Skiing in Tokyo

Location: Nozawa Onsen, Nagano, Japan

Length of Trip: 4 days

Trip made in 2010

Introduction

My first ski trip was spent in Nozawa Onsen in Japan. It’s a big ski resort catered for all levels skiers and I really enjoyed my time coming down the slopes with the ski school and by myself. The runs for beginners from top of the mountain to the bottom were long. On my first day when I did the full run with the ski school (beginner class), it took me an hour and it was cut down to half an hour the last few tries by myself!).

I know snow resorts in Whistlers and in Europe probably are better but it’s too far away to travel. Japan is ideal for me because the quality of the snow is thick and powdery and it’s only a few hours flights from Hong Kong. 

With the help of Snow Japan, I actually had two destinations on my shortlist. They were Nozawa Onsen in Nagano and Zao in Yamagata. Although Zao is very beautiful and it’s close to Ginzan Onsen where I could make a side trip as it just looks so magical there, I opted for Nozawa Onsen where they have better après-ski activities and it’s much closer to Tokyo.

About Nozawa Onsen

Nozawa Onsen is a quaint and beautiful small town. Most tourists come from Australia and other places in Asia. The main attraction of the town is its 13 public bath houses which are free for use. I have been to a couple famous ones (Oyu and the one next to it) near the gondola station but didn’t have time to try all the others. The bath houses may look ‘grand’ from outside, but the interior is really modest. There is a small communal bath and a few pigeon holes for your belongings. It could be a daunting experience sharing a bath in a small place with a bunch of naked strangers! Make sure you have learned your bath house etiquette before diving into the bath. Most hotels provide ‘yukata’ you can wear to the bath house.

[ Oyu bathhouse ]

How to get there

From Tokyo station, take the Asama Shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagano station. One way is around JPY5,000 with advance seat booking. The journey is a pleasant 90 minutes ride. You can check timetable here.

From Nagano station to Nozawa Onsen, you have a few options:

By bus: Catching the bus from outside Nagano Station is the most direct route. From Nagano Station, there are frequent direct buses that go to Nozawa Onsen and bus stops can be found below the east exit escalator, usually at bus stop number 4, but make sure you visit the Nagano Station Information Office to ensure you catch the right bus from the correct bus stop.

Customers pay for the bus ticket (JPY1400) when upon alighting at Nozawa Onsen Ski Village.  The bus journey takes 1hr 20 mins and it stops in the centre of the town: this Nozawa Onsen map shows the bus stops. We took the bus back to the station and it was very clean and comfortable. I would suggest this for both trips.
By local train and bus / taxi
Alternatively you can take the local train line from Nagano Station to Togari Nozawa Onsen station.  This journey takes 60 minutes. While waiting on the Nagano station platform be sure you are on the correct platform number, because one of the local train line platforms at Nagano is usually split in half. For example platform 3 & 4 share one side of one platform divided by a simple wall. Make sure you are on the right side of that wall.

From Togari Nozawa Onsen Station, you can either catch the bus to Nozawa Onsen Village and you pay for this ride as you disembark the bus. That bus journey takes a further 10 minutes.

There are also taxis available at Togari Nozawa Onsen station that can go to Nozawa Village but it costs about JPY2000 for a 10-minute trip! To check train timetables from Tokyo through to Togari Nozawa Onsen, here’s the Japan train timetable link. The stations to search for are 'Tokyo' and 'Togarinozawaonsen'. Be sure only to use the routes suggested that travel via Nagano.

Accommodation

Kawaichiya Ryokan – Ranked No.3 on Tripadvisor!

Pros

• Sizeable ryokan, very clean. Staff were helpful and service was attentive.
• Very affordable – JPY7450 pp/night (* all ryokans in Japan are quoted in a per person rate) with breakfast.

  

  [ Japanese breakfast ]

  

  [ Staff preparing breakfast in the Banquet Hall ]

• Clean big indoor onsen (hot spring) and not very busy.
• They are located in the middle of the town - very close to all the restaurants and not a long walk to the gondola station (Yu moving road).
• The ryokan has a contract with a ski rental nearby and they offer a special price at JPY1000 pp/night for gear and ski boots rental! It really was a bargain! However at this rate, don’t expect Olympic standards gears.
  

Cons

• The ryokan was quite dated but it’s not the sort that you will spend lots of time in so it’s fine by us.
• Basic amenities – we had a tatami room (good size) on the 2^nd floor with a small toilet and wash basin only as we used the onsen every night.
• Room was quite cold as they haven’t got central heating. Only a hot-wired fan is available.
• Don’t expect to have any entertainment in your room. There was a small TV only, but then you probably will go to bed and get up very early.
• As you will expect any other ryokans, walls are thin and it gets very noisy in the morning when people walk around on wooden floor boards – you won’t need an alarm!
• Only Japanese style breakfast (bento box, miso soup and rice) is available which suits us well as we like Japanese food and it’s good to have lots of carbs before skiing. However, breakfast is served very early between 6:00am – 7:30am.

Other options on my shortlist were:

1. Nozawa Onsen Hotel : More expensive but it’s a nice looking hotel with a beautiful outdoor onsen, location-wise it’s only 5 minutes walk to Yu moving road.
2. Jonnobi : Beautiful rooms and they have a nicely decorated Japanese restaurant. Expensive but they have three indoor onsen and two outdoor ones.
3. Kiriya Ryokan : Rated No.2 on Tripadvisor. Similar class to Kawaichiya.

Ski Resort

• Nozawa Onsen ski resort is huge with heaps of terrain and powder snow runs to explore.
• The ski school offer classes for all levels (including classes for young children) daily at a reasonable price. A handful of staff speaks fluent English as they come from Australia. However group classes are only conducted in Japanese. It wasn’t a problem for me as I am a beginner and I could learn from reading the body language. I was pretty chuffed with my performance just after a couple of hours!
  
  If you want an English-speaking tutor, you will have to go for private sessions. My husband is an Intermediate level skier and wanted to refresh his skill so he had hired a private instructor (Australian who’s on summer holiday!). It cost a lot for a 3-hour session but at the end he was pushed to try a couple of black runs and he gained more confidence afterwards. I guess the downside was we skied on our own at the end as we were on different levels.
  
  
• You can get a discount on a one-day lift pass when you purchase with a lesson (JPY4,000 for lesson and JPY3500 for the lift pass).
• The ski resort gets pretty busy mid-morning so try to go earlier. 
  
• The ski park at the top of the mountain is really fun for beginners but my complaint is it’s full of young snowboarders. 
• St Anton ski hire (at the top, past the ticket office to the left) offers ski & boot storage at a very affordable price of JPY100 pp/night.
• There are a few restaurants where you can get lunch on the ski village. All of them are Japanese though.

[ At the top of the mountain ]

Après-ski Activities

Nozawa is a small and quiet town. It’s still very beautiful and I enjoyed walking around. However, there is not much happening there at night. Anyway, it’s quite tiring skiing all day. During my stay there, I always finished skiing around 3pm, then had a snack and went back to the hotel for a snooze. After that, I would hit the hot bath before an early dinner. 

Most restaurants in Nozawa are family-run. A few serves Western food such as the Italian restaurant, Kaze No le, but they are very busy so I’d suggest book ahead. Click here for a list of restaurants recommended.

There are a few shops sell gears and accessories like thermo face mask (proved to be very useful when the weather is bad!), souvenirs and there is a sizeable convenient store sells snacks even cheese and salami etc catering the ‘western clientele’. 

[ Local grocery shop ]

[ Nozawa Onsen at night ]