SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted February 4 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted February 4 Japanese ski area news & developments 2023-2024 season Significant ski area news and developments that we hear about from around Japan. Additional information is reported on the individual ski area pages within SnowJapan as they are checked and updated every year (mainly from September through December). Important: We do not publish rumours, press releases or marketing promotions. Most ski area news is usually announced from September through December. SnowJapan is not a news organisation, and we cannot cover everything; our priority is developing our own information/website. If you know of any ski area-related information that might be of interest, we would be happy to hear from you. Contact us here. The news presented on this page is just a selection of information posted on the individual ski area pages within SnowJapan. Latest update on 2nd October 2023 (details below) New pair lift to connect Alts Bandai with Urabandai Nekoma [Fukushima Prefecture] Sugadaira installs artificial snow-making machines and plans to open in October [Nagano Prefecture] Gokase Highland closed for 2023-2024 season (due to nearby typhoon damage) [Miyazaki Prefecture] Alts Bandai and Nekoma officially become Hoshino Resorts Nekoma Mountain [Fukushima Prefecture] Snow Resort Nekoyama will be closed during the 2023-2024 season [Hiroshima Prefecture] New pulse gondola lift at Kusatsu Onsen to open for the 2023-2024 season [Gunma Prefecture] Two more lifts re-opening at White Resort Hakuba Sanosaka [Nagano Prefecture] Snow Cruise Onze will not be using snow-making machines this season [Hokkaido] Tsuguro Kogen will be closed during the 2023-2024 season [Okayama Prefecture] Memuro Shin Arashiyama Sky Park will be closed during the 2023-2024 season [Hokkaido] Kijimadaira to change official name to Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama [Nagano] Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted February 4 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted February 4 New pair lift to connect Alts Bandai with Urabandai Nekoma The top of Hoshino Resorts Alts Bandai and Hoshino Resorts Urabandai Nekoma ski areas are geographically close - but not connected. In recent years, a 'walk route' has been available, and there have been rumours of plans for a new ski lift. Hoshino Resorts (operator of both ski areas) has announced plans for the new ski lift this week. It will go from the top of the Black Valley Express quad at Alts Bandai to the top of the Excite Cat Chair at Urabandai Nekoma, about 785m. This new pair lift will be constructed this year and plans to make its debut in December 2023. Interesting news! More details will be available later. Ski area information on SnowJapan: https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/fukushima/bandai/hoshino-resorts-alts-bandai https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/fukushima/kita-shiobara/hoshino-resorts-urabandai-nekoma Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted August 3 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted August 3 Sugadaira is planning to open on 21st October 2023 New snow-making machines installed Sugadaira Snow Resort in Nagano Prefecture plans to make headlines this year by opening as soon as 21st October. The early opening date comes thanks to 4 newly-installed French-made (MND SNOW) artificial snow-making machines, apparently the first of their kind in Japan. The run that plans to open is the 450m Family Course in the central Taro area of the resort. They plan to start 'making snow' from sometime in mid-September (next month!) More information on the link below coming soon. Ski area information on SnowJapan: https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/nagano/ueda/sugadaira-kogen-snow-resort Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted August 3 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted August 3 Gokase Highland closed for 2023-2024 season (due to nearby typhoon damage) Gokase Highland（五ヶ瀬ハイランドスキー場）in Gokase (Miyazaki) will not be opening for the 2023-2024 season. The ski area was closed last season (2022-2023) due to a powerful typhoon causing damage to the access road. Unfortunately, the road has not been fixed sufficiently, and it has been announced that the ski area will not be opening for the 2023-2024 winter season. Gokase Highland is the most southerly ski area in Japan. We wish them well and hope to see them back next year. Ski area information on SnowJapan: https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/miyazaki/gokase/gokase-highland Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted August 11 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted August 11 Alts Bandai and Nekoma officially become 'Hoshino Resorts Nekoma Mountain' Earlier, we reported a new ski lift being built to connect Hoshino Resorts Alts Bandai and Hoshino Resorts Nekoma. The two ski areas will effectively 'merge' from the coming season to become Hoshino Resorts Nekoma Mountain. The new name in Japanese is 星野リゾート ネコマ マウンテン The relevant information within SnowJapan will be updated within the coming week. Updated here (15th August 2023): https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/fukushima/bandai/hoshino-resorts-nekoma-mountain Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted September 1 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted September 1 Snow Resort Nekoyama will not be opening during the 2023-2024 season The management of Snow Resort Nekoyama in Hiroshima Prefecture have announced that the ski area will not be opening for the 2023-2024 season. Reasons given include unreliable weather in recent years, the effect of the last few years of the coronavirus situation, rising costs and ageing facilities. Snow Resort Nekoyama https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/hiroshima/shobara/snow-resort-nekoyama Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted September 1 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted September 1 New pulse gondola lift at Kusatsu Onsen to open for the 2023-2024 season A new 'pulse gondola' lift is currently being built at Kusatsu Onsen ski area in Gunma Prefecture. The new lift is in the ski area's lower section, and two nearby pair lifts will be removed. It will be ready to open for the 2023-2024 winter season. More information will be added to the Kusatsu Onsen page on SnowJapan in the coming weeks. Kusatsu Onsen https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/gunma/kusatsu/kusatsu-onsen Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted September 6 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted September 6 Two more lifts re-opening at Hakuba Sanosaka For the 2022-2023 winter season, one quad lift and one pair lift were operating at White Resort Hakuba Sanosaka. Some good news just in! For the 2023-2024 season, the 875m Number 3 quad lift and the 370m Number 5 pair lift will also be re-opening. White Resort Hakuba Sanosaka https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/nagano/hakuba/hakuba-sanosaka Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted September 11 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted September 11 Snow Cruise Onze will not be using snow-making machines this season Snow Cruize Onze in Hokkaido usually plans to open in the middle of November with the help of snow making machines. The ski area has announced that those machines will not be used this season, and that they are instead aiming for an opening sometime in the middle of December 2023. Snow Cruise Onze https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/hokkaido/otaru/snow-cruise-onze Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted September 19 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted September 19 Tsuguro Kogen will not be opening during the 2023-2024 season The management of Tsuguro Kogen in Okayama Prefecture have announced that the ski area will not be opening for the 2023-2024 season. Reasons for the closure include a lack of enough available staff to operate safely. It is currently unclear if there is a chance of re-opening in the future. Tsuguro Kogen https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/okayama/maniwa/tsuguro-kogen Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted Thursday at 12:04 AM Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted Thursday at 12:04 AM Shin Arashiyama Memuro Sky Park will not be opening during the 2023-2024 season The management of Memuro Shin Arashiyama Memuro Sky Park in Hokkaido have announced that the ski area will not be opening for the 2023-2024 season. Specific reasons are unclear, but the decision appears to be permanent. Memuro Shin Arashiyama Memuro Sky Park https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/hokkaido/memuro/memuro Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 177 Posted yesterday at 01:24 AM Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted yesterday at 01:24 AM Kijimadaira to change official name to Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama The Kijimadaira Ski Area in northern Nagano is going for a very interesting name change soon. The new name comes from the title of a famous song from 1993 performed by Kohmi Hirose. The song is called ロマンスの神様 (Romance no Kamisama, or 'The Cupid of Romance', literally 'The God of Romance'). It was used by the Alpen sports shop chain in commercials and has since become synonymous with the winter season, helping earn the singer the nickname 冬の女王 (Winter Queen). Here's the song on YouTube. Anyway the new name for the ski area is going to be Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama スノーリゾートロマンスの神様. Quite how that works in reality and whether they choose to also add any English in the name remains to be seen, as do full details. For the moment, the ski area will remain Kijimadaira on SnowJapan, but we will change this when full details are known. Kijimadaira (soon to be Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama) https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/nagano/kijimadaira/kijimadaira Link to post Share on other sites
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