Japan (Lonely Planet, 11th Edition) - Chris Rowthorn [69]
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SKIING LESSONS IN ENGLISH
The following outfits offer skiing lessons in English for both children and adults (usually with foreign instructors).
Canyons Japan (www.canyons.jp/index_E.html) With a base at Hakuba (p294; close to Happō-One), Canyons offers skiing, backcountry skiing and snowboarding lessons, as well as snowshoeing tours.
Evergreen (www.evergreen-hakuba.com) Also in Hakuba, Evergreen offers skiing, snowboarding, powder skiing and telemark lessons.
SAS Snow Sports (www.sas-net.com) Based in Niseko, SAS offers snowshoe tours.
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Snowboarding first debuted as an Olympic sport at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
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Shiga Kōgen
Also in Central Honshū’s Nagano-ken, Shiga Kōgen is the world’s largest ski area, with an incredible 21 different interlinked areas, all interconnected by trails and lifts and accessible with one lift ticket. Needless to say, with so many different areas, there is something for (almost) everyone here, including one skier-only area. This is a very family-friendly area, and there’s lots of accommodation right at the base of the slopes, so you can ski right from your lodgings. Like most other major resorts in Japan, there are also some good onsen around for soaking out the kinks after a day on the slopes. While you’re there, you can make an easy side trip to Yudanaka to see Japan’s famous ‘snow monkeys’ (Click here). For more information on Shiga Kōgen, Click here.
Nozawa Onsen
This quaint little ski resort/village tucked high up in the Japan Alps of Nagano-ken is the closest thing you’ll find to Switzerland in Japan. The only difference is, unlike Switzerland, this village has 13 free onsen scattered around for your entertainment. Of course, skiing is the main reason to visit, and it’s excellent here. The area is more compact and easy to get around than Shiga Kōgen, and it has a good variety of runs, including some challenging bump runs. Snowboarders will enjoy the terrain park and half-pipe and there’s a cross-country skiing course up on the mountain as well. For more information on Nozawa Onsen, Click here.
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The world’s longest ski lift, the ‘Dragondola’, a 5.4km-long gondola, can be found at the Naeba ski resort Click here, in Niigata-ken.
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Rusutsu
Hokkaidō’s Rusutsu is luring a lot of skiers away from Niseko. It gets regular dumps of deep powder snow, and allows skiers and boarders to enjoy it both on piste and off piste (there are some great tree runs and the management doesn’t try to prevent you from enjoying them). Rusutsu tends to be less crowded than Niseko and as long as the lifts aren’t shut down due to high winds, you won’t often wait in line here. All in all, if you’re going to ski in Hokkaidō, we recommend that you at least give one day to Rusutsu – you may like it as much or even more than Niseko. For more information on Rusutsu, Click here.
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The first Winter Olympics to be held outside of Europe or North America were held at Sapporo in 1972.
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WHAT TO BRING
With the exception of really large ski boots (see below), almost everything you need is available in Japan. However, due to prices or difficulty in finding some items, it’s best to bring the following things from abroad:
A small ‘around the arm’ type case to hold your ski lift chip You will be scanning this at every lift – having it on your arm is easily the best place to keep it.
Goggles They’re very expensive in Japan, so it’s best to bring your own.
Sunscreen Sunblock, aspirin, and other pharmacy items you’re used to may be hard to track down, so it’s best to bring your own favourites.
Large-sized ski boots Rental places at most resorts have boots up to 30cm (which is equivalent to a men’s size 12 in the USA, UK or Australia), though boots up to 31cm are available at Happō-One and Nozawa Onsen.