# Another japan post



## Fiddsy (Jul 12, 2015)

Ayy lads,
Need some serious suggestions!
Me and 4/5 others are trying to plan a bit of a late/last minute trip to japan..
Looking at 10 days in snow late jan early feb n wondering wheres good?
Niseko is booking out fast and although its got the nightlife, im worried about crowd's on mountain..
Furano i hear mixed reviews on great snow but boring runs..
Half of our group are exp snowboarders and are there chasing powder and good runs while the other half more interested in the nightlife..
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!


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## JohnnyKruick (Aug 30, 2017)

Fiddsy said:


> Ayy lads,
> Need some serious suggestions!
> Me and 4/5 others are trying to plan a bit of a late/last minute trip to japan..
> Looking at 10 days in snow late jan early feb n wondering wheres good?
> ...


I don't have any beta on Japan but there is a ton of info on Japan here

Japan - Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums

Cheers!


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## The Shogun (Sep 25, 2016)

Fiddsy said:


> Ayy lads,
> Need some serious suggestions!
> Me and 4/5 others are trying to plan a bit of a late/last minute trip to japan..
> Looking at 10 days in snow late jan early feb n wondering wheres good?
> ...



Nightlife really isn't huge in Japan, most japanese prefer a few beers with dinner after their onsen (often in the same hotel) and then bed.....BUT
If nightlife is factor then Niseko is obviously the main spot. Hakuba has some nightlife too...not quite as much as Niseko though and its a bit more stretched out. Hakuba beats Niseko hands down on expert terrain, however its more weather affected than Niseko because it's further south. Nozawa Onsen has some "nightlife" in that there are restaurants and izakayas but don't be expecting Meribel and pumping clubs....that pretty much goes for all Japanese resorts even Niseko. Furano is a town year round, although it is pretty sleepy, but there are bars and restaurants to go out in. I guess it depends on your definition of nightlife. The snow at Nozawa is usually good and there are good off piste runs, but it being on Honshu means that the snow is more affected by temperature rises. One place where many people tend to forget as being both nightlife and near to the slopes is Sapporo. Its a big city of almost 2 million people, it has every type of nightlife niche you can think of, loads of hotels for all prices, gets lots of snow (considered the snowiest metropolis on the planet) and its near enough to a bunch of Hokkaido resorts where you can have a few options if the snow is shit in one resort. Sapporo itself has 2 good resorts in the city itself, Teine and Kokusai. Both offer good off piste with less crowds than the more famous places of Niseko and Hakuba. Its also only 2hrs from Niseko, 1.5 hrs from Rusutsu and 1.5 hrs from Kiroro by car. There are also buses and train combos to get there from sapporo, Rusutsu runs a free bus every day. If you have a car then you can even hit further afield such as Furano, asahidake (mainly off piste here.....only 1 or 2 marked runs and the rest is wilderness so you should have all the gear and know what your doing) and kamui.

In terms of Honshu, Hakuba has probably the biggest peaks for riding. Most of the resorts are under the alpine areas so if hiking is your thing then there are lots of touring/ off piste opportunities. It is a popular spot though and the main resorts can get very busy. The village is fun, most of the nightlife is centred around Echoland which is kind of central in a "village" thats quite spread about. there are taxis and shuttle buses between the various areas though.

Nozawa as I mentioned before is a year round onsen town and so has some bars and restaurants. The riding is good and snow is usually excellent. 

Shiga Kogen I would say for you is a no-no. there is almost NOTHING to do when the lifts stop. This is the typical Japanese resort, people stay in their hotels, they onsen there, they eat dinner there, they drink cans from the vending machine there and then they go to bed there. Its the highest resort area in Japan though and so the snow quality is usually great. IF you stay in Nozawa and have a car then its easily driveable.

the Nozawa area has Noz, Shiga Kogen, Myoko (gets ridiculous amounts of snow......has a village of sorts that has some izakayas and bars), Madarao (good snow, decent compact resort for 1 day) and other smaller resorts nearby. Now with the shinkansen servicing this area travel is easier. Again if you have a car then it's on.


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## GDimac (Nov 19, 2015)

The Shogun said:


> Nightlife really isn't huge in Japan, most japanese prefer a few beers with dinner after their onsen (often in the same hotel) and then bed.....BUT
> If nightlife is factor then Niseko is obviously the main spot. Hakuba has some nightlife too...not quite as much as Niseko though and its a bit more stretched out. Hakuba beats Niseko hands down on expert terrain, however its more weather affected than Niseko because it's further south. Nozawa Onsen has some "nightlife" in that there are restaurants and izakayas but don't be expecting Meribel and pumping clubs....that pretty much goes for all Japanese resorts even Niseko. Furano is a town year round, although it is pretty sleepy, but there are bars and restaurants to go out in. I guess it depends on your definition of nightlife. The snow at Nozawa is usually good and there are good off piste runs, but it being on Honshu means that the snow is more affected by temperature rises. One place where many people tend to forget as being both nightlife and near to the slopes is Sapporo. Its a big city of almost 2 million people, it has every type of nightlife niche you can think of, loads of hotels for all prices, gets lots of snow (considered the snowiest metropolis on the planet) and its near enough to a bunch of Hokkaido resorts where you can have a few options if the snow is shit in one resort. Sapporo itself has 2 good resorts in the city itself, Teine and Kokusai. Both offer good off piste with less crowds than the more famous places of Niseko and Hakuba. Its also only 2hrs from Niseko, 1.5 hrs from Rusutsu and 1.5 hrs from Kiroro by car. There are also buses and train combos to get there from sapporo, Rusutsu runs a free bus every day. If you have a car then you can even hit further afield such as Furano, asahidake (mainly off piste here.....only 1 or 2 marked runs and the rest is wilderness so you should have all the gear and know what your doing) and kamui.
> 
> In terms of Honshu, Hakuba has probably the biggest peaks for riding. Most of the resorts are under the alpine areas so if hiking is your thing then there are lots of touring/ off piste opportunities. It is a popular spot though and the main resorts can get very busy. The village is fun, most of the nightlife is centred around Echoland which is kind of central in a "village" thats quite spread about. there are taxis and shuttle buses between the various areas though.
> ...



Great info, gonna suscribe to this for future Japow trip.


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## The Shogun (Sep 25, 2016)

also another thing to note....."Niseko is almost sold out"......is often not entirely true. I've found that there is a lot of hyperbole with Niseko, especially with accomodation....book now, only 3 tiny little dog kennels left....the Japanese tourism community usually only works 3 months ahead. So most of the ski deals will only just start trickling out around about now. They hold back a number of rooms for the domestic market and although Niseko is significantly less reliant on the domestic market it still works within the tourist industry here...at least a little bit. Mid to high end places may well start to book out but there are still some local Japanese inns and hotels dotted around the place. Trying to contact them direct may well save you cash and nerves rather than try and book everything through a gateway-travel agent.


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## Fiddsy (Jul 12, 2015)

The Shogun said:


> Fiddsy said:
> 
> 
> > Ayy lads,
> ...


Wow dude, that is an EPIC post


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## N92 (Oct 9, 2017)

I'll be in Hakuba in January and have been 3 times before, it's my pick to avoid my fellow aussies whilst still having fairly decent nightlife, and you have 12 resorts to find some fresh pow as well as many parks and groomed runs for those that aren't interested in Japow. 

It's cheaper than Nieseko and you have much more variety in terrain and options for resorts to board, you won't have this in Nieseko and it really is like little Australia, I mean they serve VB (Victoria Bitter)...


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## jjj604 (Dec 16, 2015)

if you're going to niseko then consider rusutsu since it's close and has similar terrain (i want to say better with the exception of the niseko gates) with fewer crowds... with a group of your size you could look at booking full chalets that are a short walk from the mountain (the westin there isn't cheap but is ski in & out to both sides of the slopes). if you're considering furano, look into kiroro instead. i was in hokkaido for a month and a half in 2016 and furano was one of the most boring days i rode even after about 15-20cm overnight. two great runs then a whole ton of traversing afterwards. kiroro was running a free shuttle daily that departed from a jr line stop about 20 mins out of sapporo / 5 mins from otaru. i think a good nightlife option would be sapporo because accomodation is relatively cheap and you do have teine, kokusai and a few others about 30-45 mins from the city with a LOT more food & watering hole options to choose from.

but yeah... rusutsu. check it out. have fun


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## The Shogun (Sep 25, 2016)

N92 said:


> I'll be in Hakuba in January and have been 3 times before, it's my pick to avoid my fellow aussies whilst still having fairly decent nightlife, and you have 12 resorts to find some fresh pow as well as many parks and groomed runs for those that aren't interested in Japow.
> 
> It's cheaper than Nieseko and you have much more variety in terrain and options for resorts to board, you won't have this in Nieseko and it really is like little Australia, I mean they serve VB (Victoria Bitter)...


Yeah...but if Niseko is Little Sydney, then Hakuba has become Little Melbourne.....you guys are everywhere!  
Hakuba does have more riding options in the valley and if 1 resort isn't getting the goods there's a good chance of finding another that is. Niseko is close to Rusutsu though and not a kick in the arse away from Kiroro and Sapporo kokusai


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## The Shogun (Sep 25, 2016)

jjj604 said:


> if you're going to niseko then consider rusutsu since it's close and has similar terrain (i want to say better with the exception of the niseko gates) with fewer crowds... with a group of your size you could look at booking full chalets that are a short walk from the mountain (the westin there isn't cheap but is ski in & out to both sides of the slopes). if you're considering furano, look into kiroro instead. i was in hokkaido for a month and a half in 2016 and furano was one of the most boring days i rode even after about 15-20cm overnight. two great runs then a whole ton of traversing afterwards. kiroro was running a free shuttle daily that departed from a jr line stop about 20 mins out of sapporo / 5 mins from otaru. i think a good nightlife option would be sapporo because accomodation is relatively cheap and you do have teine, kokusai and a few others about 30-45 mins from the city with a LOT more food & watering hole options to choose from.
> 
> but yeah... rusutsu. check it out. have fun


Kiroro is choc full of flat bits though and if you don't know the area its easy to get stuck somewhere off the side. Personally I always stay in Sapporo (I used to live there), I rarely ride at Niseko....there are just as good options with less crowds and I can do without the whole Aussie 18-30 party crowd. For any Brits, think Benidorm but in winter.


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## jjj604 (Dec 16, 2015)

The Shogun said:


> Kiroro is choc full of flat bits though and if you don't know the area its easy to get stuck somewhere off the side.


not going to dispute that. it took half a day to get my bearings in foggy, stormy weather but their tree runs were well worth it


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## The Shogun (Sep 25, 2016)

jjj604 said:


> not going to dispute that. it took half a day to get my bearings in foggy, stormy weather but their tree runs were well worth it


Yeah there are some sweet runs there. The tree runs at Rusutsu are better IMO BUT Kiroro is sooo much more quieter than Ru. Ru is becoming a bit of a zoo these days. Mid winter the runs get chewed up pretty quick compared to even a few years ago. I went to Ru at the end of March this past year and it was the best day of the season. It was the last snowstorm, obvs a full season worth of snow filling in the mountain, the day itself was bluebird and there was hardly anyone around.....we were able to ride clean lines all the way until last lift. 

It was snowing in the Sapporo mountains last night...starting to get amped for the season.


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## jjj604 (Dec 16, 2015)

The Shogun said:


> Yeah there are some sweet runs there. The tree runs at Rusutsu are better IMO BUT Kiroro is sooo much more quieter than Ru. Ru is becoming a bit of a zoo these days. Mid winter the runs get chewed up pretty quick compared to even a few years ago. I went to Ru at the end of March this past year and it was the best day of the season. It was the last snowstorm, obvs a full season worth of snow filling in the mountain, the day itself was bluebird and there was hardly anyone around.....we were able to ride clean lines all the way until last lift.
> 
> It was snowing in the Sapporo mountains last night...starting to get amped for the season.


the stuff dreams are made of  i agree that rusutsu runs were much better (fresh top to bottom with little traversing... you're smashing pow once you get off the lift for the first few hours) but you're bang on... kiroro is a ghost town compared to rusutsu. especially if the winds are kicking up at niseko and people are expecting the peak to be closed off... those crowds flock over to ru. i probably rode 8-10 days at ru last season and there was still fresh all over but you did have to go further in (or out) to go get it. 

i had no plans to head to kiroro but ended up there for a 2.5m storm week. i didn't pull out the stick too often but this was a short run on day 4 with a reported 42cm overnight (more like 70+cm dump) about 2 hours into the day. still empty on the deepest day of the week. it was deep enough that i couldn't even ride areas i was hitting the previous days because kiroro's pitches are pretty mellow overall. i can't edit videos for **** so excuse the jitters, colours and action bronson






can't wait to get back there for 2019. hoping to make it a 1-2 month stay...


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## The Shogun (Sep 25, 2016)

jjj604 said:


> the stuff dreams are made of  i agree that rusutsu runs were much better (fresh top to bottom with little traversing... you're smashing pow once you get off the lift for the first few hours) but you're bang on... kiroro is a ghost town compared to rusutsu. especially if the winds are kicking up at niseko and people are expecting the peak to be closed off... those crowds flock over to ru. i probably rode 8-10 days at ru last season and there was still fresh all over but you did have to go further in (or out) to go get it.
> 
> i had no plans to head to kiroro but ended up there for a 2.5m storm week. i didn't pull out the stick too often but this was a short run on day 4 with a reported 42cm overnight (more like 70+cm dump) about 2 hours into the day. still empty on the deepest day of the week. it was deep enough that i couldn't even ride areas i was hitting the previous days because kiroro's pitches are pretty mellow overall. i can't edit videos for **** so excuse the jitters, colours and action bronson
> 
> ...



Yeah man.....gotta love Hokkaido! i lived up there for 2 years.....my job sucked ass and I was making no money but i had most of january off and all of March.......it was SWEEEEET! Unfortunately real life kicked in and I had to move south for money reasons. Now tho I can still make 4 or 5 trips up there each year or top of the days I get in Niigata and Nagano.


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