Naeba Activities

Most of the Naeba activities are focussed around the very family friendly approach of Naeba. The Naeba Prince Hotel also offers various activities for adults, particularly in the area of relaxation and rejuvenation. Or if skiing or snowboarding isn’t fulfilling your need for speed, head to RSS Power Sports Land where you can hoon around on snowmobiles or ATVs (snow buggies).

Naeba Family Activities

Naeba has various child and family specific areas that operate on a user pays system.

The Pandaruman snow park out the front of the Prince Hotel is fun central for little kids and their parents. In addition to skiing, this area is great for tubing and sledding.

Pandaruman House is an indoor “snow park” that has artificial mat slopes that are good for learning to ski and for sledding. It is perfect for any foul weather days. Both the indoor and outdoor Pandaruman areas are open during the day and into the evening.

Go wacko at Wako Wako Family Snowland, an outdoor area adjacent to the base of the ski area. More fun can be had here with magic carpet accessed snow tubing, a carousel, snowmobiling for children 8 and over, and a snow train.

The Prince Hotel has Takuto Playland, a games room with various games and prize machines. For bigger kids there is table tennis (for a fee) and billiards (for a fee).

Naeba also has lots of events during the season including kids’ treasure hunts on Sundays and fireworks on Saturdays.

Naeba Ski Tours and Heli Skiing

For those who don’t want to go skiing or snowboarding, it’s possible to get a snow limousine instead. Sit down and enjoy the experience of being on the slopes whilst a skier does all the hard work behind you.

Heli skiing in Japan is very rare, so the heli skiing at nearby Kagura is unique. The Kagura Tourist Association runs heli ski tours in mid-April each year. A helicopter flies up to the peak where the amazing vistas can be appreciated. Skiers or snowboarders of at least intermediate level then ride down a really long ridge to the Kagura ski resort. If you’ve never been heli skiing before this will be a very special experience, but those who’ve been heli skiing outside Japan will find it rather lame. They pretty much travel the same course over and over, so if you’ve conjured up thoughts of heli skiing as being steep and deep, this Japan heliski experience may leave you wondering. Note that the heli skiing only operates some seasons.

There are a couple of ski guiding companies that take backcountry ski tours around Naeba and Kagura.

Relaxation

The Prince Hotel offers a good range of beautician services at Soie Rouge, an esthetique salon (a good Japanese term for a beauty salon aka day spa!). Various massage services are on offer such as traditional and Thai massage, and also acupuncture. If you need a quick manicure, head to the Nail Quick, or get a pedicure so that your toes look really sexy inside your ski boots!

The Prince Hotel has a hot spring with an indoor and open air bath that can be accessed by hotel guests or day trippers. A soak in the hot spring is a great finale to a tiring day on the slopes. The hotel has another public bath that’s not an onsen (hot spring) but is still very relaxing. There is also a sauna if you want to completely dehydrate yourself!

Mitsumata (a village of the Kagura ski resort) is home to Kai-do no Yu, an onsen with both indoor and outdoor (rotenburo) hot pools. This provides a more traditional Japanese onsen experience than that at Naeba.