Akasawa is a small ski hill located in the south west region of Minakami town in Gunma Prefecture, close to Hoshi Onsen and the border with Niigata Prefecture... it is only about 14km from the famous Naeba ski resort in Yuzawa town just to the north. This small hill has two single lifts and a rope-tow. Akasawa used to be generally only open on weekends and holidays (and only open privately on weekdays) but this season it is also opening on many weekdays to the general public. There are a few weekdays when it will be closed and used privately - best to ask in advance.
Minakami town is separated from Yuzawa town in Niigata Prefecture to the north by the impressive Tanigawa mountain range. The nine separate ski and snowboard resorts in Minakami are quite spread out throughout the central region of the town. These maps show all of the ski and snowboard resorts in the Minakami area together. Minakami is a popular year-round destination offering a wide range of outdoor sports and activities... and the onsen hot springs are very popular too.
Gunma Prefecture is located in the north west area of Kanto region on the main island of Honshu and shares borders with Niigata Prefecture to the north and Nagano Prefecture to the west. There are over 20 ski and snowboard resorts in Gunma Prefecture and they are mainly concentrated in the northern regions of Minakami and Katashina and the western region of the Prefecture.
There is a ski school at Akasawa that offers ski lessons (but not snowboard lessons).
Equipment Rental
Ski Rental:
Not available
Snowboard Rental:
Not available
There is no ski and snowboard equipment rental available.
Children's facilities
There is a sledging area at the base area of Akasawa.
Park information
There are no special snow park facilities.
Akasawa Season & Opening Times
Typical season is from Late December until Mid March
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
Daytime
Weekends and holidays
Normally open from 8:30am until 4:30pm
Weekdays
Normally open from 8:30am until 4:30pm
'Nighta' (night skiing)
Weekends and holidays
No
Weekdays
No
Opening information
Akasawa is normally open from 8:30am until 4:30pm.
It is closed to the general public on some weekdays. The Number 2 lift does not operate on weekdays.
There is no nighta at this resort.
Private use possible each season on weekdays at a cost of 110,000 yen for 2 lifts and 70,000 yen for one lift.
Akasawa Lift Ticket Charges
Adults
Child
Elementary School age & under
Senior
55 years & over
1 Day (8:30am-4:30pm)
2,300 yen
1,500 yen
1,800 yen
Morning (8:30am-1pm)
1,500 yen
1,000 yen
1,500 yen
Afternoon (12pm-4:30pm)
1,500 yen
1,000 yen
1,500 yen
Lift 1 ride
150 yen
150 yen
150 yen
Lift 7 rides
1,000 yen
1,000 yen
1,000 yen
The lift tickets include use of the rope tow.
Rope tow only costs 1,200 yen for one day and 800 yen for a half day.
Akasawa can be 'rented' out for private use on some weekdays. For up to 99 people, it costs 110,000 yen for the two lifts and rope tow. For more than 100 people, the cost is 1,500 yen per person. The ski hill will be closed to the general public on those days. Dates when the ski hill is open for the general public will be displayed on the Akasawa website.
Applications for the private rental are now closed for the 16-17 season.
Getting to Akasawa
By public transport
Train
21.6km from Jomo Kogen Station on the Joetsu Shinkansen line
21.4km from Gokan Station on the Joetsu Line
27.1km from Numata Station on the Joetsu Line
Information
Akasawa is about 21.5km from Gokan Station in Minakami and about 27km from the larger Numata Station on the local Joetsu line.
Jomo Kogen Station on the Joetsu Shinkansen line is just under 22km from Akasawa.
There is no shuttle bus but local buses operate between Jomo Kogen Station and Sarugakyo Onsen.
Another bus operates from Sarugakyo Onsen to Hoshi Onsen (15 minutes). Get off at the Akazawa ski-jo stop.
By Car
21.9km from the Tsukiyono IC on the Kanetsu Expressway
27.1km from the Minakami IC on the Kanetsu Expressway
36.3km from the Yuzawa IC on the Kanetsu Expressway
Nearest national route: Route 17 (3.2km away)
Nearest prefecture road: Prefecture Road 261
Direction
Tsukiyono IC is the nearest exit on the Kanetsu Expressway, about 22km away.
From the Tsukiyono IC exit, turn onto Route 17 to head north - follow the signpost mentioning Niigata and Naeba. Go past Akaya-ko lake and through the Sarugakyo onsen area, and after about 17km from the IC exit follow the signs for Akasawa on the left side to head towards the base.
At the time of writing more than 40% of the ski hills in Japan have still not updated their own information for the upcoming season - even some of the larger ones! We are continuing to manually check and update information within SnowJapan on a daily basis, but for the moment things remain a mix of new and old. In most cases ski resorts open and close around the same dates each season, so even if the planned season dates shown on this page are still from the 2017-2018 season, that is usually a good indication of what to expect this time round.
For more details and explanations about the information presented on this page,
please read this.
It is very important to us that the information presented on SnowJapan is correct and up-to-date. Checks and updates are made throughout the year. If you find information that you feel needs checking and updating, please let us know by contacting us. We appreciate your support.
Ropeways
Gondolas
Quad lifts
Triple lifts
Pair lifts
Single lifts
Other
