As in recent seasons, SnowJapan will once again be making daily checks on early ski area openings from October through mid-December 2026. It’s always an exciting time of the year, even if most ski areas in Japan only open much later in mid to late December!
The early openings will be covered in this news topic.
We will be adding planned opening dates and updating them as actual openings are confirmed. We will check this information every day and update this page regularly. In previous seasons, we have found ourselves making changes multiple times on some days.
In the meantime, you can check the actual opening dates of ski areas around Japan over the last five seasons here:
Ski areas usually try to open around the same time each season, so these dates can be used as a rough guideline as to what to expect.
Expect the first ski area to open in late October (but don't expect natural snow).
Also, please be sure to check out our Guide page regarding the ski season in Japan: