Facilities & Services
The ski resort facilities and services at
Shiga Kogen are spread out across the many villages, so whilst Shiga Kogen has good amenities, it’s not always convenient to access them.
Shiga Kogen Ski Hire
Rather than having stand-alone ski rental shops, most ski hire at Shiga Kogen is available within lots of the hotels. Examples include the Sunroute Hotel in Ichinose, Olympic Hotel (Snowcan) in Ichinose, Hotel Shirakabaso in Hasuike, and Okushiga Kogen Hotel in Okushiga Kogen. Snowcan also has two other ski rental shops in Ichinose village, one in the Hasuike Ropeway station, and one in the Kumanoyu and Yokoteyama area.
The
Prince Hotel in Yakebitaiyama has three rental equipment shops in each of their buildings (wings): a small shop in the East building lobby; the gondola station of the South building; and a large shop in the West building lobby. They hire out good quality ski and snowboard equipment for adults and children, as well as clothing. The ski rental shop at the West Wing also has a few powder skis for hire as well as some limited backcountry equipment.
The Prince Hotel can cater for big sizes with ski boots up to 34cm, snowboard boots up to 32cm, and clothing up to XXXXL, remembering of course that the Japanese version of extra large is a little different to that of westerners!
Reservations are highly recommended if you need large sized equipment or clothing.
Shiga Kogen ski rental prices are generally quite reasonable. A ski or snowboard set generally costs ¥4,000 to ¥4,500 per day (convert here), with significant discounts for multi-day hire.
Facilities for Children
Even though there are hundreds of Japanese kids at Shiga Kogen (sometimes it feels like thousands of little clones skiing around in the same outfits – why do the Japanese not embrace individualism?!), Shiga Kogen is only somewhat set up for western or English speaking children.
The Prince Hotel in Yakebitaiyama has a nursery, Alice Kids’ Room, located in the gondola no.2 lift station. Child care is provided for children aged 3 months and up. Opening hours are from 9:30am to noon and 1:30pm to 4pm, so parents will have to come back at lunch time - there’s no exploring ski areas at the other end of Shiga Kogen! Rates for 1-5 year olds are ¥3,200 (half day) and ¥6,000 for a full day, and slightly more for infants under one year of age (2011 rates). Reservations are highly recommended.
Takamagahara T-Kids Day Care Centre is located at the Takamagahara Mammoth ski area, providing child care from ages 6 months to 6 years. Lunch time here is even more restrictive, with child care only available between 9:20am and 11:50am, and between 1:20pm and 3:50pm, which doesn’t leave parents with a lot of adult play time. Rates are similar to that of the Alice Kids Room. Hotels in Takamagahara can organise child care here.
The Maruike Kids Park is for primary school aged children to learn to ski. Kids must be accompanied by a parent and the park attracts an entrance fee of about ¥500. Reservations can be made via your accommodation.
Shiga Kogen Ski School
Shiga Kogen has an abundance of ski schools scattered across the various villages. In the main, group lessons are not available with an English instructor, so you’ll have to book a private lesson.
Sugiyama Ski and Snowsports School offers private lessons in English with meeting places at Okushigakogen (skiers only), and the East and South Wings of the Prince Hotel. As a guide to rates, private lessons cost ¥8,000 for one hour, ¥22,000 for 3 hours or ¥36,000 for 5 hours (2011 rates).
The Shitaka Shingo Yakebitaiyama Ski School offers private lessons in English and operates from the West Building of the Prince Hotel. The rates for one person are slightly less than Sugiyama, but are comparable if you have two to three people in the lesson.
The Bianka Ski School also offers private lessons in English and are located in the Ichinose area.
Eating On Mountain
You won’t go hungry at Shiga Kogen. There are lots of little daytime restaurants and cafeterias situated around all the villages of Shiga Kogen. The reasonably priced fare is pretty typical for Japanese ski resorts with an abundance of ramens, curries and rice dishes. Thick yummy hot chocolates and yucky Japanese coffees abound, as do vending machines – this is Japan after all!
The top of Yokoteyama has a couple of very cute eateries. The restaurant on the top floor of the lift building serves up giant ramens and the tables are set up around big heaters. Considering how cold it can get up at 2,350 metres, you’ll appreciate the heaters. They also sell some homemade souvenirs which you may find rather entertaining, including doily type crocheted animals! Opposite the lift station is the infamous bakery which is Japan’s highest bakery. It is rather challenging to get bread and other bakery goods to rise at such high elevation, but they manage it well.
Another good spot for lunch is at one of the charming European hotel restaurants such as Hotel Shiga Aspen at the base of Giant ski area, where the Bunadaira and Nishidateyama ski areas converge. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll be able to get a rösti or wiener schnitzel at one of the restaurants. The cuisine is definitely Japanese, but the décor and the sun chairs out the front provide a lovely European vibe.
Banking Facilities
It can be a bit of a pain to get your hands on cash in Shiga Kogen, so it’s wise to get cashed up before you leave home or at the Narita Airport in the arrivals hall. Alternatively there is a post office near the Nagano Station that has an ATM.
There is an ATM that accepts international cards at the post office at Shiga Kogen which is located in the lower village of Hasuike. Getting to Hasuike via the slopes or a shuttle bus can be rather time consuming if your accommodation is at one of the upper villages such as Yakebitaiyama or Ichinose. The post office is open 9am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 12:30pm on Saturdays.
The Prince Hotel in Yakebitaiyama plans to put an ATM in their West Wing in the future.