We visited Yakebitaiyama (Yakebi) for 8 days in early March 2025 and stayed at the Prince Hotel West wing. Yakebi is one of the 18 different resorts that make up the Shiga Kogen area and probably the best individual one.
We really enjoyed Yakebi and had excellent conditions for the entire 8 days.
Positive things about the hotel, Yakebi and Shiga Kogen:
Proper ski in/ski out from the door of the hotel.
Proximity to quad lift and access to Ichinose (central area of Shiga Kogen).
Yakebi has the best lifts in Shiga (we skied them all, about 40 that were still operating).
Hardly any lift lines anywhere in Shiga Kogen. 2 minutes was the longest wait time.
Mostly intermediate terrain but considerable variety due to the many small resorts with different aspects and pitches. Somewhat like a mini European ski circus (3 Valleys, Dolomites etc)
Good quality dry snow the entire time although little new snow when we were there, so couldn't try off piste.
Highest elevation (base and top) of all Japanese resorts which means you don't get the sometimes slushy conditions at the base of places like Hakuba and Nozawa. Our hotel was at 1600m which is higher than most top elevations of Japanese resorts. The highest elevation we skiied was around 2100m.
The on mountain food options were all good and reasonably priced.
Reasonable indoor onsen although there was no outdoor option.
Ski Locker room adjacent to hotel lobby and door to slopes.
Breakfast buffet offered wide choice of Japanese or Western food.
Comfortable beds.
Helpful and friendly staff at Prince Hotel.
Not many Westerners so more of an authentic Japanese resort.
Closest resort to Snow Monkey Park.

Things that could be better:
No village unless you count Ichinose which is about 500 metres from the Prince West Wing. Ichinose is very quiet and not like Nozawa or Hakuba in the evening. If you want lively apres ski, don't go to Shiga.
Many of the lifts beyond Yakebi are old and slow or retired forever.
The Yakebi Wall (steepest run at 39 degree pitch) was closed the entire time we were there.
The excellent ramen restaurant (below Chinese restaurant) wasn't open every day and not at all during the evening.
The hotel lacked character and the gigantic dining area was like an oversized cafeteria.
There should be a common lounge area for apres ski as the bar wasn't inviting enough.
A games room with a snooker table and/or table tennis would be good.
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My son (18) and l spent 12 nights here - Feb 2026. Both Advanced snow Boarders. I love this resort and will go back for all the reasons listed on the main page. We were at the Prince hotel best ski in ski out I’ve done is Aus, US, Canada and France. You can’t beat it. Terran is not overly challenging compared to US rockies, but for 90% of skiers it will be satisfied for a week. But, no terrain park anywhere, no night life and no self contained means expensive by Japanese standards because of the food. That’s said come here you not hit all the terrain and we owed it mid week. Laping on the chairs with no crowds. I
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I concur with the powderhounds overview. Big pluses are uncrowded slopes, no lifts lines, efficient lift system, snow quality, fewer foreigners than other Nagano resorts and a vast area of interconnected resorts and runs.

Shiga may not get the quantity of snow of other Nagano resorts but it makes up for that in excellent snow quality. The powder I skied at Okushiga was equally as light and dry as Hokkaido powder.

There is virtually no nightlife with few restaurants or bars, the lodges are a little dated and the buffet dinners can get a little monotonous however the staff are eager to please and nothing is a problem.

We visited Nozawa Onsen last year and had a wonderful time with great skiing and a charming village with great bars and restaurants. I have also skied Hakuba and Myoko but would rate Shiga Kogen above those areas. If you are coming to Japan for the first time combining skiing at Nozawa Onsen and Shiga would be my recommendation.
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We are more and more impressed with Shiga each time we visit. Considering Feb 2024 was largely a shocker with respect to the weather, it really emphasised the major strength of the high elevation. The breadth of the ski area and its many aspects also shone through on this trip.

We arrived in time for a fantastic storm cycle and on one day a blizzard arrived with lots of wind that closed down many of the Nagano ski areas. Shiga managed to operate some lifts, and being guided and transported around by Japan Powder Culture Tours was a bonus so that the guides could drive us to the lifts that were open and find suitable terrain.

On a subsequent day, the guides took us to fresh line after fresh line of powder in the trees, and it’s great that Shiga has a variety of tree types and spacings (see video).

Rather than staying up on the mountain, we stayed down in the town of Yudanaka at the Omodaka Hotel. We prefer staying at Yudanaka for its many restaurants and bars and the onsen, and it provided flexibility to be driven to any of the Shiga ski areas or other ski resorts in the region.

It’s been snowing at Shiga a lot in March too and it’s been difficult to watch the many storms dump on Shiga, from the agonising comfort of the desk at home.
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Shiga Kogen rocks! It’s so large and has so many personalities and nooks and crannies in which to play. On this visit the tide was much higher than we’d seen it previously so we could see the full potential of the off-piste and sidecountry, and we got to see it without fresh snow for a few days and then with a good dump of fresh snow. We got loads of fresh lines, and whilst there are a few more gaijin playing in the northern areas, there were still plenty of fresh tracks to go around. Riding off-piste seemed to more tolerated compared to previous visits, although there were still a few areas where conservatism ruled.

Not a whole lot else had changed at Shiga and it was probably less impacted by Covid compared to some other big Japanese ski resorts that rely heavily on international tourism. The middle wing of the Prince Hotel was closed this year, and a few more lifts were retired which didn’t really impact much on the serviceability of the resort.

Rather than staying up on the mountain, we stayed down in the town of Yudanaka, which we enjoyed for its vibrancy, many onsen and restaurants.

You can see our thoughts on the pros and cons on the Shiga Kogen overview page and also see the Honshu ski resort ratings to see how we rated Shiga overall, and Okushiga Kogen, Yakebitaiyama, Kumanoyu and Yokoteyama.
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Spent a few days at Shiga Kogan early March 2023. Great area it reminded me a kind of a European set up like Andorra where you drive up the windy road passing little villages/resorts as you go.
I stayed at Prince West Wing hotel at Yakebityama which was ideal to access the slopes there as well as Okushiga, which was my pick for the best area, as well as Ichinose.
Crowd was minimal and would love to get back there with some fresh snow.
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Just returned home from a week exploring Shiga kogen 31st jan - 7th feb 2020.
It was my 4th time to Japan, i have ridden Hakuba, Nozawa and Niseko previously, including two weeks in Hakuba on this trip before catching the direct bus from Hakuba to Shiga which took about 90 minutes. I stayed in Ichinose village which seemed quite central to the area. Snow was sub par this season although after arriving in Shiga from Hakuba it was noticeably colder due to the higher elevation meaning the snow was in better condition and there was better coverage.
Resorts are linked by chairlift or the free shuttle buses. All accessed on one ski pass, I think i rode on 4-5 resorts in a single day with some resorts seeming to only be named differently with 2-3 lifts although they could be combined as one resort. Terrain is typical of japan with nothing overly steep or challenging for strong intermediate/ advanced riders. Beginners have ample mellow slopes to learn on at each of the resorts. Japanese ski schools are out in force on the beginner slopes although as soon as you get higher up the resort they disperse due to the size of the area. Finding off piste/tree runs was a bit of a task until i meet a local rider at 'lift up' coffee near Hoppo gondola (best coffee i've had in japan btw) who showed me some small stashes. Never saw ski patrol, let alone was bothered by them for ducking ropes or riding under chairlifts.
Alot of potential tree riding areas are not accessible due to tight placement of trees and bush. area would benefit if glading was undertaken to make more of the terrain accessible( but its japan so i wouldn't hold your breath.)
Ichinose village has no nightlife. if you want apres, go to Hakuba. This place is better suited for groups or family's that can self entertain in the evenings. Village has a convenience store and a small number of restaurants. I was told, due to Shiga Kogen being in national park, no stand alone bars are permitted and they must be inside hotels. Take plenty of cash as some stores/restaurants wont accept cards and there is no ATM in Ichinose village.
Shiga kogen has a smaller amount of westerner visitors then anywhere else i have boarded in japan. I'm glad i visited although its one of the places i don't think id rush back to. Good for 3-4 days as part of a wider trip to other areas of japan.
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On a year where the Nagano area has unusually low snow levels we are glad we had a week here. The height meant the snow was enough (think Perisher at its best ) for lots of fun. Fantastic resort for intermediates with plenty of runs for beginners and those searching for more.Good connections ( some minor poling needed). Absolutely no lift queues. Nightlife as mentioned elsewhere really non existent with a few small restaurants. Nepalese Curry house is good as is the restaurant at hotel Dairoku which is quite traditional. This resort is brilliant if you are motivated to ski long days but not bothered by night life.
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Shiga Kogen is one of my favorite resorts in Japan. Lots of different terrain. The crumpet shop at the top of Yokoteyama is a must.
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We had a week in Shiga Kogen towards the end of February in 2018. It turned out to be a good choice, because the weather was warm and the snow at the other fields around Nagano, which are lower, was suffering.
This is a huge resort by Japanese standards and it is possible to traverse all of it using the lifts. To be honest there were a few parts we checked out once and never returned to, but there was still a lot of terrain to play in.
Despite being a large and well known resort in Japan this place is not really very crowded. And there are very few people looking for powder. There were some very easy stashes to find and many of them were only ever skied by us the whole week. Off piste skiing is allowed at some parts of the resort, but for the rest we were discrete. No one hassled us.
Despite a few steep pistes (by Japan standards) and a reasonable amount of vertical, most of the off piste runs are a bit short to be truly satisfying. Some of the places that looked promising had trees that were just too tight. The lack of competition definitely balanced that for us.
There are no real villages around Shiga, just lots of hotels. A huge quantity. Quite a few are shut down. There are a few good restaurants and bars, but there isn’t the depth and range of apres ski that some other resorts offer.
I didn’t get the chance to tour around Shiga, but there are a lot of possibilities. I’d like to check it out some time!
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