Minowa is a ski area on the north-western slopes of Mt Adatara in Inawashiro Town in Fukushima Prefecture.
Minowa has two quad lifts and one pair lift, and the snow in a few areas is left ungroomed. It usually aims for an early season opening, with the help of artificial snow if required.
D Course is a 'self-responsibility' tree run course that finishes at the nearby old (and now closed) Yokomuki Onsen ski area. A bus is required to get back to Minowa for the trial opening. Apparently, the inspiration for the name of the new course comes from words such as 'deep, delicious, devil, dynamic and dangerous'! The course opened during the 2022-2023 season. (More information on the old Yokomuki Onsen ski area on the SnowJapanHistory website).
The Tsuchiyu Bypass (Route 115) tunnel that connects Inawashiro Town with Nihonmatsu City and Fukushima City goes under the ski slopes of Minowa.
Minowa ski area has been closed since the 2024-2025 season but it might be re-opening for the 2026-2027 season. More news as we have it!
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1500
Vertical (m)
450
Bottom/base (m)
1050
Beginner runs (%)
30
Intermediate runs (%)
50
Advanced runs (%)
20
Longest course (m)
3120
Steepest slope (°)
34
Number of courses
11
Ski lifts
3
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
2
Triple lift (3-person)
0
Pair lift (2-person)
1
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
0
Information
Lift ticket prices
To be announced
Historical snow depth data
The following ski season and official snow depth data have been independently compiled by SnowJapan for publication on this website. Where available, the data is updated annually after each ski season.
First and last dates of recent seasons
2025-2026 season: Closed
2024-2025 season: Closed
2023-2024 season: 2nd December - 24th March (113 days)
2022-2023 season: 10th December - 26th March (106 days)
2021-2022 season: 4th December - 27th March (113 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2023-2024 season: 125cm on 7th-13th February
2022-2023 season: 195cm on 11th-28th February
2021-2022 season: 260cm on 21st-24th January
2020-2021 season: 170cm on 9th and 18th-21st February
2019-2020 season: 130cm on 28th February and 6th-8th March
2018-2019 season: 180cm on 14th-19th February
2017-2018 season: 190cm on 25th January - 8th March
2016-2017 season: 250cm on 12th-16th and 21st-28th February
2015-2016 season: 90cm on 30th January - 15th February and 17th February - 2nd March
2014-2015 season: 200cm on 16th-22nd March
Resources
Weather & snowfall (Japan Meteorological Agency) [open in new window]
Introduction to the region
Fukushima Prefecture is the southernmost prefecture of the Tohoku region of northern Japan. Fukushima Prefecture borders Miyagi Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture to the north, Niigata Prefecture to the west, Gunma Prefecture to the southwest, and Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture to the south.
The majority of the ski areas in Fukushima Prefecture are in the northern region around Mt. Bandai and north of Lake Inawashiro (the fourth-largest lake in Japan), as well as in the western region of the prefecture.
About the information on this page
SnowJapan independently researches, checks and updates the information on this page at least once each year, in the lead-up to every ski season. We also update it whenever we become aware of other changes. The information published on SnowJapan is based on independent research using official Japanese-language sources and is not supplied by ski areas. If you are planning to visit a ski area, we recommend checking the official ski area website for the latest operational information. We take great care to keep the information on SnowJapan accurate and up to date. However, SnowJapan accepts no responsibility for decisions made based on information published on this website.
Learn more about how we research, check and update information on SnowJapan.