skidaisuki

If you look on the map, Furano is more or less at the dead centre of Hokkaido geographically. This means it's consistently one of the coldest places in Japan during winter. Niseko isn't exactly tropical in comparison, but Furano is colder. Other plus points for Furano? The town's a "real" place (as opposed to Hirafu, the atmosphere of which seems rather weird these days) and the scenery is beautiful - it doesn't have a Yotei-san, but on clear days you can see right across the valley towards the Daisetsuzan range and an active volcano. It is not a technically challenging mountain,

Furano looks very wintry this morning - currently minus 6 deg C and snow lying.

From the webcams, looks like light snow down to the lower slopes at Niseko this morning. Unless I'm much mistaken... SdS

Firefox all the way for me

thursday, you mean "miss nice next door" when the Yaks live next door...?

Yes, Tubby, just hang around a few years while I make my fortune. My strategy to achieve such wealth is to buy a ludicrously out-of-the-money short option on the Nikkei 225 Index. That way, if I survive the "big one" I'm instantly the richest man in town, as soon as I can dig myself out of the wreckage. I'm not entirely joking, either. Thursday - I'm sure we could get a few "gravia" idols in there, too. No worries SdS

Muika - I can think of a few ski-jos you could very accurately rename "Rubbish!" (including the exclamation mark, of course...) Just remember to prefix it with "Funky Snow Park" or something like that, and you're onto a winner You might have something there SdS

I reckon Arai would be a cool place to buy if you had a massive win on the lottery and ended up with more money than you could ever use. I'd certainly think about it - and open it up just to friends and SJ'ers who asked politely... Plus I'd do a big "re-form" and make it even more luxurious than the descriptions of it make it sound. Mixed onsen full of models and all that. SdS

Definitely looking more wintry in the coming days - at least in Hokkaido. According to forecasts, a winter weather pressure pattern with Siberian northwesterlies will be established over the northern half of Japan by next weekend. Time to tune up the planks, I reckon. SdS

Yes, you should definitely make a reservation for Christmas - if nothing else you'll have peace of mind that you won't arrive and find that you have nowhere to stay. Book whatever you can afford, as long as it isn't too far from the base lift at Hirafu. SdS

Seeing the name "Gofukubashi" on a sign always make me laugh in a puerile fashion, I must admit SdS

Looking colder up North by next weekend, with snow forecast for central Hokkaido on Saturday, night temps below freezing and day temps in single figures... Perhaps this'll be the start of winter "proper". We hope. SdS

The simple answer is Hakuba...cheap to get to from Tokyo, cheap to stay in, plenty of nightlife (at least by Japanese ski town standards) and lots of places to learn to board or ski. dallyd - I do suggest you do your own research, especially if you've not been to Japan before. People on these boards are generally friendly, but we respect the efforts of SJ to put together a lot of useful information precisely to help people in your situation. Take a look at it, and if you then have more detailed questions, we'll be happy to assist. Start with the Hakuba section. SdS

Depends what you want: If you want big, steep, Alps-type mountains and lots of varied terrain, then go to Hakuba. If you want the best quality powder and tree skiing, go to Niseko or maybe Zao. If you want a big ski area in a wilderness setting, go to Shiga Kogen. If you want a beautiful old-style onsen country town with great skiing, go to Nozawa. None of these will disappoint you in mid-January. SdS

Waiting for snow is OK. Most people spend their lives waiting for nothing. SdS

Mochiron yo.... I'm a total convert. SdS

This is a sight that cheers me greatly - even though it won't last: http://furano.miemasu.net:85/ImageViewer?Direction=Direct& Nice and cold here in Tokyo today, warming up later in the week. SdS

Every year at Hirafu - at least once, asleep BEFORE head hits pillow. I blame the classic nightas...

Superflat Hanazono ....sorry, had to make that one up...

Asahikawa and Furano are the same - but according to forecasts they will warm up again later this week. This particular cold snap won't last. Still, always good to see. SdS

It's going to be very difficult to be certain that there will be enough natural snow anywhere so early in the season, but in theory Kagura will be open, with some help from snow machines, as I think will Naeba. Otherwise you have places such as Karuizawa (the Prince Hotel) which is all artificial snow, but if you are anything other than beginners, you'd find it small, crowded and pretty boring. I suggest you stick to the turkey dinners at home that weekend, or get into Tokyo for a night out and save your energies for the full season to come. But whatever you decide, enjoy...

GN, try getting a room at Naeba during Fuji Rock and you'll experience the same "pricing model". The first year I went we spent 10,000 each per night to share a tatami room as a group of six...

Mr Wiggles - yep, must read the question....I was thinking about what are bad features and what I would try and avoid. In advance, the names of some places have put me off - I won't be specific about this, but there are a couple of places in Hakuba which are probably great, but which I would not reward with my business because they have daft names! Yes, dumb, I know... SdS

1. Overheating - you then open the window and wake up cold 2. Lack of Ofuro / onsen on premises (this is surely a "must" for any ski hotel / ryokan) 3. Crappy food and / or stingy portions - we had a bad experience at Ichinose once as well - a few pickles, an emaciated, dried-up little chunk of grilled salmon and a bowl of rice is not sufficient breakfast for a day on the slopes in sub-zero temps... SdS

Yep - the pressure charts from Tuesday show a steady northwesterly airstream from Siberia being established right across Japan. I'm sure we'll see a reversion back after that, but it's pleasing to see, anyway. GN - as in previous years, we look forward to your reports from the front line. Perhaps there'll be the first snow to village level at Hirafu. SdS