The Kijima Snow Park is a ski area located on the northern slopes of Mt Kosha in Yamanouchi Town in the north-eastern region of Nagano Prefecture.
Until December 2023 this ski area was known as Makinoiri Kogen Snow Park. Curiously, in Japanese, the 'The' in the name remains written in English characters.
This ski area has seen many changes over recent years and even been closed at times.
Over the last few seasons, there have been various adjustments to which lifts operate.
At one time, there were five individual ski areas on this mountain. Not too long ago, there was an ambitious plan to promote them collectively as Mt Kosha, with an all-mountain shared lift pass. The ski areas are (north to south clockwise) The Kijima Snow Park, Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama (previously known as Kijimadaira), Yamabiko-no-oka, X-JAM Takaifuji and Yomase Onsen. The Mt Kosha plan fell through, and the central section, Yamabiko-no-oka, is now closed (more information on that ski area can be found on the SnowJapanHistory website).
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1271
Vertical (m)
802
Bottom/base (m)
469
Beginner runs (%)
40
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
20
Longest course (m)
1500
Steepest slope (°)
35
Number of courses
10
Ski lifts
4
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
1
Triple lift (3-person)
1
Pair lift (2-person)
2
Single lift (1-person)
0
Surface lift
0
Information
Normal season dates
The Kijima Snow Park usually plans to be open from late December until late March. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
The Kijima Snow Park is normally open from 8:30am until 4:30pm. The Number 3 pair lift is open on weekends and holidays only.
Night skiing
There is no night skiing at this ski area.
Free Zone
There FREE ZONE is located in the northern part of the ski area. There is also an area labelled 'backcountry' on the official course map. Pole training is popular at this ski area and lessons are available.
Families & children
There is a family slope near the base area by the Number 3 pair lift.
Lessons
Ski and snowboard lessons are available at The Kijima Snow Park.
Rental
Ski and snowboard gear and wear rental is available.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day (weekends & holidays)
Adult: 5,000 yen
Child: 3,000 yen
Senior: 4,500 yen
1 day (weekdays)
Adult: 4,500 yen
Child: 3,000 yen
Senior: 3,900 yen
Half day (weekends & holidays)
Adult: 3,000 yen
Child: 1,500 yen
Senior: 2,500 yen
Half day (weekdays)
Adult: 2,500 yen
Child: 1,400 yen
Senior: 2,200 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 50,000 yen
Child: 20,000 yen
Senior: 43,000 yen
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: 28th December - 22nd March (85 days)
2024-2025 season: 28th December - 30th March (93 days)
2023-2024 season: 26th December - 30th March (86 days)
2022-2023 season: 27th December - 25th March (89 days)
2021-2022 season: 25th December - 31st March (97 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2025-2026 season: 160cm on 30th January - 12th February and 14th-15th February
2024-2025 season: 250cm on 13th-17th February
Resources
Weather & snowfall (Japan Meteorological Agency) [open in new window]
Introduction to the region
Nagano Prefecture is located in the Chubu region of the main island of Honshu. It is one of only eight landlocked prefectures in Japan, bordered by Niigata, Gunma, Saitama, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Aichi, Gifu, and Toyama.
Nagano Prefecture is sometimes referred to as 'the roof of Japan' because of the steep, rugged terrain of the many 2,000-3,000m mountains that comprise the Japan Alps. The Northern Alps are located along the northwestern region bordering Gifu and Toyama. The Central Alps are in the southwestern region, and the Southern Alps are along the southeastern border.
After Hokkaido, Nagano Prefecture is home to the second-largest number of ski areas in Japan. It has multiple world-class winter sports resorts within its boundaries, and some were venues for the main events of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. There are ski areas throughout the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, but the majority are in the northern and central regions.
The Kijima Snow Park is one of 2 ski areas currently operating in Kijimadaira Village. The other is neighbouring Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama.
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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