December 2009

Snow Much Fun

Japan’s main island of Honshu is a snowboarder’s paradise, with hot springs and snow monkeys upping the fun factor

Snow Much Fun

WORDS MANAMI OKAZAKI

While many tourists end up in Japan for the splendid cherry blossom season in March, many Japanese people choose winter as their favourite time of the year. From December to February, the skies are spectacularly clear, winter food is divine, the snappy temperatures add to the cities’ exhilaration, and there’s the arrival of the snow season.

Japan is one the world’s top contenders for idyllic snow conditions — it’s an archipelago with 80% mountains and a mind-boggling 500-plus ski resorts, many of which are easily accessible from Tokyo.

Before you even get to the ski fields, the fun starts in Tokyo’s Jimbocho district which is entirely devoted to snowboarding shops. I pick up my brand-name board for a steal (simply because it’s a last-season model) and get kitted out in the coolest of snow gear, replete with Hello Kitty accessories.

Kitted up with new boards ’n’ boots, we head to Nagano, one of Japan’s best ski areas. The Shiga Kogen resort that hosted the Winter Olympics of 1998 is impressive in its immensity, with 21 fields and 70 lifts making it the largest in Japan.

Snowboarding in Shiga Kogen even eclipsed my Hokkaido snowboarding trips and midweek, it was amazingly quiet. We make fresh tracks in the snow and don’t even have to line up for lifts.

The size of this resort is unbelievable. Getting from one side to the other takes a full day of traversing and sliding, although the runs connect well and are long with a lot of variety.

Japan is famous for its “powder snow”, a type of uncompacted dry, fluffy, variety of snow that feels almost weightless. And Nagano has plenty of it. Powder snow allows you to glide along as if skiing on smooth butter and the flakes themselves are huge, you can see the six crystalline points as they fall upon you. The consistency is great for beginners — falling over feels like landing in a mattress of feathers.

Also in Nagano is Nozawa, a cute town that is preserved beautifully and is relatively uncommercialised. Perched in the mountainside, Nozawa retains an old-world charm without the standard tourist kitsch of most Japanese tourist attractions.

The snowfield here isn’t on the epic scale of Shiga Kogen, but it has wide open slopes, and offers a great day of boarding. While the snow is fairly good, the best thing about Nozawa is the town itself.

One of the most enjoyable things about snowboarding in Japan is the ritual of soaking in an onsen (hot spring) to relax the muscles in the mineral-rich waters. We spend the evening in our yukata (cotton robe), walking around town where there are numerous public baths that are housed in majestic temple-like buildings, and are free of charge. It’s a great experience to scrub, rinse and then soak, although the water itself is volcanically hot and takes time getting used to. The water is rich in minerals so your skin feels baby smooth when you finally hit the futon bed after a cup of sake.

If you can time it right, visit during the Nozawa Dosojin Fire Festival in mid-January, considered to be one of the country’s highlights. Locals let off fireworks, burn a massive shrine and walk around offering sake to onlookers (with bottles around their necks!). As soon as you have finished a cupful, someone else will come offering you more; it’s incredible to see this sleepy town come alive with an almost tribal fervour.

Nagano is also home of the much photographed snow monkey site of Jigokudani, where multitudes of wild Macau monkeys enjoy soaking in the hot springs bringing their entire families for a bath. Their faces are uncannily human as they sit in the hot waters with an “Aaagh” expression on their faces.

You can literally stare the monkeys in the face — they’re so blissed out they don’t care!

Niigata is one of the most mountainous prefectures of Japan and receives about 9m of snow each year. It’s fairly quiet and the runs link up well and are easy to get to. Easily accessible from Tokyo, Naeba is one of Niigata’s most popular areas, with modern facilities and great skiing.

At Joestsu, an easy bullet train ride from Tokyo, we’re told that it’s a “10 million square metre slope” with 22 runs. The scenery features dramatic mountain ranges and the night boarding offers gorgeous, almost fantastical landscapes as the entire area is engulfed in what seems like mist. Having what feels like the entire run to ourselves at night is a sublime experience.

Niigata also has the best rice and some of the best sake in Japan, both made from the water of melted snow. The Uonuma region’s “Koshihikari” rice made in Niigata is the only rice that many top-tier sushi restaurants will use. Similarly, many of the top-ranking premium sake selections such as Kubota hail from Niigata, as sake production is particularly reliant on the purity of the water.

Okutadami is a resort in Uonuma and although small, it’s perfect for families. As the resort staff tell us: “This is one of the best resorts in Japan for kids and beginners as there are gentle slopes and the snow consistency is usually very good.”

My weekend is spent at the Okutadami resort — feasting, ogling the kids doing 360s on the half-pipe, drinking top-shelf sake and enjoying breathtaking views of the nearby Okutadami dam.

The archipelago of Japan is rich with stellar snowfields that cater to all skill levels. Come to Japan in winter, veer off the standard Tokyo and Kyoto route, and venture into the countryside for the best ski resorts in Asia.

GEAR TO GO

Taking your own ski and snowboarding gear on holiday is easy with Jetstar’s Bulky Item policy. Bulky items (maximum 1.9m for Jetstar flights operated by an A320, A321 and B737 aircraft and 2.77m for Jetstar flights operated by an A330 aircraft) such as skis and snowboards, may be included within the 20kg allowance, subject to space availability. Just make sure they’re packed properly.

FIND IT

Shiga Kogen Tourism Association
Hasuike, Shiga Kogen, Yamanouchi, Shimotakai-gun, Nagano, tel: +81 (026) 934 2404

Nozawa Onsen Resort
Shimotakai-gun, Nagano

Naeba Ski Resort
Mikuni, Yuzawa-machi, Minami Uonuma-gun, Niigata, tel: +81 (025) 789 2211

Joetsu Kokusai
www.jkokusai.co.jp






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