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Nozawa Onsen,
located in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture, is a hot spring and
ski resort village of 5000 inhabitants. Renowned for it's onsen
since the Edo period, the village also played a significant role in the
history of skiing in Japan. For more information on this and more,
see below...
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2007-2008 Season Main Events |
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Open - 22nd
December |
Early Ski Service |
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5th
January |
Monthly Festival |
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15th January |
Nozawa Dosojin Fire Festival
(read
more about it here) |
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10th February
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Jazz Festival |
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4th & 5th February
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Nozawa Onsen Cup Giant Slalom
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6th
- 9th February |
Snowman (Yukidaruma) Festival |
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1st April |
Spring Ski Opening Ceremony |
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The village is located at the foot of Kenashi-yama
(literally Mt No-hair), alt 1650 meters, in beautiful natural
surroundings - lush green in spring and summer, colored leaves in autumn
and of course spectacular snow covered surroundings in winter.
Nozawa Onsen strives to maintain a traditional atmosphere. Out of
the winter season the village is quiet, but as the snow arrives so do
skiers and snowboarders and the energy levels suddenly increase as
people come to enjoy the mountain.
Skiing was introduced to Japan in 1911 by Austrian Major
Theodor von Lerch and came to Nozawa the following year, although the
ski hill was not established until 1924. It was in 1930 that one
of the founders of alpine skiing, Hannes Schneider from Austria, taught
the techniques of Arlberg skiing in Nozawa Onsen. This brought
about a sudden rise in the enthusiasm of skiing in Nozawa Onsen.
Since then, Nozawa Onsen has always been at the top of the Japanese
skiing scene, and more recently snowboarding. It was the first
place in the country to install ski lifts and also holds numerous major
skiing and snowboarding tournaments. It was also the host for the
Biathalon competitions at the Nagano Olympics.
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| No visit to Nozawa Onsen would be complete without
taking a hot spring bath. After all, the Onsen in Nozawa Onsen is
the Japanese word for hot springs. Many ryokan and a few minshuku
have their own hot spring bathing facilities. |
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Anyone can enjoy, free of charge, any of the
thirteen public hot spring baths known as sotoyu. They all have a different source with distinct
characteristics that provide for a variety of different mineral baths.
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Want to learn to ski? The Nozawa Onsen Ski School
is located on the slopes of the resort and welcomes skiers of all ages
and abilities. For more information on Nozawa Onsen Ski School,
click here.
 
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