Myoko Guy

> at least we are entertaining, no? Yes, and helpful too

Hopefully they'll be back soon...

It depends on how brave you want to be and ease of access. Niseko and surrounds is obviously the easiest choice and then probably Hakuba. However I've seen complaints elsewhere about the Aussie 'menace' moving to Hakuba recently (others can feel free to dispute this - just what I've read). Yuzawa, Nozawa Onsen, Shiga-kogen and Myoko-kogen (of course) would all be good choices as well and easy to get to (particularly Yuzawa). The latter three perhaps offer something a little more 'traditional' if that's what you're looking for. These are probably main choices for you to look at b

It is a good point. If you see a Mount Myoko map it becomes much clearer. How to convey that may be a different matter. If the lift companies keep getting around the table they could maybe do some rebranding with Myoko in the name of each resort: Myoko Akakan, Myoko Ikenotaira Onsen, etc. There's a geographic problem too in that some of the nearby Nagano resorts are sort of drawn into Myoko's 'orbit' - Madarao, Tangram, Kurohime, etc. But there's no way they are going to get involved in any common branding.

Yep. There's probably other tarento (of a different gender) that would be a better fit for that concept.

This story is a stark reminder. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/que...7656766157.html Fortunately this guy made it through. Have a good time but be careful out there folks.

Maybe we could encourage a Japanese equivalent of that reality show where they come in and makeover your property? Instead the concept would be come and makeover the local eki SMAP could be hosts

>I also remember arriving at the station and seeing no shops or people....not the resort i had pictured in my head. A little bit of a spruce up shouldn't be too difficult or expensive. Make it into a plaza area with some pavers, some fancy lighting, some covers or sail cloth, some tables to sit at, plus some bi-lingual signage. Make the first impression appear at least reasonably inviting.

Definitely be cost I'd say oo. Nonetheless Suginohara has the longest run in Japan (8.5k) and Akakura has the steepest run in central Japan. That's a pretty good start. I've heard those stories too Long-Timer. Many of those people came in from outside Myoko (Osaka, Hiroshima, etc.) and made a killing for awhile. But as soon as that bubble burst it was ugly.

>So what's different about it now? The mountain is obviously the same... is it the lift systems? prices? accessibility? Or is simply that the trend has passed? The latter I would say. There's less money and less people ski. I arrived after the bubble time so have no personal experience but people here tell some amazing stories of those 'glory days'. One lady who worked in the Akakura bank talked about workers coming in with backpacks full of cash to deposit - and that would be several times a day. If they cleared away and/or renewed some of the closed down bubble-era places that w

It does make complete sense SKI but that might tread on a few toes in Niigata City and elsewhere. Regional pride runs deep and you can't ruin the wa. That said if the Nagano border was moved a few kms east and I woke up in the morning with the town announcing we were now part of Nagano-ken I would not be miffed. As far as other links go Akakura Onsen are members of the Mt.6 group which also includes Nozawa, Zao, Shiga, Kusatsu and Happo-one. Myokokogen apparently did ask to be part of the 98 Olympics but that little line on the map probably made all the difference.

>With the new Shink going to passes Myoko it can only more appeal to foreign tourists. Ah no, that's another chestnut. It will completely bypass Myokokogen - it will head to Joetsu (Wakinoda - middle of nowhere) via Iiyama then down the Nihonkai (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokuriku_Shinkansen). Myoko didn't have the political clout or cash to compete. In fact the rumour is that the Shinetsu Line will disappear completely when the shink extension goes through and be replaced by buses. So there's a few nervous nellies about the impact that will have on the local economy (if it's t

>Were there ever plans for a complete linkup in terms of lifts etc? Don't think so. There was a lot of smaller areas that have been swallowed up and amalgamated (Kumado, Champion, Yodel, etc). Hopefully they're moving toward more of that. >I'm sure I heard rumors of bad blood between Akakura and Akakan. Possibly. Wouldn't want to venture into that argument without knowing much more first hand. You've got Myoko City (formerly Arai), Myoko-mura and Myokokogen-machi. Formerly three entities but now one. When skiers discuss 'Myoko' it generally means Myokokogen.

>Akakara is the the little onsen village high up right with the road of hotels and the foot bath at the top, right? That's the one. Get's quite a bit of tourist traffic during summer too from people on the Kanto Plains wanting to escape the heat. >It hasn't really catered for foreigners much which is one thing. Yes, they could do a little better in that regard. Just depends how hard they want to chase that market.

Muikabochi, I can't give firm figures but I'd say the heirarchy would probably be: Suginohara Akakura Onsen Akakan Ikenotaira The Big-4 is a season pass to the 4 resorts for 60,000 The Myoko Pass is a day ticket for 3 of them, inc. a free shuttle for 4,500 Generally people refer to the village areas that sit at the bottom of each resort - Akakura, Suginosawa, etc. There's no huge concentration of concrete apartments or massive hotels as such.

Following on from other discussion here about Naeba and revenue sharing. There was a suggestion about closing Suginohara down. I think Suginohara has huge awareness as a resort and it would be a mistake to close it down. I'd like to see the companies get round the table and show a bit more co-operation. At least they started this year with the Myoko Pass, Big-4 Pass and free shuttle, so you've got to give them credit for moving in the right direction. The ideal thing would be to have a gondola linking Akakura Onsen, Akakan, Ikenotaira and Suginohara (a link to Seki Onsen would be ni

Although this article is a couple of years old I thought this was an interesting insight on Nozawa and relevant to what's happening with so many ski resorts in Japan now. A couple of obvious typos though - A 95 year old resort? Skiing introduced by an Australian? Nagano resort on slippery economic slope: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070316f1.html Basically this article seems to say that the villagers themselves are sacrificing to keep it open. But what happens when the burden gets too great and/or the village keeps depopulating? Got some comments on Myoko, Suginoh

They've been trying to offload Suginohara for years. Some locals I spoke to are worried they might eventually just close it down. They got rid of the Prince Nojiriko about 18 months ago and they used to shuttle visitors between Sugi and the hotel.

Given the season we've endured I'm quite surprised by this latest dusting. I was already preparing my blue tarp for hanami.

Ikenotaira. Some good slopes for newbies but plenty of chance to move up and challenge yourself as you go.

My father-in-law didn't have to go up on the roof once this winter to clean off snow, and that's a regular thing in this part of the world.

Nice work Scott

If you can easily change then do so. Better safe than sorry. However, that said, there could still be some big dumps in Niigata/Nagano around that time.

Ah yes, that's my big hulking beast. A very nice shot MB. I like it the perspective from that angle that makes the old caldera more obvious. Don't normally get that with the usual front on shots.

The last one looks like Myoko. Maybe taken from around Madarao? Bit hard to tell though with the other big lump in the way.