6 spots โ sorted by traveller rating
Japan's most internationally renowned ski resort โ Hakuba hosted the downhill, super-G, and ski jumping events at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and today offers a linked network of eleven ski areas with over 200 runs. The valley receives some of the deepest and driest powder snow in Japan, regularly accumulating 10โ12 m per season. An international resort town has grown around the valley with excellent accommodation, restaurants, and English-language ski schools.
Nagano is Japan's top apple-producing prefecture, with orchards surrounding Matsumoto and Iida ripening over 50 varieties from August to November. Farms welcome visitors for U-pick experiences and fresh pressed juice, while artisan cideries producing award-winning Nagano apple cider have opened throughout the apple belt โ combining gorgeous autumn foliage with orchard hospitality.
Japan's most authentic ski-onsen village โ Nozawa Onsen is a working hot-spring community whose 13 public bathhouses (sotoyu) are owned and maintained by the village collectively and open free of charge to visitors. The compact, car-free village lanes wind between traditional wooden buildings and steaming bath-houses, while the ski mountain above offers steep, challenging terrain and excellent powder. Unlike purpose-built resorts, Nozawa is a real place first โ the skiing is secondary to the village atmosphere.
Japan's largest interconnected ski resort โ Shiga Kogen links 23 individual ski areas across a high plateau at 1,650โ2,305 m, with 80 runs and 51 lifts accessible on a single pass. The plateau hosted the biathlon and cross-country events at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Its high elevation guarantees early-season snow and the longest ski season in the region, and the varied terrain suits everyone from beginners to expert off-piste skiers.
Japan's largest fireworks competition by scale of display โ the Suwa Lake Fireworks Championship fires 40,000 shells over the surface of Lake Suwa on the nights of August 15 and another major event later in summer, with the water reflections doubling the visual impact. The surrounding mountains create a natural amphitheatre that intensifies the sound, and some shells are fired simultaneously from both shores for effects impossible anywhere else. Over half a million spectators attend the main August event.
Tokyo's favourite mountain escape since the Meiji era โ Karuizawa sits at 1,000 m on the slopes of Mount Asama and has been a summer retreat for diplomats, artists, and the imperial family for over 130 years. Today it offers cycling through birch forests, the spectacular Sengataki waterfall in a wild gorge, Prince Shopping Plaza (Japan's largest outlet mall), and a charming old Karuizawa Ginza shopping street. The 2018 Winter Olympics curling venue adds to its sporting legacy.
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