Nozawa Holidays

  As the weather starts to cool in Nozawa there is no better place to be than in an Onsen ( Hot spring) We have 13 free ones around the village and it is a daily ritual for the locals to meet and bathe in the geothermal hot waters. All housed in traditional bath houses they are a very relaxing way to start the day or soothe the aches and pains at the end of the day. Even more special in the snowy months, as you get a warm buzz to the core of your body that lasts for a few hours. If you are not familiar with the Onsen etiquette and just want a few little pointers on how […]

You can feel the change starting to roll over the mountains in Nozawa. Have had a few foggy days about town and always pretty to see the clouds sitting in the Valley. This photo is taken from Villa Nozawa and won’t be long now until the scenery takes on a snowy change! Quite a lot of rain in Nozawa at the moment too which has cooled things down and find you need a long sleeve in the nights now, which is kind of nice. Most locals are talking about good snowfall this year. Mainly because last year was a bit light on and was a 1 in 50 year like situation so this year Nozawa should be back to its […]

Konnichiwa looks like a few deals available for our friends from Melbourne Some of you may have been waiting for this, so looks like time to Jump in. At a quick glance some sales on offer appear to be; • Melbourne to Osaka from 6th of Feb to 23rd of March from $466 Return • Melbourne to Narita from 21st of March to 27th of March from $436 Return Sale ends 21st of September So looks like into Osaka is for good dates for the season. Osaka to Nozawa is a little further but you get the chance to visit the old capital Kyoto which is an amazing part of any trip. Osaka is also an exciting city with delicious […]

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 […]