johnferris 0 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Hey all I'm keen to try Japan out this season - unfortunately I can only go over Christmas / New years for a coupla weeks. Meeting a bunch of mates there (all good boarders) from diff countries Can anyone tell me where is the best resort for this time of year - and if theres much hope of getting good snow? Priorities for us are (in this order): - Fresh snow - Cool area (bit of a Japanese experience would be great . . . i.e. not all foreigners if poss) - Somewhere to go out for a few beers - Hot springs Thanks in advance for any advice! J Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Haro By Christmas New Year places should all be open with nice fresh snow. (If they aren't it's a real bad season). Just one thing from your uncle gg, if you don't want "all foreigners", it might be an idea to avoid Niseko. I'd toodle on down to Nozawa or somewhere like that. Link to post Share on other sites
sakebomb 0 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 You could try the local mountains around here they fit all the priorities Priorities for us are (in this order): - Fresh snow - - usually plenty - Cool area (bit of a Japanese experience would be great . . . i.e. not all foreigners if poss) - hardly any foriegners (nihingo a must) - Somewhere to go out for a few beers - plenty of snack bars and a couple of soaplands - Hot springs - a few hotsprings But it is a very big place, maybe youd be disappointed. Maybe try Honshu, it has plenty of areas or you could try further north of Hokkaido eg Tomamu, Rusutsu etc. Have a look around at the resort listings here there is a tonne of info that might help. As well as the advice youll get!! Link to post Share on other sites
ROM 0 Posted May 25, 2005 Share Posted May 25, 2005 Theres a LOT of reading but these are a good source of info and ideas, really helping me http://www.snowjapan.com/e/voice/review.php Link to post Share on other sites
slimeypete 0 Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 How far are you from the niseko region sakebomb? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 slimeypete, Hakodate to Niseko is about 2-3 hours by car...SB, is that bout right if I remember? Link to post Share on other sites
sakebomb 0 Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Yeah Yama, about 3 hours in summer, winter it can vary depending on snow and ice anything from 3-5 hrs. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 my trip from Niseko to Hakodate was a tad bit impared by different substances - I lost the plot Link to post Share on other sites
charlotte 0 Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 I've got some friends coming over to Nagano over Christmas and New Year so I hope it's a good start to the next season. Link to post Share on other sites
echineko 1 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 I didn't think it was so far - Hokkaido bigger than I imagine! Link to post Share on other sites
sakebomb 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 Hokkaido is bigger than I thought. The main problem is the 50km/h speed limit, unless you use the freeway/breal the speed limit. Which doesn't start until about an 1 1/2 from here!! Link to post Share on other sites
slimeypete 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 Thats country roads right? How will that new shink affect things? Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 noz is nice but hakuba and noz need a big 1.5 meter storm or 2+meters of snow to open up the trees. The brush and hush need to get pushed down. Link to post Share on other sites
sakebomb 0 Posted May 30, 2005 Share Posted May 30, 2005 Quote: Thats country roads right? It's either that or the tollway, 2 choices from Hakodate (In winter the tollway tends to be closed a bit, so sometimes 1 choice)!! Apparently Hokkaido has a high road fatality rate which I think could be attributed to the 50km/h limit. It is pretty frustrating and hard to maintain (Also why I have a radar detector). The Shink is a few years away yet but should be cool. Not sure about them in the snow though, occasionally the trains get stopped too!! Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 Quote: radar detector Are those things actually legal? Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted May 31, 2005 Share Posted May 31, 2005 The shink in niigata doesn't seem to ever stop because of the snow (admittedly the main snow area in yuzawa region is mostly through tunnels...) Link to post Share on other sites
2pints-mate 0 Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 Are Christmas/New Year really really busy? Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted June 1, 2005 Share Posted June 1, 2005 Quote: Originally posted by 2pints,mate: Are Christmas/New Year really really busy? Considering thats one of only 3 vacations a year that most salarymen get, Id say just a tad Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted June 2, 2005 Share Posted June 2, 2005 Busy yes. Very in popular places. Link to post Share on other sites
wendy-cake 0 Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 In my experience NY is much much busier than Christmas (when many people aren't even on holiday). Having said that it looks like this year Christmas is at a weekend... Link to post Share on other sites
I'm Sexy 0 Posted June 5, 2005 Share Posted June 5, 2005 Yes I think this year will be more busy because weekend. If weekday Christmas is not so usually that busy. But New Year time is busy. Link to post Share on other sites
scouser 4 Posted June 6, 2005 Share Posted June 6, 2005 Damn. I like it when Christmas is middle of the week. Link to post Share on other sites
tool 0 Posted June 10, 2005 Share Posted June 10, 2005 I went this last Christmas and it wasn't busy at all, just like a normal weekday actually. New Year was real busy though. Link to post Share on other sites
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