We had a great time on this tour! The guides were all excellent in their knowledge of the mountain, side country and ability as well as courteous and fun. The ability grouping for skiing was perfect and we got so much outstanding skiing in! The accommodations at Omodaka where we stayed were excellent and we loved having the option for the traditional ryokan. The bus service to and from the mountains and to dinner was efficient and helpful. The dinners, in house and around town were one of our favorite parts, outside of skiing. We loved eating with other travelers in the small restaurants and the sushi train night was lots of fun. The included cultural evenings very interesting. This is a trip we would do again!
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I recently did the 10 night ski buffet with JCT. Jase and his team do a great job of organising groups of skiers into suitable ability categories to ensure the maximum use of time on the mountain, which where possible is spent skiing untracked powder in the trees of Shiga Kogen ,even 3 or 4 days after the last snowfall. In the evenings restaurants are booked for you and transport arranged . While I was on the tour everything ran smoothly and as a single it gave me a great opportunity to ski off piste and socialise with other people . I would recommend this company to anyone who wishes to get the best out of a visit to Shiga Kogen .
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Absolutely loved this trip. As advertised this was JAPOW snow and culture. Local resorts quiet, minimal queues and maintained Japanese uniqueness. Guides knew the area and provided tips as well as guiding. Professional but also easy going. The town of Yudanaka is really a privileged location near the snow monkeys and Shibu onsen. Going to Japan may seem intimidating but this was well supported with great information pre trip as well as whilst there. You won’t find high end luxury but you will get great ski experience in a Japanese setting
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JPC Tours is a stand out unique ski fun adventure and I totally recommend to all who seek deep snow, lots of trees, skilled guides and most of all incredible fun.
We travelled as two very active "60something" males seeking the powder experience and we got it.
Jase and his team were very friendly and had great sense of humor but also ran tight and efficient ship with everything running to time...... You learn very quickly "Don't Be Late !"
On the slopes wise consideration is given to skiers fitness and ability to ensure appropriate matching into groups so that all groups enjoy themselves and are safe.
Our guides were kind and guided with considered confidence but allowed us to have our own fun . We spent most time with Patrick and Meg so have to give them the big "Awesome" but we also skied with Naru, Evan Trevor Tom and of course Jase. All were very cool and we were guided to some awesome pow even several days after the last big fall. Then it snowed some more!
Accommodation was great We enjoyed the very special boutique Yumoto family run hotel .... Very authentic surrounds and service . We loved it. The younger set may prefer the more communal and group orientated Omodaka, Either way you still join the post ski activities together.
Bus trips are entertaining if not a little crowded which sort of adds to the fun vibe.
This is not a "drinking sitting in the cafe all day" excursion, nor is it for the faint of heart. Be prepared to take instruction and humorous but constructive critique
We skied hard and deep all day with some well earned but moderate refreshments after the day was done. A welcome onsen, some fun dinners and quaint entertainment to round the night off before getting up early the next day to do it all again ENSURE YOU ARE FIT BEFORE YOU COME so you wont waste this wonderful opportunity.
I totally recommend JPCT and hope to do it again soon.
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Jase and his crew run a very organised operation that caters for a large range of abilities. Pickup times are strictly adhered to and it’s great that the crew look after your skis and poles at the end of the day and then have them ready for you the next morning, ready to hit the slopes. The guides always did a great job of looking after us and trying to ensure everyone skied with people of similar ability.

When I arrived in Yudanaka there had been no snow for several days, yet the guides had no issues finding powder for us to ski in amongst the trees. On our third or fourth day there was no problem finding powder anywhere due to the consistent dumping of snow, which lasted for the next five or so days. I never thought I would say this, but by the third day of snow it was almost like there was too much snow, with almost 2 metres of snow falling at Shiga Kogen.

I stayed at the Hotel Omadaka and it was nice staying at this traditional Japanese hotel. The rooms might be a bit on the old side, but they were large and always kept clean. The onsite onsens were brilliant to relax in after a hard day’s skiing and the burgers at the bar were excellent. Breakfast was interesting as it was traditional Japanese fare, but it did get you fuelled for the day ahead. I would thoroughly recommend doing one of Jase’s Powder Tours.
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This is the 3rd time we’ve been on a JPCT trip and undoubtedly it won’t be the last. The Nagano ski buffet is aptly named because we definitely got our fill of powder and feasted on a range of Japanese food, along with a smorgasbord of other experiences.

Whilst we do a lot of self-guiding around Japan, it was incredibly nice to have someone look after all the logistics and planning, and share powder stashes and other experiences so that we could get the most out of the area.

GUIDING
Jase and his team go above and beyond and they put 120% effort in. Even when we felt a little tired, it was easy to dig deep to try to match their fervour. Our trip was well into the season, yet they still had the energy to put lots of passion into enhancing the guest experience.

We had Naru as a guide one day who is a local telemarker. He knew the ski areas incredibly well, and added some nice Japanese insights and tips along the way. Jase guided us the rest of the time and did a great job. His quirky sense of humour was on fire and it was appropriate that he always flipped from being Mr fun guy to being incredibly serious when guiding to ensure safety aspects were covered. The guides and instructors worked well together in harmony and kept their communication tight. They also communicated well with the group via face to face announcements and WhatsApp messaging.

On one particular day, the strength of their guiding really came to the fore. It was a very stormy day and most lifts at Shiga were on wind hold. The guides started us in one zone where there were a couple of lifts running, then got us back in the bus to drive to somewhere further up the mountain where a couple of lifts had opened up, and later drove us back down. Lots of Shiga and Yudanaka folks didn’t even get out skiing that day due to the storm, yet we scored some phenomenal powder skiing thanks to the guides’ great familiarity with the ski areas, their ability to monitor lift operations and logistics, and having transport on hand.

SKIING
As you’d expect, we had a mix of snow experiences and it wasn’t all phenomenal deep powder and there was a little bit of scratching around on dust on crust as well. The stormy day was like heli skiing on-piste (see insta video) and the subsequent day was a powder buffet with fresh line after line. Hopefully the vimeo video sums up that we had a fab time! 

GROUP
Whilst there were lots of people on the bus to get to a ski area, it didn’t feel like a big group tour because not everyone was at the same hotel, and we divided up into small groups at the ski hill and for dinner.
The guides often switched people between groups if they were finding tight trees too challenging or the like. This highlighted that having a decent sized group with critical mass was a good thing because it enabled the guides to easily match people’s ability levels, speed and objectives, which is something we haven’t seen on very small group tours. We met some really great people on the tour that were kindred spirits.

YUDANAKA
We enjoyed staying in Yudanaka because it’s a real town and not one of those destination resorts where it feels like you could be in North America or Australia and not Japan. It was nice to wander around Yudanaka and Shibu Onsen and explore its temples, eateries and other nooks. The guides provided restaurant recommendations, and on nights when there wasn’t an organised dinner, there was the option of a bus drop service off to various restaurants. Whilst the hotel wasn’t in the absolute thick of Yudanaka restaurants, it was a pretty easy walk home.

HOTEL
We stayed at Hotel Omodaka which was very nice. It’s largely not a fancy ryokan, but you don’t expect luxury considering the price of the tour, and it’s good that people can stay in a tatami room to get the full Japanese experience. That being said, we stayed in a deluxe upgraded western/Japanese combo room that had 2 incredibly comfortable large twin beds plus a really large tatami area for sitting. There was also a luxe bathroom with an oversized shower and a bath.

The breakfast room was nice in that it had the Japanese aesthetics with tatami flooring and shoji screens, but it had high tables and chairs, so we didn’t need to get limbered up first thing in the morning to sit on the floor. Breakfast was adequate without being amazing. It was mostly Japanese type fare with miso soup, rice, frankfurters, omelette pieces, dim sims, pickles and a bit of salad. There were also rolls for toasting with jam to feel a fraction westernised, and of course the obligatory juice and coffee.

Dinner at the hotel one night was a highlight and we got our full Japanese experience by wearing our yukata and jacket, and sitting on the tatami floor. The meal wasn’t a super extravagant kaiseki meal that you’d find in a high end ryokan, but it certainly was a lovely feast and included lots of food items and a great chance to sample lots of different Japanese fare.

The onsen was also remarkable. The indoor onsen was good for a quick soak because it was mighty hot, whilst the outdoor onsen bath was the preferred option. One fine morning, the views from the onsen balcony were superb, looking across to Mt Myoko and other surrounding mountains.

OTHER EXPERIENCES
An evening was organised at Geisha Bar for karaoke, and it was plenty of fun even though none of us were particularly amazing at singing!

Sushi train night in Nakano was another organised activity, and even though the processes have changed since Covid, it was still fun to order lots of different plates and get them delivered by train to the table.

We also enjoyed some time in the historic town of Obuse and sampled sake, chestnut oyaki, and visited the Hokusai art museum and the Gansho-in temple with its Hokusai phoenix painting on the ceiling, which wasn’t quite in the same league as the Sistine Chapel but enjoyable nonetheless.

Overall we had a great time, and would recommend this trip to anyone who wants a buffet of food, powder and an experience far away from the curated resorts. You’ll be a good fit for the trip if you don’t take life too seriously, have a good sense of humour, a sense of adventure, and don’t need to party hard. The vibe was to ski hard, enjoy an onsen, have dinner and retire for the evening. Perfect!
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It is a little hard to describe our ski trip with Japan Powder Culture Tours. The combination of great skiing, guilding and culture was incredible. We were a group of six ranging from very expert to intermediate and Jase+crew were able to give each of us a great experience. I think the best way to describe it is to say "we will be back".
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Part of me wants to be truthful and say that Jace and his crew have created an amazing experience incorporating skiing, culture and laughter. And the food!! And the people!!!

I have been to Japan to ski several times since 1990, and can't recommend this trip enough! I have opinions about the north island and the mainland. I will do both, but will be bringing more folks this way!

And then I want to also lie and say it is crappy and not to come. So I can bring my friends and keep this all for myself.
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I (female solo traveller, 27 years old) attended a 10 day tour with JPCT in February 2022. I had a mixed experience, with some great skiing and meeting some nice people, but with several bad experiences meaning I would never return or recommend JPCT to my friends.

Good:
-I stayed at Abiya, the cheaper of the two accommodation options, with a private room and shared bathrooms. Abiya was really lovely, run by Yoshi and Seong-mi who went above and beyond to make me feel welcome and help me whenever needed.
-The snow was great. I skied all but one of the tour days and we skied everyday at Shiga Kogen, which felt like a very authentic Japanese ski resort.
-When Jase (Jase/Jason, the guy who runs JPCT) was leading/’guiding’ my group, he ensured that ability levels were well-grouped, even if that meant there were fewer people in our top group. However this was not the case when other employees were leading our group, so I did spend several days in a more mixed ability group, having to wait for slower members.

Bad:
-I rented ski equipment from Jase, and the whole experience was not good. Firstly, I was not trusted to advise my own din setting, despite being a very experienced skier, and was put on a much lower din than I normally ski. I was also on significantly longer skis than I’d ever previously skied. When I questioned this, I was gaslit by Jase, saying ‘you put down that you’re an advanced skier, these are skis for an advanced skier, are you not advanced?’ in a tone that I found upsetting. What he should have said was ‘typically in deep powder in Japan, you want a longer ski that you’re used to in North American and Europe. Why don’t you try this for a day and see how you get on, and if you want something shorter we can change them’. It turned out the skis were a good size for me, so he wasn’t wrong with the length but I felt that the way that this was questioned was unpleasant. Thankfully my group leader when we were out skiing did also adjust my din for me, back to my usual setting. However this was not the end of the drama. About 4 days in, the binding on one of my skis had come very very loose of the ski. This was only noticed by another client in my group, and not Jase, and Jase then advised me to ski gently down the piste to the bottom of the resort where we’d fix it. I (perhaps naively) followed these instructions and towards the bottom of the piste the entire binding came off from the ski. Fortunately I was travelling slowly and was unhurt, but this could have been much, much worse. After this happened I was again gaslit by Jase, claiming I’d ‘broken’ his skis. I felt extremely unsafe and immediately went to Yoshi at Abiya, who kindly helped me purchase my own skis in Nagano through his contacts there.
-There was quite a misogynistic vibe. ‘Story time’ on the bus and ski lifts with group leaders / ‘guides’ often telling stories that did not make me feel comfortable.
-I was given the impression from the website that there were distinct ‘tours’ at distinct dates that groups booked on to. This turned out not to be the case, as I didn’t meet anyone else booked onto my ‘tour’ with the same dates. There were several different tours with different descriptions that were all lumped together over the same dates, so I ended up skiing with people who had signed up for the ‘grey snowmad’ (55+) tour. Basically everyone books onto different tours with different dates and everyone is just lumped together, all going on a big bus to the same location for the day, almost always Shiga Kogen. The upside of this is the ability to have many groups, meaning similar abilities can be most accurately grouped together. But I was expecting everyone to start and finish on the same day, whereas in reality people were coming and going throughout the trip. Not a massive problem, just not the impression I got from the website. This also means the evening entertainment is also very ad hoc and fairly last minute - often you don’t find out what is going on that evening until that afternoon and the majority of evenings were just sorting yourself out for food.
- Use of avalanche safety equipment was required, but for those that hadn’t used it before, very minimal training was provided.
- At points the tour didn’t feel completely respectful of Japan and their customs. For example in Shiga Kogen you were not supposed to go into the sidecountry (judging by the shouting we often received from local instructors), but this was always ignored. And often the phrase ‘don’t take out a native’ was used which I found rather offensive. Additionally, while wearing face masks was very strongly encouraged indoors in Japan at the time, there was no effort by group leaders / ‘guides’ to follow suit and be respectful.
-Finally, I have mentioned ‘guides’ throughout this review. These are the employees of Jase who were advertised as ‘guides’ on the website. However the majority possessed no guiding qualifications or professional guiding experience and I was not aware that any of them had been trained in avalanche safety. In Europe a ‘guide’ is a qualified mountain guide, but the term ‘guide’ in Japan seems to have no such protected status, and as such anyone can proclaim themselves a ‘guide’. Something to be aware of for all skiing outfits in Japan.

All in all, I did have a good time. But there were several things that tainted the trip for me and I would definitely not return again or recommend JPCT to a friend.
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I spent 13 days on skis with Jase and his team New Year 2020. This is my second trip with Japan Powder Culture Tours and I can recommend this tour be it to beginners or experts.
Japan Powder Culture Tours is truly a boutique tour where Jase and his team tailors the guests’ day on skis/snowboard according to their individual ability and experience. I always skied with other guests that were at my own level, and we were always led by Jase and his team of guides that set safety first.
But what makes Jase and his crew really stand-out is the level of engagement with the guests both on and outside the slope.
If you are an advanced skier, Jase and his team will make sure to find challenges wherever the snow conditions and powder is the best. And if you are novice skier you will also be in the best hands. I have never been on a tour where beginners, advanced or even experts are so cared for and have access to full days of instructions (or tips for improvement) from guides that are also trained ski instructors!
For me, I will definitely be back next year.
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