Nozawa Holidays

In most towns that would probably not be so news worthy, but in our little country town it is a pretty big thing. The last ATM was installed about 20 Years ago at the Post Office and is still the only other one for international cards in the village! The new machine is set up right next door to the Nozawa Tourist Info Office on the main road into the Village. It is in the new Kura café and art gallery building. Kura is a traditional Japanese storage house that originally probably stored rice or grain. It has been renovated to perfection and looks amazing! There are probably not too many Cash Machines in the world set up in stylish […]

As preparations for the season continue this poor fella has the hard job of cutting down all the grass and shrubs that have grown on Hachiman Slope over the summer. I know form tackling the jungle that grows just around my house this is not an easy job, made even harder with the steep slope. But we will be thanking him this winter when gliding down there in knee-deep powder! It is a beautiful run…  

If want to do some Autumn training and get your snowboarding legs back ready for the season do what the locals do and hit the hills for some downhill skateboarding! Imagine the forest trail without snow! It runs 10km from top to bottom and has a nice gentle slope on a bitumen road most of the way. It is a smooth and very scenic ride down thru the trees. With the air temp starting to cool in Nozawa it gets your mind thinking of the snow and is much more comfortable to start training for the winter too. Nozawa is a great place to get in shape to ski or board in Nozawa or anywhere else for that matter. The […]

Today and tomorrow the 8th and 9th of September see one of the biggest and best festivals on in the village of Nozawa. It is the Autumn Lantern Festival and sees all the village out on the streets to celebrate in style. It is not the famous Nozawa Fire Festival we have on the 15th of January but there will be fire! Along with music, dancing, pantomime like shows, parades and lots of Sake! So if you are nearby stongly suggest coming to check it out and soak in the amazing atmosphere of our historic little town. Festivities get under way tonight from 18:00pm and go all the way until midnight ending up on the top of the stairs at […]

La Nina weather system for Japan this Winter? All this talk of El Nino and La Nina you may want to learn Spanish instead of Japanese if travelling to ski in Japan this season. El Nino means “ The Boy” and La Nina means you guessed it “ The Girl” they are counterparts and Ocean Atmospheric phenomenon. El Nino is the pattern we experienced last winter and the temperature of the Pacific Ocean is generally higher than normal, which resulted in warmer land temps for Japan and less snow than normal. La Nina is the opposite and temps in the Pacific Ocean can drop by around 3-5 degrees Celsius below normal, which should hopefully mean colder temps in Japan and […]

New Hikage lift in Nozawa under construction Work has started to install the new lift running up the length of the Hikage slope replacing the old Hikage 2nd A and B lifts. Should be ready in plenty of time for this coming winter in Nozawa. Looks like will be going in a similar location but will improve the on loading, for any that remember the base of the lift was on a small mound so needed to ski up to get on to it. Will also be a much faster lift to get you to the top of the bowl. Hikage means shade but the slope, which faces fairly west gets a decent amount of sun. It was the original […]

People often ask where is a good place to go as an add on to our ski trip to Nozawa? Kyoto is always hard to beat for an all round Japanese experience but if want something a little closer to home and easier all round Kanazawa is often called a little Kyoto. During the Edo Period Kanazawa was the seat of the Maeda Clan the second most powerful feudal clan in the country in terms of rice production and field area. Thus the town grew to become a town of great cultural history and many of the old town remains such as the Nagamachi Samurai District and the Chaya entertainment area. These days Kanazawa remains a very important city in […]

https://vimeo.com/40275755 As you head into the weekend, here is a little video of Nozawa Onsen that we did together with the Nagano Tourist board a few years back. Gives a bit of insight into what a ski holiday to Japan could look like and will help you with planning your next adventure. Lots of great snow, good food, warming onsens and ofcourse all roads lead to a Karaoke bar! Have a little look and drop us a mail if keen to get amongst it all this coming winter to stay@nozawaholidays.com  At the peak of skiings popularity in Japan there were over 600 ski resorts to chose from! Since the bubble burst that is probably more like 300 resorts now. So […]

Lodge of the week in Nozawa Onsen “Takagi Lodge” Nozawa Takagiya has just recently opened its doors to overseas guests and both the owners and the guests are really glad they did. Mr and Mrs Mori with their extended family run a beautiful Ski Lodge in the heart of Nozawa Onsen Village. Their son also helps and works at the local JA Bank when not busy in the lodge. Mr Mori is a real local character and although his English is only basic he will quickly strike up a conversation and a glass of Sake in the evenings. Mrs Mori will do everything she can to ensure you have a comfortable and memorable stay. It is a traditional Lodge but […]

                              Get out of that seat in the plane and on to a chair lift as soon as possible! With just 3 months to go until the ski season could be starting in Japan people are busy making plans for their next snow holiday. Hopefully Nozawa is on your radar and if it is you are probably wondering what is the best way to get to our quaint little ski town from the Airport. Here is a useful link that shows you some of the options Getting to Nozawa Onsen Ways to get to Nozawa Onsen from Tokyo Airports both Narita and Haneda. Note if coming […]