most skiing in Japan is rather mellow when compared to many ski resorts in North America, Europe and New Zealand. There are of course some exceptions in Japan. When comparing Honshu and Hokkaido, as a general rule, Honshu ski resorts are steeper but there is a wide variation between the ski resorts.

Cultural Activities
One of the benefits of a ski holiday in Honshu is that you don’t just have to ski or snowboard. The Nagano area in particular offers lots of culturally interesting activities such as visiting historical onsen towns with traditional Japanese architecture, temple hopping, and other fascinating sightseeing.

Once in Honshu it’s also easy to do side trips or stopovers in Tokyo or Kyoto, a real cultural eye opener.

Travel to Honshu The other benefit of skiing in Honshu is that for many international visitors, it’s much easier to fly into Tokyo than to Hokkaido. Once in Honshu, the many bullet trains make travel fast and convenient.

There are lots of options for flights into Tokyo. Airlines include Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Korean Air, Air New Zealand, Air China, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines.

For those travelling from Australia there are many options for direct flights from various cities. Many airlines fly to Tokyo (Narita International Airport) and recently Jetstar has commenced flights from Queensland to Japan at rock bottom prices.

Use one of the recommended flight search engines to find a great flight to Honshu.

Honshu Transport Listings

	Nagano Snow Shuttle Nagano snow shuttle is the ideal way to get to and from Tokyo (Narita) airport to Hakuba, Shiga Kogen or Nozawa Onsen. Buses leave after 3pm & are only filled to 75% so plenty of room for luggage.

	International Rail - JR Rail Passes International rail is a specialist rail travel company. Buy JR East Rail Passes online. 5 or 10 consecutive days or 4 days in a 30 day period. Non-Japanese residents only. Must be purchased outside of Japan.