The resort is a good size and can get some great snowfall. Great views of lake Tazawa on a clear day. Pretty varied terrain wise and the runs are fairly wide. The park is OK and they have noticeably improved it over the last few years. It even has a boarder cross track. If you go to the top of the resort you can find great dry powder snow.

Couple of good options for food in resort and easy access by car to some great local onsen.

Being the largest resort in Akita and also close to Morioka it can get busy. Expect 10+ minute lift lines on weekends and national holidays during peak season.
See our video here

We visited Tazawako on a rare fine day and it was in complete contrast to the last time we visited when a big blizzard was dumping lots of snow. There was no wind and not a cloud in the sky and we could fully appreciate the beauty of Tazawako. So many of the runs overlook the lake and it was hard not to stare at the lake every time we got off the lift. The mountains above the ski resort were also dramatic.

Tazawako used to be a quiet little backwater and now it’s more mainstream. We can’t complain about this though considering we contributed to its increase in popularity, and it’s always great to see a ski area thriving when too many other Japanese ski areas are nearing demise.

It was a weekday and there were lots of youngsters from the adjacent camp milling around. Whilst there were zero queues to most lifts, there was a line all morning to the Ginrei Quad Lift and it barely seemed to move, mostly because the students were getting on in pairs instead of 4s, and there were no systems in place to fully load the chairs (unfortunately this is too common in Japan). We mostly avoided that lift and reminded ourselves that the queue wasn’t too bad relative to big US ski resorts. Even better, the students weren’t chasing powder.

It hadn’t snowed for a couple of days, so it was no surprise that there were no fresh lines in the low hanging fruit off-piste areas. However in slightly tighter trees there was still untracked snow and we had to play with aspects because the sun was starting to sour some snow. In the sidecountry areas that were a little harder to access or exit there was fresh powder too (so despite the lift queue we’ve rated it as 5/5 for uncrowded). One of the lines we did had a nasty egress, with some really steep drop-offs into a gully that were challenging without fully fresh snow.

We stayed at the Tazawako Lake Resort Hotel & Onsen for a couple of nights which provided good value. We stayed in a twin western room that was a decent size and it provided nice views up the mountain. Meals were buffet style and there was a good choice of options that were decent without being amazing. The hotel onsen fit into the same category and in addition to indoor baths for each gender, there were 3 outdoor baths of differing temperatures plus hot pots.

One afternoon we drove to Tsurunoyu Onsen which was very picturesque and the mixed bathing (konyoku onsen) was particularly special. Perhaps it was even up there as one of our top 10 onsen experiences in Japan!

You can see how we rate Tazawako in more detail on our Honshu ski resort ratings.
See our video here

Tazawako was the first of 2-day stop in our 4-day trip in the Tohoku region. Following previous reviews, our expectations were pretty high, and although snowfalls was just 2 days before, we had good hope to find some freshies assuming that Tohoko is less popular.
Unfortunately that wasn't the case, the whole terrain had tracks all over and we had to be creative to find some fresh lines. The trees were offering only a limiting option because of how tight they were.
In the end we had a good time, and you know Japan will always be amazing for the people, the culture, the accommodation and food experience, but the skiing in Taza was certainly not at the level that I had seen before in Honshu...
I would recommend Tazawako as a 1-day trip if you're certain to have a lot of super fresh pow, in which case then yes you'll have good fun.
Sharing here a video of the 4-day trip so there's also shots of Geto Kogen in that.
See our video here

Hi, I am Tami, a migrant to this area.
Tazawako ski resort is medium-sized in the course, but you can enjoy wonderful powder snow by cat tour and hiking up from the slopes.
Moreover, I feel that there are three elements of the highest level.
The first is arriving in Tokyo from Shinkansen in 2 hours 50 minutes.
The second is that the Nyuto onsen hot-spring and deep Japanese resort of Japan's leading hideout resort is close.
And while the third one is in this environment, it is still not well known to you.

http://www.akitafan.com/en-snow/
access route, cat guide and so on.

Please enjoy the powder snow above the waist.
See our video here

On first glance, Tazawako is seemingly a dinky little ski resort that’s somewhat typical of so many ski areas in Japan. It’s reasonably small, not particularly steep, and it looks like paradise for intermediates, yet on second glance you find the fabulous tree skiing and the abundant powder stashes. It’s well and truly off the beaten path for foreigner travellers, so we could do line after line after line and continue to find fresh powder both on-piste and off-piste. We had an absolutely amazing time – the powder was on tap!

The weather was somewhat typical for Tazawako – generally disgusting and blizzardy, so had there been other people chasing the powder (which was not the case), the snow would have been quickly re-set. It was mighty cold and it was the only time all trip that I put my puffer jacket on under my shell, which is saying something. In between the blizzards, we got short glimpses of the lake and could see why so many people rave about the lake views.

Overall Tazawako is a great ski area for powder hounds on a powder safari of northern Tohoku. See the Tazawako overview page for more on our thoughts on the pros and cons and also see the Japan ski resorts ratings to see how it compares.
See our video here