Central Honshu
Hakuba, Nozawa, Shiga Kogen, Madarao. Densely packed resorts with steeper terrain and traditional villages. Closer to Tokyo. Filter below to see Central Honshu specific guides.
Iiyama area
A working Nagano town on the Shinkansen with 15+ ski areas within range: Nozawa, Madarao, Myoko and more.
Yamanouchi area
The onsen-town base below Shiga Kogen, Japan's largest linked ski network, with wild snow monkeys at Jigokudani and Okushiga Kogen, Ryuoo Ski Park and Nozawa Onsen within reach.
Omachi area
A real Nagano city, not a ski satellite: the only Hakuba Valley base with a year-round train to the lifts, and the cheapest rooms in the valley.
Akakura area
The historic onsen town at the foot of Myoko Kogen, walking distance from Akakura Onsen and Akakura Kanko, with Ikenotaira, Seki Onsen and Suginohara a short shuttle away.
Myoko City area
The wider Myoko municipal base with the area's only Shinkansen stop, Lotte Arai's five-star reboot, and reach across Madarao, Tangram, Charmant Hiuchi and Cupid Valley.
Iimori area
A 15-minute walk from Hakuba Goryu's quieter lift base, with a station of its own on the Oito Line, hotels and lodges, and a short shuttle to the main Toomi base.
Yuzawa area
Yuzawa's Shinkansen station is the real hub: Gala Yuzawa built onto the tracks, Yuzawa Kogen a 10-minute walk, Kandatsu a short shuttle, Kagura and Naeba a longer one.
Okushiga Kogen
The high northern tip of Shiga Kogen, near 2,000m, dry snow into spring, one of the longest seasons in Japan.
Ryuoo Ski Park
A Nagano local's favourite, built around a 166-person ropeway that opens a big north-facing tree run zone.
Hakuba Goryu
The calm Hakuba Valley resort on the Epic Pass, linked to Hakuba 47.
Gala Yuzawa
A resort built around its own Shinkansen station in Yuzawa, the closest lift-served skiing to Tokyo.
Naeba
One of Japan's largest single resorts, built around a large resort hotel, linked by gondola across the valley to Kagura.
Kagura
A high-elevation resort linked to Naeba by gondola, with terrain that runs above the treeline.
Lotte Arai
A resort in Myoko rebuilt around a five-star hotel after years of closure, with a mix of groomed and ungroomed terrain.
Nozawa Onsen
One of Japan's oldest and largest resorts, built into a traditional onsen town with free public bathhouses throughout.
Madarao Kogen
A resort on the Nagano/Niigata border known for deep, reliable powder and a big network of legal tree runs.
Karuizawa Prince Snow Resort
A small, beginner-friendly resort right at the Karuizawa Shinkansen station, about an hour from Tokyo.
Fujimi Panorama
A day trip from Tokyo with no Shinkansen needed, and views of Mt Fuji from the summit trek above the gondola.
Mount Norikura
A quiet resort near Matsumoto known locally for dry, fine 'aspirin snow' and next to no lift queues.
Akakura Kanko
One of Japan's first European-style ski hotels, built in 1937, with a ski-through link to neighbouring Akakura Onsen.
Suginohara
A Myoko resort with one of Japan's longest groomed runs, around 8.5km from top to bottom.
Hakuba Happo-One
Hakuba Valley's biggest and best-known resort, host of the downhill events at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Hakuba 47
A terrain-park-focused resort linked to Goryu by runs and lifts at the top, on a shared lift ticket.
Hakuba Cortina
A Hakuba Valley resort known for deep, natural snow and tree skiing, linked to Norikura.
Tsugaike Kogen
A beginner-friendly Hakuba Valley resort with wide slopes and the area's longest gondola.
Shiga Kogen
18 linked ski areas in Nagano across two lift-connected clusters joined by one shuttle route.
Myoko Kogen
The five ski areas around Akakura.
Yuzawa Kogen
A Niigata resort with the country's biggest ropeway cabin by capacity, serving eight gentle, beginner-friendly courses, a short walk from Echigo-Yuzawa Station.
Ishiuchi Maruyama
A Niigata resort about 80 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen, known for fast groomed carving and some of the most extensive night skiing in Japan.
Joetsu Kokusai
Japan's biggest single, standalone ski area, in Niigata, with its own JR station near Echigo-Yuzawa.
Sugadaira Kogen
175 hectares of gentle, family-friendly cruising on a high Nagano plateau, with a century-old history as a summer training-camp ground.
Hakuba Valley
Ten resorts on one lift pass, including two interlinked pairs, from Happo-One's Olympic downhill to Cortina's tree skiing, spread along the valley and linked by shuttle.