I'm new here and I've been on the forum since last night, spending hours reading through some of these threads. Some great discussions going on.
Just to add to this one. Last year I was persuaded by a friend (active on this forum I believe, one of the heavy posting dudes I just found out) to go early to Shiga Kogen. We went, the main disappointment was that the snow sucked big time, and there wasn't much of it. It rained all day. Not all of it was open, cafes etc were closed, it was like a ghost town.
Generally the experience sucked. It spoilt the experience of my first ride in