Pascal

With kids, my advice is to not just come over for skiing. Experience a bit of Japan proper also. For that, the big resorts on Honshu are probably better than Hokkaido. Hakuba and Nozawa are my picks.

If you take your parents to Kyoto, be sure to look up Peter, the geish expert (www.kyotosightsandnights.com). He does a great late afternoon walking tour through Kyoto's geisha districts. Very enjoyable.

Had some good club nights at Metro in Kyoto myself also, a while back....

I noticed all the posts on television crews being up in Hakuba recently covering the number of foreign snow lovers in town. I was up at Pod (the mongolian yurt bar up on Goryu) yesterday, and Nagano television were there all day filming. They took some funny shots of us, and some geisha who were in Pod up from Kyoto (pretty cool). Next Saturday, they are bringing the Pod manager (Mark, a good bloke) into the studio for a live show with Japanese comedians. Everyone is going to eat a meat pie on camera - which you can buy at Pod - and ask him questions. For those in Nagano, this should be

Nice idea for an event - people should do more of that stuff

I also got filmed up at Goryu. Seems TBS were everywhere.

very sad to hear this.....we all have a responsibilty to keep other guests in this country under control - as long as it doesn't get too dangerous.....!

If you are looking to chill, then Kyoto has a lot of foreign airy fairy artistic types. You can get involved in amateur theatre, naval gazing, and competing with weird westerners who love to compete with Japanese people in who knows more Kanji comps. Very nice temples though, and a lot slower than the big smoke.

Exactly. Never a truer string of words were spoken.

"One more VERY important question, can we get hot chocolates there" You can get a hot chocolate at Pod (the yurt) on the slope at the Goryu hill - which is also connected to 47.

The Nikkei has been picking up on the foreigners in Japan ski resorts recently. Of course, Niseko is a focus, but last December they did an article on what Goryu in Hakuba had done to attract non-Japanese customers, with a piece (and photo) on Pod, the new foreign-owned bar in a yurt up on the slope. Didn't save a copy though.....

1. Oden (with sake) 2. VIP chocolate (haven't seen this for a while though)

I am going to get out of the city. Get up high for some runs, and drink a lot of beer. In Hakuba.....

As we are on Snow Japan, limiting choices to Japan...... 1. Goryu/47 2. Happo 3. Tsugaike (Nozawa comes next)

Is this a serious question? Yuzawa is closer to Tokyo, but no competition for Hakuba when it comes to ski terrain and variety. As for nightlife, I would have thought that Hakuba is way ahead.