dale#1 1 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 A bit of a negative title perhaps but I was just reading the other hakuba/olympics thread and wondering where might not be so ugly! The nicest place I have experienced I think was Nozawa. Any other "nice ski villages" out there that might be called pretty? Link to post Share on other sites
mattlucas 0 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 It's not a negative title Japanese towns are ugly. That's the truth. Arai looked like it was built with some planning involved. The base area is much like a western resort. Nozawa is a beautiful little village but I don't think there was any planning. That is just by chance that it looks good. Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Second Nozawa. Think the atomosphere around there is the most beautiful. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Other than Nozawa, that's about it. Arai is nice and modern but it doesn't feel particularly Japanese. Most other places are indeed a mess unfortunately. The snow is often forgiving though (ie. covers up a lot of mess). In summer they look much worse when all the shells of abandoned cars etc suddenly appear. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Actually I think I remember Akakura (Myoko) not being too bad (but then again hardly on the level of a pretty Swiss village). Link to post Share on other sites
daver 0 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 zao is a pretty place. it is nestled up in the mountain with several old ryokan and onsen throughout the village. the concrete, although present, is kept to a minimum. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 but arai isnt a town its hotel the town is way down the road. I like nozawa but the restaurants i used to like all closed down. ans there are too many o miyage shops and too many dead ends without signage. I still have trouble finding parking areas at times. Link to post Share on other sites
Rag-Doll 0 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Nozawa gets my vote as well. I haven't seen anything else like it in Japan. Echigo Yuzawa is butt ugly but still not a bad little place. I think I'd prefer it over most of the hotel/resort complexes, except of course Arai with its spa facilities, which puts it in a different league altogether. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboarding-sam 0 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Shiga Kogen area is pretty... there's just nothing to do there. That probably has a lot to do with the fact it is a national park I suppose. Link to post Share on other sites
housewife 0 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Nozawa is nice place. I like Madarao also. Link to post Share on other sites
joshnii 2 Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I like Zao too, a bit like Nozawa in some ways. Having said that, neither can of course compete with picture postcard places in Europe and the like. Link to post Share on other sites
mina2 6 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Hows the niseko village? Link to post Share on other sites
lin 0 Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 It would of course be really good if they were prettier, but I can't say I'm that bothered. What needs to be sorted better is access between resorts and things like that. Link to post Share on other sites
damian 0 Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 The least ugly Japanese snow town I went to was Aomori. It seemed a nice place. Nozawa also. Japan has the ugliest towns and cities I have ever seen, no question, they are horrible. Although some of the industrial and poor farming towns of far north Italy are pretty bad as well, almost reminded me of Japan. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 Spud is right, it's the whole country, not just the ski towns. Aside from being a virtually-unplanned mishmash, many ski towns are quite run down. I think this is because they're having financial difficulties which are just getting worse as energy costs soar. Nozawa has the same problems, in spite of being a nice onsen town that gets people like my mother-in-law going all year round. Its not much of a ski field, but Karuizawa isn't a mess. It has lots of cafes, restaurants, and shops if that's your thing, half a dozen golf courses, a good range of accom, and one of those outlet malls. It sees most of its visitors in summer, but it must be quite nice in winter too. As for resort complex resorts I've been to, I prefer Kiroro to Arai. Link to post Share on other sites
RobotChicken 0 Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Quote: which are just getting worse as energy costs soar Have they increased enough to make that much of a big difference? Link to post Share on other sites
Hokkaidough 4 Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Places like Arai shouldn't really count as they are the resort not the town. Kiroro too. Other than that a lot of run down messes around. Of course, don't really care when I'm on the snow. Link to post Share on other sites
NoFakie 45 Posted July 4, 2006 Share Posted July 4, 2006 Quote: Originally posted by RobotChicken: Quote: which are just getting worse as energy costs soar Have they increased enough to make that much of a big difference? Kero has almost doubled in two years. Even a small place will use thousands of liters. Prices haven't gone up, so they must be taking a hit. Link to post Share on other sites
fukdane 2 Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 Doubled? Wow, I hadn't realised it had increased that much. They must be hurting. Link to post Share on other sites
snowboard 0 Posted November 25, 2006 Share Posted November 25, 2006 Karuizawa ain't a mess. Pity about the snowboarding though Link to post Share on other sites
Warrick 0 Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Hirafu might be quite good when the building is done Link to post Share on other sites
rach 1 Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 Ah, but will it be a "Japanese ski village"? Link to post Share on other sites
Oyuki kigan 0 Posted November 27, 2006 Share Posted November 27, 2006 No shit, eh? I find it kind of repulsive that a culture with such a beautiful landscape and native architecture feels the need to (badly) copy european and north american designs. why is there only ONE(?) nice Japanese-slyle resort? I think that ski-culture (including apres) and a traditional japanese village (with a few small changes) would blend wonderfully. Link to post Share on other sites
ortwin 0 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Nozawa, what else. But even in Nozawa you will find many ugly buildings, built of concrete and with no sense for the surroundings. Link to post Share on other sites
slimeypete 0 Posted November 28, 2006 Share Posted November 28, 2006 Snow does it's part to pretty places up Link to post Share on other sites
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