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Snowboarding Japan

20K views 124 replies 26 participants last post by  pjstyles 
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#1 ·
As the title states, has anyone been to Japan? which locations are the best? Also do you need to be speaking fluent Japanese if your there? I've heard the powder there is amazing but has anyone here experienced Japan first hand?
 
#72 ·
Always fun to find out anyway. These were mostly my wife's friends. My wife doesn't speak any Japanese except dirty words...too funny...so they all think of her as their potty-mouthed Gaijin friend. I'm just hanging out for the sake and food, which was excellent although I did drag a ski buddy along for good luck. They blamed him for teaching me the word...so an excellent evening.
 
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#73 ·
I thought I'll add my 2 cents to this thread. I recently got back from an epic snowboarding trip in Japan. I went to Hakuba, Shiga Kogen and Niseko.

Hakuba - I really can't remember much of Hakuba being the first mountain I went to while in Japan. I remember it being not as touristy as Niseko. The mountain itself, I really don't remember much. Being start of the season, there was not much soft snow around. The scenery though is awesome! Love the local town atmosphere.


Shiga Kogen - I only spent a day trip there. The runs I was on were nicely groomed, beginner runs. I would say this is better than hakuba in terms of runs. I loved the atmosphere of the place. There was basically no tourists, so everyone was a local japanese boarder or skier. Being a boarder, there were some runs which would suit more skiiers, they were flat or had moguls. I would recommend staying at a ryokan (traditional japanese hotel) for at least one night if you going to Shiga Kogen. Onsens will do wonders! Also the Onsen Snow monkeys!


Niseko - By far the best conditions I've ever ridden in. On the famous strawberry fields run, I was in a good waist deep in powder at times. Falling was like falling in pillows, amazing. When it comes night time, it was ridiculous. Best night boarding EVER! There is a large number of runs while night boarding. Also I've never seen so much snow in my life. It was almost constantly snowing there. On the base of the mountain, 10-15cm of fresh would fall while night boarding, this meant you could even ride your board down the street (which is prohibited). They had a good setup for people that like to ride park, (heaps of rails, tables) or guys that love the big jumps.

The place is overrun with aussies. You can take this as a bad or a good thing depending what you wanted to do. I am aussie myself but it didn't feel like a holiday almost because basically everyone was aussie. The nightlife there is great with huge number or bars to go to. I never got to have a drink at any bars though but I assume it be over run with rowdy drunk aussies though. So in terms of total package, Niseko is definitely the place to be.

In reference to someone saying its hard to get by without knowing any japanese is wrong. You can get by in Japan without knowing any japanese. Most signage will be in english also most people have basic english skills so communicating is not that hard.
 
#80 · (Edited)
Got back last week from Niseko Japan! Had a great time and will be heading back soon as possible. 5 out of our 7 days were powder days and the other 2 days we were still finding heaps of long runs of un-carved powder through the trees :D

Niseko was great but want try somewhere else this time.

Hakuba sounds good 1 all mountain lift ticket gives you access to 9 mountains or 138 chairlifts and 5 gondals

I am never wasting anymore time and money in NZ or AUS again on snow, Japan only now as its so close and cheap.
 
#84 ·
Leaving Narita in a couple hours myself. Hit Hakuba Goyru & Hakuba 47 Wed afternoon and Thursday. Hakuba got hammered Wednesday. Some were saying 70cm and reports that surrounding areas got it again Wed & Thurs nights. It was awesome! Very rude introduction into deep powder snowboarding for me!
haha, hopefully your time didn't involve too much hiking. 70cm is way too much if you've never done powder before, especially without the right board!
 
#82 ·
I'll be going to Niseko in 2 weeks... for the guys that are going to Hakuba head to Tsugaike Kogen you won't be disappointed it is one of Japans hidden gems and most of the Japanese locals go there. You will have to take two shuttle buses to get there but it is worth it.
 
#86 ·
Powder boards are just what they sound like. They are generally longer with a large nose to induce float, often some of the tail is removed to help sink the rear, some to the point that they resemble a Flying V guitar. The sidecut is designed with a directional, heavily setback stance in mind so that turning is still very similar to a normal board. Your legs don't get anywhere near as tired, you don't get stuck as easy, etc etc etc.
 
#90 ·
Time to start planning the next trip!!

We had great time on our first trip at Niseko but want to go somewhere different. While we were there we got told Rusutzu is better than Niseko as the terrain is steeper, more tree runs and better lifts that go to the peak so less walking!
What's the township of Rusutzu like compared to Niseko? Are there supermarkets?
 
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