Hear My Train a Comin’   Travel Tips to Create a Memorable Winter

Planning a snowboarding trip in Japan can be a daunting affair with multiple connections, highly varied pricing, and vague hotel descriptions but with a bit of effort you'll find that planning a successful trip can be very easy. Below I have listed ten tips to help you arrange a great trip in Japan, the most important of which is to plan ahead. Leaving things to the last minute can also lead to a memorable trip - the type of which you would rather just forget about!

Years ago, when I first came to Tokyo I organized a snowboard trip for 30 people, I have not heard from most of them since. The trip was planned for the 3-day weekend in February, the very peak of the season. I waited until three weeks before to try and find a place that could accommodate all of us and finally found the Hayamasou near Inawashiro which boasted a convenient shuttle bus ride to ALTS Bandai and cost 9,000 yen per person per night. Reserving seats on the train was impossible so I was stuck with a bunch of non-reserved seats and had to get the crowd to show up 30 minutes early at the platform with elbows out, teeth bared, and boards sharpened in a desperate attempt to fight for any scrap of seat we could find. Bags were thrown, grandmothers pushed, feet trod upon, children frightened, and commandments broken but when the dust settled I was satisfied to see that we had won enough seats I threw my arms behind my head and relaxed, maybe the trip would work out smoothly after all! I was dead wrong, after the train stopped at the station, our luck ran out.

Stumbling into the front door of the Hayamasou was one of the most disappointing shocks I have encounters in my entire life. The toothless owner was there to offer his deep dark grubby hand. He was wearing a stained plaid shirt and sweatpants and stayed that way throughout the course of our trip. His feet were bare and packed with dirt like a recently uncovered archeological find. He smelled just about how you would expect him to smell but worse, and most of it was coming from his breath, which is one of the reasons I refused to look up as he explained to me various things about his soon-to-be-quarantined lodge. The main reason I kept my head down, however, was to avoid the prying eyes of my friends who had left their three-day weekend in my care. "It'll be great," I had told them, "You don't want to miss it!".

The lodge was filthy. It was not simply cluttered or messy, it was a biohazard, a life-long accomplishment. The tables were filthy, the floor was filthy, the walls were filthy, the ceiling was - God knows how - filthy, and even the dog was filthy. I always reach out my hand to pat a dog if one comes nearby but not this dog, I put my hand in my pocket as soon as it came in the room. I severely dissed this dog that smelled only half as badly as its master.

Dinner was included. It bounced, but not as high as the breakfast did. More so than the mysterious brown liquid that was served with breakfast did the onsen bath resemble miso soup - musty brown water with dark green strips and fluffy white bits floating around happily in it.
  

Bath Time!

展hat happened to the Addams?
They opened the Hayamasou lodge in Inawashiro!・/font>

  
As we sat in stunned silence in our enormous tatami room, the door, which had no lock, swung open without a knock and the owner walked in without even asking and began walking towards me leaving dirty foot prints upon the pillows - our pillows - over which he tread. My eyes watered as he explained that he would deliver us to the resort. The short drive to the slopes of ALTS Bandai took us about 1 hour, which is about how long we waited in the lift lines at the stunningly overcrowded resort. It was a nightmare.

I felt like sucker, how could I have not known how terrible this lodge would be? Fortunately for me there was a newlywed Japanese couple at the lodge as well who grimly explained that they had the choice of staying in the Resort Inn Alts luxury hotel but they had chosen this lodge because the price was a bit higher and they wanted to splurge. I wasn't the only one who had been duped but how could we who only wanted to plan a nice snowboarding trip have avoided this trip to the Twilight Zone?

What is the secret to finding a lodge that you like on the slopes of the resort that you love and the best seats on the best trains/planes all for an affordable price? Plan ahead. Try and plan your trip 6 to 8 weeks ahead of time even if you do not have a large group, chances are you will be able to get something that you are happy with for a thoroughly decent price. Many people feel that there are no real values in Japan, those are the people who do not plan ahead and end up with the scraps. If you are reading this column than you have already decided how you want to spend your winter weekends in Japan so get out your calendar, pick up the phone, and start planning your trips now.

Sometimes Travel Agents can package trains and hotels together to get you a good deal that you would not have been able to negotiate on your own, this is very much the case in Japan. Travel agents have access to bulk rate rooms and transportation in Japan so why pay full price?

I know this is easier said then done but perhaps an example can persuade you to take a couple of days off of work. Lets look at a couple of ryokan at the popular Zao Onsen.

The Sakaiya Ryokan is a fine ryokan, basic and clean with simple Japanese food. Nothing really memorable but, who cares, it is five minutes from the slopes.

The there is the Oomiya Ryokan. A beautifully remodeled Ryokan with wonderful rooms, relaxing indoor and outdoor baths, delicate Japanese meals and every amenity you can think of. Off the slopes or on the slopes, if you stay at the Oomiya Ryokan you are going to have a memorable holiday. It is wonderful.

  
If you could stay at either of the above ryokan, regardless of price, which one would you pick? The Oomiya, of course! Spending two weekend nights at the Sakaiya, including round trip bullet train from Tokyo would cost you about 40,000 yen. It is not my 40,000 yen and I do not care how you spend it but for the exact same price you can stay at the Oomiya Ryokan if you only travel on the weekdays. Your boss won't let you travel on the weekdays? Then maybe he/she would like to pay the difference! Not only is the price different, the crowds are different and therefore the snow - the real reason you are spending your money in the first place ? is also different, very different!

Lets look at Zao again. To get to Zao from Tokyo, you take a bullet train to Yamagata station and then a cheap 45-minute bus ride to Zao onsen. The whole trip only takes about 3 hours so it is a perfect place to go to right after work on Friday for the weekend, right? Wrong! The last bus leaves Yamagata station at 8:00 PM so you'd better be on the bullet train by 5:30 PM unless you've got some extra cash to burn on a 45-minute taxi ride. You can reserve the best hotels and first-class transport but one unplanned transfer can turn your trip into a real drag.

With over 600 resorts in Japan, where should you start? Start with the person next to you; just ask them where they like to go. Ask a dozen people and you'll soon have an idea of some of the best and worst resorts in Japan.

Many of the people who I meet who do not enjoy traveling in Japan are often looking for something that is not there. If you are holding out for a ski-in ski-out boutique hotel in a giant resort that is two hours away from Tokyo with 24 hour room service that makes fondue, has a Jacuzzi on the deck, and also has a wild nightlife then you will probably never go snowboarding in Japan. However, if you open your mind a bit, you can stay in a friendly pension with fabulous food, 3.5 hours from Tokyo at an Olympic resort that is near a hot spring bath for a reasonable price and have the time of your life. Just roll the dice and give it a try!

You don't have to carry your board across the country; you only need carry it across the street to your local convenience store. Give them a couple of days and about 1700 yen and they will send it to the hotel for you. If you are going on another trip the next weekend don't send your board home, just forward it on to the next resort, it will be there waiting for you and you don't have to carry it anywhere.

The best advice I can give you about arranging a snowboarding trip ion Japan is to just do it. If you have already learned how to snowboard then you already have the hard part out of the way. Planning a trip to a Japanese resort is actually very easy, you'll soon discover how fantastic the public transportation system is so use it to your advantage and enjoy your winters in Japan! Of course, not every trip works out perfectly but more often than not you will have a good laugh if something goes wrong. Half of the people who came with me to the dreaded Hayamasou still travel with me every winter and each time we get together we end up laughing ourselves to tears talking about that unforgettable weekend! In terms of creating fond memories I guess I could say that everything did work out after all, some even say that the trip to Hayamasou was the best trip I ever planned!