DayTripper

I think's there's been one manners in most of the Japanese ski resorts I've been too. eg: Rokuroshi in Fukui. They're not limited to Japan of course - eastern Europe still has a few kicking around eg in Vogel, Slovenia:

Legality and morality are two very different things. Yes it's illegal - but I would be very suprised if anyone commenting can claim to have never broken the law. But morally wrong - I don't agree. As that ticket cannot be refunded - I don't see why it's morally wrong for that time to be shared between two people. Just because it's illegal doesn't mean it's morally wrong. It's not about 'getting away with what ever you can' - we're not talking about lift pass drops (which allows multiple people to go skiing on one pass). A full day's use of the ski lifts has been paid for -

Along the same lines - what do you feel about giving away parking tickets? eg - in many car parks in the UK, you might have to buy a ticket for say 3 hours, even if you only want to park for 30 mins. It's quite common for people who still have some time left on their ticket to give them away to other drivers. (although they are clamping down on this by making you enter your reg. number now). However - the principal is the same - you've paid for 3 hours of parking, but have only used 30 minutes. Therefore, why shouldn't you pass your slot on to someone who can use it. I think i

are you sure that's in Ishikawa? I lived in the hokuriku area for 2 years but never heard of anywhere like that in Ishikawa! - please don't tell me it passed me by!

I somtimes used to buy a ticket from a Japanese person who were coming off the slopes at some of the bigger resorts at midday - if I was just going up for an afternoon. I know that tickets are supposed to be non-transferable - but in terms of lift use - the net effect is the same. ie two people using the lifts for a half day each - rather than one person using them for a full day. Also - resorts don't tend to offer tickets for mornings only (no way to enforce it) so I don't feel this practice is morally wrong. However - I never ever sell my tickets as I keep them all as souven

I did a search on the forums but couldn't find any threads on this topic. I'd like to know, which ski resorts in Japan keep their lifts running for longest - ie where are the best places for spring skiing? I've heard tell of somewhere in north Honshu that doesn't even open its lifts until spring - because it gets so much snow! - anyone know if this is true? cheers

Could anyone recomend a Ryokan or similar style accomodation in Sapporo please? Ideally somewhere reasonably central, and cheap(ish). thanks

Domo Ezorisu - that's what I needed. cheers

I'm just after pure infomation, nothing more, nothing less - lived in Japan for 2 years - and am not planning on coming back for a while. Anyone know the nearest ski area from Sapporro centre is, and how long it would take to get there?

no takers? Does your local resort have any nice designs?

They're all good places - but as many on this forum know - small is often beautiful when it comes to snowboarding/skiing - I've had my best days at ski areas that probably wouldn't even make the Top 500 in the world...

Hi, I'm looking for info on ski areas that are within a 30 min bus ride/train trip from any largish city. I know that Japan has a habit of calling places cities, that most other countries would call towns, so I'm only looking really for the larger cities, that genuinely deserve the title of city. Any info to potential ski areas appreciated. thanks

Anyone know of any cool Japanese ski/snowboard t-shirts or hoodies available on the web? I bought a really cool shirt from a small ski resort called Ski Jam a few years ago, and wouldn't mind getting a few more different designs, but haven't really seen many about. Doesn't have to be resort specific, just something with a Japan snow/ski/snowboard theme to it.... If anyone knows of any, please gimme a hollah! domo

IMHO - there's not a huge amount of different between two mid price snowboards... Probably more important just to get one that suits you (ie correct flex, sidecut, size etc) - and the brand should be a secondary consideration. Saying that- my Option board has lasted over 5 years - so I can vouch for their robustness.

That's the best thing I've ever seen that is made in Taiwan

HotRod - I've got to disagree with you there - I don't think that the closing of the local ski-jo is a good thing. I think it's an inevitable thing - but I don't see why it's good. You might argue that with less competition from the small players, the big ones will have a more secure future- with is true to some extent - but then it will also mean a lot less people go skiing/snowboarding at all. For example - if your local hill opens on weekdays and is just a 30 minute drive - you're likey to frequent it several times a season. If that closes down- and only the big ski ar

Would have expected to see a lot more of the Japanese resorts in there.

One of the saddest things I noticed during my couple of years in Japan was the decline of the small, local resort, for local people. Many of the ski-jos in my area were downsizing (closing lifts), opening less (eg went from night skiing everyday to only at weekends) or closing down all together. It's a sad fact that these little places just can't afford to stay in business anymore, and when the time comes to replace a lift or buy new rental gear or something - the new investment just isn't worth it - and it's sayonara ski-jo... I think over the next 10 years or so, a lot of the

Big-Will -thanks for the link - that's a very useful list, cheers

@ TB - I wouldn't exactly say it's local - but Aviemore and Glenshee are the closest to me at about 3 hours drive away.

Really interesting to hear how SJ all came about - some great insights. Good luck and thanks

Wow - who have thunk it? I'm suprised Scotland's not in there too though. It will cost you close to £30 ($60) for a day pass, and often half the lift are closed due to high winds!

Hi All, I'm looking to spend part of next winter touring some of Japan's ski resorts, and I wanted to see what everyone thought were the best places to check out. I've spent some time in Japan previously, but I mainly went to the small, less well known ski resorts (which were great, but limited). What I'm looking for is a list of the 25 absolute best places to visit, in your opinion. I know there are a hell of a lot of resorts in Japan, and I know even the small ones can be great, but thinking in terms of someone who hasn't got much time, which would you consider to be the crea