Japan snow forecast

Skiing in Japan

Japan is known among skiers for the volume and lightness of its snow. Through the winter, cold air from Siberia crosses the Sea of Japan, picks up moisture and drops it as heavy snowfall on the mountains facing the sea. Resorts are mostly modest in height, but many receive 10 m or more of snow a season, and tree skiing is a large part of the appeal.

This page compares three areas. Hokkaido, the northern island, has the coldest and most consistent powder. Niseko, Rusutsu, Kiroro and Sapporo Teine sit on the western side near Sapporo, while Furano and Tomamu sit inland, where the snow is drier and the crowds thinner. New Chitose airport is the gateway.

Nagano, in the Japanese Alps on Honshu, hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics. Hakuba is a valley of ten resorts with some of the steepest, most alpine terrain in the country, while Shiga Kogen is the largest interconnected area and reaches about 2,300 m, the highest lifted point in Japan. Madarao is known for its tree runs. Snow here can be heavier than in Hokkaido, as temperatures swing more.

Niigata, on the Sea of Japan side, is famous for the depth of its snowpack. Myoko Kogen averages roughly 13 to 16 m a season, and Naeba, near Yuzawa, is linked to neighbouring Kagura by the Dragondola, the longest gondola in Japan, and is reached from Tokyo by shinkansen to Echigo-Yuzawa and then a bus.

Across Japan the season usually runs from December into March or April, with the deepest powder in January and February. Off-piste and tree skiing outside marked gates carries real avalanche risk and is controlled by each resort.