Nozawa Holidays

First snow hits Japan! After just discussing yesterday that it could be an early season the first snow has arrived in Japan! Just a dusting up North in Hokkaido, but still enough to get excited about. At the same time the forecast is heading in the right direction in Nozawa too with the freezing level set to drop by around 2000m from current levels by the end of the week. You have to love Japan not only are the trains on time so is the weather!

                              The Big 2 Shigakogen and Nozawa Onsen Season Pass has just come on sale. It’s a pretty good deal to access a lot of terrain. We used to ski over land between the two resorts and you can see Shiga Kogen from the top of Nozawa so it is not far away. Cost is 75,000 Yen compared to 63,000 Yen for the Nozawa Season Pass so if think you may make it over to Shiga Kogen for at least a few days then it is worthwhile. They limit it to just 1000 passes but I have never heard of it selling out so no real […]

Many customers visiting Nozawa ask me every year what the best sights are in Tokyo and how to go about seeing them. Even if you only have a spare day at the start or end of your trip, you can pack in a huge amount of famous sights on a tiny budget if you’re willing to move those legs! Some Tokyo Tips  1. Get moving nice and early, and start your day with a sunrise visit to the famous Tsukiji fish market for the breakfast of champions – best sushi in the world. 2. Head towards Harajuku station, where you can at one station both step back in time at the incredible Meiji Jingu temple, and witness the chaos of […]

So we are in to October! Will soon be a different kind of ride in Nozawa.  Things are starting to cool but nothing too serious yet. The rain has been on going which as many locals suspect could mean a big snow season when the precipitation continues like this and temps drop will eventually lead to snow on the hills. The forecast is showing a pattern change later in the week and the North West winds will blow with temps dropping and reckon we may get into single digits, definitely for the top of the resort at least. The farmers are still busy bringing in the rice harvest and it is an interesting time to be in the village. Great […]

If you are wanting to stay in the center of the village you cannot get much more central than Home Run Apartments on Oyu Dori the main street of Nozawa Onsen. Home Run was a Pachinko Parlour in the boom times in Nozawa. Pachinko is a form of gambling where you have little steel balls kind of like pinball. It was popular in Nozawa in the 90’s but closed many years ago. The building now houses; The Stay Bar, rental shop and a Sukiyaki Restaurant, then the top two floors are newly renovated apartments. Tatsumi san from Heaven Bar just around the corner took over the building last year and renovated the apartments. The one on the 3rd floor is […]

Discover the Japanese Alps before the snow hits! It doesn’t seem like that long ago that many people from overseas were unaware that Japan gets great snow. For many years I skied in Nozawa and was rare to see anyone from overseas on the slopes. Well the secret of Japan’s powder is well and truly out now but the beauty of the Japanese Alps for hiking and climbing is maybe yet to be fully discovered. Almost 75% of this island nation is mountainous and we are talking some serious peaks too. With lots of 3000m plus mountains and huge national parks just begging to be explored. Nagano is one of the hubs for mountain enthusiasts and together with surrounding prefectures […]

As autumn starts to set in, some of the locals in Nozawa Onsen start to head to the mountain in search of a local delicacy: wild mushrooms! There are a few hundred species of fungi that can be found on the mountains here, ranging from rare and expensive types to the famous “Shimeji” – long thought to be responsible for numerous health benefits. As Nagano prefecture is now the longest lived area in the world, it can’t be doing any harm! When searching for specific edible mushrooms you need to factor weather, rainfall, and mainly which area of the mountain you will visit as different species require different fallen trees to grow from. A word of warning though – make […]

New bus announced linking Nozawa all the way to Myoko via Madarao. Hot of the press have heard thru the grape vine that there will be a new bus route between Madarao and Myoko starting this season. It is set to kick off from 23rd of December to the 5th of March 2017. It is expected to run daily and will be a great service for anyone wanting to hit up a few resorts in the area as will link Nozawa Onsen, Iiyama Station, Madarao and Myoko together. Will be the same No-to-ma bus that already connects Nozawa to Madarao via our neighbouring resort Togari, also not to be overlooked with some amazing side country no crowds, cheap tickets and […]

The rice harvest (Inakari) has just started here in Nozawa Onsen. Some of you may already know – rice farming here in the valley has a history that far outreaches the snow sports industry! In fact you could almost say it is the main way of life for most villagers here in town. Nagano and Niigata prefectures are said to produce the best quality rice – with all of that fresh water flowing down the mountain through our fields and the clean country air we have here – you can see why! Traditionally, rice was planted and harvested by hand. It is then hung to dry and mature for a few weeks, before being removed from the grass and milled […]

As the mercury starts to rise down south and many are beginning their school holidays you may be already thinking how can we escape this heat! This photo was taken at Ogama the cooking onsens in Nozawa a few Christmas’s ago. Give the sweltering Christmas a swerve this year and consider a snowy White Christmas in Nozawa this coming December. Still have good availability at many of the lodges and can do a package starting for as little as $965 for Adults and Kids $615 White Christmas Week in Nozawa 7 Nights Stay based on Japanese Style Tatami Room with Share Bathroom Healthy Breakfast Included Daily 5 Days Lift Passes Use of all the Village Hot springs All just 70,500 […]