TheOriginalMyoko

Is that a bunch of mates Hotaka? Nice to see some action.

The only area I really avoid is the Ichinose bit in the middle - often swarming with school trips and not the most fun area either.

Do tell more stemik! Love that mountain.

I recall around -10 for Minamiuonuma in peak. The shorter (or at least not-much-snow season will have brought the numbers down further).

I don't mind Daddies but it is very different (and not as good as) HP.

I really do dislike that. TALK! for heavens sake.

Driving would be fun and not really difficult. All of the main routes have English 'subtitles' and if you got an English map before you came you could really plan it all down to details. Seems that you do want to see a fair few places. If you don't want as much travel as what is being suggested you could get a lot of out of just Nagano - there's a lot of choice and variation all within reach.

Anyone here have much respect for many politicians? I used to perhaps naively have some but it has all but evaporated with scandal after scandal. Their glib promises and the like just come across. Perhaps they go into it with good intentions... but what happens? There's a run of stories in the UK at the moment about claims that pols have made. Here's the list just take a look: Quote: Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Michelle Gildernew, Pat Doherty and Conor Murphy claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament Douglad A

It's quite startling just how things have changed so dramatically isn't it? Like from one extreme to the other.......

Yes the station area is pretty grim. That really could do with some attention.

Well we should all know by now that Japan just loves it's biggest, longest, widest, tallest, anything-ist boasts however flimsy the reality may be.

But aren't the lines above ground because of earthquakes....

The longest run is just one of those 'facts we can boast about' but not much substance if you ask me..... sure doesn't excite me much anyways.

Yes. A long time back now though!

That sounds like a top trip. Well done on you for planning that lot. You're going to find it hard to top it.

First one for me was Nozawa. Still really like that place.

Skiing

I have lived in Niigata (and a short time in Yamagata) for 23 years now and remember Myoko when I first came. It sure was different. Seeing it now is actually quite sad in many ways. Like Yuzawa during the boom years it was just flying off and people were making more money than they could fit in their pockets. I know some lodge owners who flew to the US for 5 days trips in first class and spent ridiculous amounts of money, often simply wasting it. Unfortunately, a real complacency set it. People thought it would carry on forever without actually putting much effort in. It didn't. And t