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.

Definitely Hakuba for me. And I wouldn't restrict myself to Happo at all. Goryu/47 area is very cool.

It sounds like there is a bit of a vibe growing in Hakuba for this season. A healthy apres ski culture is good for us all! Definitely not enough in most Japanese ski resorts.

I found a site with stuff on Hakuba that might be of help - www.hakubapow.com Didn't talk about internet access though.

I heard he story that depreciation on the place would take about 100 years! It will need go at a very low price to find takers.

Word is there will be a new ski in/ski out bar opening on the slopes of Goryu this season - in a Yurt. Might be the right spice needed.

I also want to say that I like Krusty's post. Do stuff for the right reasons. Get involved because it's what you want to do and what you know about. And be sensitive to the Japanese locals. Good point about a certain country and their property market - Japanese use to think similarly about property, and look what happened here.............

I like to be balanced about these things (or try to be anyway). There are obviously both positives and negatives of the Niseko experience. Hopefully, other resort areas in Japan can learn from what has taken place in Niseko to help revitalize local economies - and this is sorely needed, but do so in a less disruptive way. I think a win-win is possible.

back to an earlier comment, isn't there a flight from Matsumoto airport to Sapporo? Almost as good as a shinkansen connection between Hakuba and Niseko!