Kawaba is a ski area located in Kawaba Village in the northeastern region of Gunma Prefecture.
The base of Kawaba is at an elevation of 1,290m on the southwestern slopes of 2,158m Mt Hotaka. A large multi-story car park doubles as the main ski area base building, Kawaba City, and the ski slopes are reached from the top floor.
Kawaba is popular for its parks, 'first tracks' tour service, three off-piste areas and snowshoe tours.
This region often enjoys favourable snow conditions and a long season.
Kawaba has been operating since 1989.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1870
Vertical (m)
580
Bottom/base (m)
1290
Beginner runs (%)
20
Intermediate runs (%)
50
Advanced runs (%)
30
Longest course (m)
3300
Steepest slope (°)
34
Number of courses
10
Ski lifts
5
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
3
Triple lift (3-person)
1
Pair lift (2-person)
1
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
0
Information
Normal season dates
Kawaba usually plans to be open from early to mid-December into mid-April. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Kawaba is normally open from 8:30am until 4:00pm on weekdays and from 8:00am on Saturdays, Sundays and national holidays. In the early and late season, the ski area is open from 8:30am until 4:00pm every day.
Night skiing
There is no night skiing at Kawaba.
Park
There are four park areas at Kawaba, Flux Park, The Free Ride Park and The Surf Ride Park.
Kawaba offers a First Tracks service where you ride up to top on grooming machines before lift opening time to get in early tracks. 2,000 yen for just the first tracks; 7,600 yen for a 1 day lift ticket and First Tracks. Optional tours are also available.
There are also four Off The Piste areas (OTP I, OTP II, OTP III, OTP IV). The ski areas asks for people to view a video, sign a document and wear and armband to enter.
Families & children
The free First Step Gelaende area is located at the base of the ski area, just outside the Kawaba City building. Entry to just this area is 2,000 yen (or free with a valid one day or half day ski lift ticket).
Lessons
Ski and snowboard lessons are available at Kawaba.
Rental
Ski and snowboard equipment & wear rental is available at Kawaba. Other facilities are also available in the Kawaba City base building.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day (weekends & holidays)
Adult: 6,800 yen
Child: 2,500 yen
Seniors: 6,200 yen
1 day (weekday)
Adult: 6,500 yen
Child: 2,500 yen
Seniors: 6,000 yen
5 hours
Adult: 6,300 yen
Seniors: 5,600 yen
10 hours
Adult: 12,400 yen
Seniors: 10,8000 yen
20 hours
Adult: 24,400 yen
Seniors: 21,4000 yen
1 lift coupon
Adult: 800 yen
Lift tickets on a handful of peak days during the season are more expensive (7,300 yen) than the normal weekend lift ticket prices.
The 5, 10 and 20 hour tickets can be used in units of one hour throughout the 2025-2026 season.
Cheaper tickets are available online and during the early and late season.
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: 6th December - 19th April (135 days)
2024-2025 season: 11th December - 20th April (131 days)
2023-2024 season: 2nd December - 21st April (142 days)
2022-2023 season: 10th December - 9th April (121 days)
2021-2022 season: 4th December - 24th April (142 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2025-2026 season: 220cm on 10th-24th February
2024-2025 season: 330cm on 25th-27th February
2023-2024 season: 200cm on 13th-15th and 21st-24th March
2022-2023 season: 240cm on 15th February - 9th March
2021-2022 season: 320cm on 23rd February - 11th March
2020-2021 season: 250cm on 9th February - 5th March
2019-2020 season: 240cm on 27th February - 1st March and 6th-8th March
2018-2019 season: 260cm on 10th-28th February
2017-2018 season: 280cm on 18th February - 1st March
2016-2017 season: 310cm on 23rd February - 1st March
2015-2016 season: 210cm on 12th-15th February and 2nd-5th March
2014-2015 season: 350cm on 3rd-15th March
Resources
Weather & snowfall (Japan Meteorological Agency) [open in new window]
Introduction to the region
Gunma Prefecture is located in the northwestern part of the Kanto region on the main island of Honshu. It is one of eight landlocked prefectures in Japan. Gunma is surrounded by Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture to the north, Nagano Prefecture to the west, Tochigi Prefecture to the east, and Saitama Prefecture to the south.
The ski areas of Gunma are largely found in the northern region (Minakami Town, Kawaba Village and Katashina Village) and the western region (Kusatsu Town and Tsumagoi Village).
The region east of Minakami Town and northeast of Numata City comprises Kawaba Village and Katashina Village. There are several ski areas in this region's mountains, all accessible from the main Route 120 road from central Numata. The road is also known as the Nihon Romantic Highway. It continues east towards Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture, but the prefectural border section of the road is closed during the main winter season.
Kawaba ski area is the only ski area in the Kawaba Village.
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.
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