Welcome to the new SnowJapan.
Whether you're visiting for the first time or returning after many years, welcome.
What you are reading is a major renewal of the site. While previous redesigns introduced significant changes, this project involved rethinking every part of SnowJapan.
The aim was not simply to give the site a new look. Instead, we wanted to simplify the experience, improve the organisation of information and make it easier to discover both the depth of content built up over more than 25 years and the extensive new information added for this redesign.
Although there is considerably more information throughout the site than before, one of our aims was to make SnowJapan feel simpler rather than more complicated. We hope that many of the changes make the site easier to use, while the additional depth becomes apparent as you spend more time exploring.
Our core information and many familiar features remain, but every section has been reviewed, refined or expanded. Many of these changes have involved months of planning, checking, rewriting and refining. While readers will naturally notice the new design first, much of the work has gone into improving the quality, consistency, and depth of information across the site.
Below is an overview of some of the more significant changes. It is by no means a complete list—we hope you enjoy discovering the rest for yourself.
Design and navigation
The most obvious change is the design.
The new layout is cleaner, more compact and easier to navigate. Every page has been redesigned with consistency and readability in mind.
One thing that has not changed is the SnowJapan identity. The logos and icons introduced in the previous major redesign remain, providing a familiar visual link between the old and new site.
The site structure has also been completely reorganised. Navigation has been simplified, related content has been grouped together more logically, and many pages have been reworked to reduce unnecessary complexity.
If you have been visiting SnowJapan for many years, some things may initially be unfamiliar. We hope, however, that the new structure quickly feels natural.
Ski area information
The Ski area section has seen extensive development.
As well as the usual prefecture listings and popular area guides, six new search and filter tools make it much easier to discover ski areas across Japan. A range of new charts and visualisations also provide new ways of exploring the data.
Individual ski area pages now include considerably more historical information, including actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons, the length of seasons in days, and, for around 350 ski areas, the dates on which the greatest snow depth was reported in each season.
Many other improvements have been made across the section.
Ski area information for the 2026-2027 season will be updated between September and December 2026.
A new addition to this section is the Inactive Ski Areas section, which brings together ski areas that are no longer operating or have recently closed. This helps to cover a grey area between currently operating ski areas and those that are now fully defunct.
Daily reports
Our Now reports have also been simplified, but beneath that simpler presentation there is more data—and more ways to explore the data we have collected since 2012.
Every individual Now report now includes a daily snapshot statistics panel. Updated each day, it summarises how the season has developed to that point, including total snowfall, snowfall days and monthly snowfall totals.
This feature has also been added to every archived report, allowing readers to see exactly how each season unfolded day by day.
Each Now section also includes a new Data & Archives area containing detailed seasonal statistics together with new snowfall charts and visualisations.
Insights
Insights is an entirely new section.
It introduces several hundred charts and data visualisations based on ski area information and snowfall data published on SnowJapan over many years.
If you enjoy exploring statistics and trends, this is where you can really dig into the data.
(Nerd alert!)
Guides and About
Every Guide has been reviewed, rewritten and expanded.
The About section has also been completely revised, offering more background on SnowJapan, the people behind it and the philosophy that continues to guide the project.
Looking ahead
So basically, yes — it’s still the same SnowJapan, but it’s also all new.
SnowJapan has never been a project that stands still.
This redesign is a major update to SnowJapan, and further improvements and new ideas will continue.
In the months leading up to the 2026–2027 winter season, our focus will be on updating ski area information across Japan and preparing for another season of daily reporting.
We look forward to sharing another winter season with you.