Gunma Minakami Hodaigi, often known as just Hodaigi, is located on the north-western slopes of Mt Hotaka in Minakami Town in the northern region of Gunma Prefecture.
Hodaigi has a base at 830m, with two quad lifts (1194m, 1515m) and four pair lifts (530m, 519m, 872m, 675m) currently servicing the 16 ski runs. The top of the Number 9 quad lift is at an elevation of 1400m. The Eagle course off the Number 7 pair lift has a steepest gradient of 40 degrees. A few runs are normally left ungroomed and two new tree run courses were recently opened.
This ski area opened in 1979 and, for most of the time, was known as Minakami Hodaigi, with the characters written in kanji characters. In November 2021, a new look was unveiled with the updated name. In 2025, on its official website the ski area also calls itself Hodaigi Mountain Resort in English characters.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1400
Vertical (m)
570
Bottom/base (m)
830
Beginner runs (%)
30
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
30
Longest course (m)
2600
Steepest slope (°)
40
Number of courses
16
Ski lifts
6
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
2
Triple lift (3-person)
0
Pair lift (2-person)
4
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
0
Information
Normal season dates
Hodaigi usually plans to be open from mid-December until late March or early April. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Gunma Minakami Hodaigi is normally open from 8:30am until 4:30pm.
Night skiing
There is no night skiing at this area.
Tree runs
Two new tree run areas - called NT and Crane - were opened for the 2024-2025 season. The snow on some other runs is left ungroomed.
Families & children
The Kids Land area and close to the main base. There is a snow escalator and is suitable for sledding and playing in the snow activities. Entry to Kids Land is 1,000 yen. The charge includes use of the snow escalator and sleds.
There is a (charged) child care facility available called Snow Fairy. It is suitable for young children from 6 months to 6 years and usually open on weekends and holidays.
Lessons
Ski and snowboard lessons are available at Gunma Minakami Hodaigi.
Rental
Ski and snowboard equipment & wear rental is available at the main base Centre House building. That building also has restaurants, changing rooms, coin lockers and other base facilities.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day
Adult: 6,900 yen
Child: 4,200 yen
Senior: 6,300 yen
5 hours
Adult: 6,500 yen
10 hours
Adult: 11,500 yen
20 hours
Adult: 21,500 yen
1 lift coupon
Adult: 800 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 70,000 yen
Child: 2,300 yen
Senior: 55,000 yen
An IC Card returnable deposit of 500 yen is required for all lift tickets.
Cheaper lift tickets are available during the early season until 19th December 2025.
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: 13th December - 29th March (107 days)
2024-2025 season: 14th December - 30th March (107 days)
2023-2024 season: 22nd December - 31st March (101 days)
2022-2023 season: 18th December - 2nd April (106 days)
2021-2022 season: 18th December - 3rd April (107 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2025-2026 season: 180cm on 10th-25th February
2024-2025 season: 300cm on 20th February - 5th March
2023-2024 season: 140cm on 26th January - 23rd March
2022-2023 season: 180cm on 11th-15th January and 25th January - 7th March
2021-2022 season: 330cm on 23rd February - 2nd March
2020-2021 season: 220cm on 21st December - 3rd January and 9th-14th January
2019-2020 season: 125cm on 12th-13th February
2018-2019 season: 270cm on 30th January - 3rd February
2017-2018 season: 230cm on 20th-28th February
2016-2017 season: 260cm on 22nd February - 8th March
2015-2016 season: 150cm on 11th-14th February
2014-2015 season: 270cm on 16th-24th February
Resources
Weather & snowfall (Japan Meteorological Agency) [open in new window]
SnowJapan Directory: accommodation listings in the region
Tenjin Lodge Minakami (about 16.9km)
Hoshi Onsen Chojukan (about 40.1km)
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).
Minakami Town is the most northerly town in Gunma, with Yuzawa Town in Niigata Prefecture to the north, separated by the Tanigawa mountain range. Minakami is a popular year-round destination offering a wide range of outdoor sports, activities and onsen hot springs.
Hodaigi is one of 7 ski areas currently operating in Minakami Town.
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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