01
Hakuba白馬
Nagano Station + a bus of about 70 minutes
The big-mountain valley of the Nagano Alps: opening dates, lift pass prices and resorts.
Dec–MarResort by resort: how to get there by train or car, what the lift ticket costs, and where to stay.
The Hokuriku and Jōetsu Shinkansen put the snow of Nagano, Niigata, Toyama, Ishikawa and Fukui between 1h 07m (Echigo-Yuzawa) and 2h 50m (Fukui) from Tokyo. Each guide below covers one resort or one small group: the train or the car, the lift ticket, the mountain and where to stay. They run along the line from Nagano to Fukui; Hakuba, Nozawa Onsen, Shiga Kōgen, Iiyama and Myōkō link to our existing ski pages.
For the whole region side by side (dates, prices, access, passes) start with Skiing in Hokuriku. The rail passes that cover the Shinkansen are compared on our passes page, and a hire car is the easier way to reach Madarao and Togari from Nagano.
The big-mountain valley of the Nagano Alps: opening dates, lift pass prices and resorts.
A ski village with 13 free baths, reached from the same Iiyama Station as Madarao.
One of the largest linked ski areas in Japan: lift pass, dates and the bus from Nagano.
A castle town with a snow-hut village where you eat a miso hot pot inside a hut, from 22 January to 28 February 2027.
Tree runs on 52 natural-snow courses, a ¥9,000 day ticket that also covers the Tangram lifts, and Togari, a smaller family hill in the same valley. The full guide has train and car routes, every ticket price and twelve stays.
Heavy snow and onsen on the Niigata side of the line: dates, lift prices and resorts.
A ski-in, ski-out resort hotel in the Myōkō powder belt: Economy day ticket ¥7,777, First Class with priority boarding ¥12,777, and a free guest shuttle from the station. The guide has train and car routes, every ticket price and thirteen stays.
Two hills by one Shinkansen stop: easy sea-view runs at Seaside Valley (to 22 March) and ungroomed powder at Charmant Hiuchi (to 5 May), both ¥5,000 a day and neither with night skiing. Seven stays.
A ski resort with a platform inside it, on the Jōetsu Shinkansen: Gondola and Lift day ticket ¥8,000 (¥7,500 on the web), a vertical of 823 m, the JR East Pass instead of the Arch Pass, and eleven stays in Echigo-Yuzawa.
Two big linked mountains joined by the Dragondola: Naeba for the slope-side Prince hotel and night skiing, Kagura for deep snow and the longest season in Niigata. 1h 07m from Tokyo to Echigo-Yuzawa, a ¥11,800 day ticket for both, the JR East Pass instead of the Arch Pass, and thirteen stays.
Seven small and mid-size hills a short shuttle from the station: Ishiuchi Maruyama with 23 courses and a gondola, Kandatsu with night skiing to 02:00, Iwappara, NASPA, Yuzawa Kōgen and more, with day tickets from ¥5,500 and fourteen stays.
Two big, cheaper hills near Ishiuchi: Maiko with 26 courses, a six-seat gondola and a ¥7,300 day ticket, and Jōetsu Kokusai with its own station, night skiing every evening and a ¥5,800 day ticket. Twelve stays.
The ski day from Toyama city: two areas on one ticket, weekday ticket ¥5,000, night skiing at Raichō Valley, a free sled area, train and bus or 30 minutes by car, and eleven stays.
The gondola hill 40 minutes by car from Kanazawa: 7 courses with a 3,000 m longest run, night skiing, a summit restaurant, a ¥5,000 day ticket (2025-26) and fourteen stays.
A small family hill in the World Heritage valley: 5 courses, 230 cm of snow last February, a ¥3,500 day ticket, no night skiing, and a night in a gasshō farmhouse at Ainokura. Thirteen stays.
A gentle family hill an hour from Kanazawa with an onsen village at its foot: a ¥5,000 day ticket, night skiing until 21:00, the Hokutetsu ski bus and eleven stays.
The closest ski area to Kanazawa: 41 minutes by car, 9 courses, the ungroomed Rhapsody powder course, a weekend Hokutetsu ski bus and a day ticket of about ¥4,500 (2025-26). Seven stays, mostly in Kanazawa.
The biggest ski area in the Kansai-Hokuriku belt, formerly Ski Jam Katsuyama: 12 courses, a 5,800 m longest run, weekday ticket ¥5,500, a free shuttle from Katsuyama Station and ten stays.
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