Takeshi Banshogahara, mostly known as just Banshogahara, is a ski area located in Ueda City in the central region of Nagano Prefecture.
The ski area is about 30km south of central Ueda, just off the Utsukushigahara Koen Okisen road (Prefecture Road 64). The location was part of Takeshi Village until it became part of Ueda City in 2006.
There are two ski lifts at Banshogahara, one pair lift and one single lift. The course from top to base is about 1,000m long and has a steepest gradient of 25 degrees.
Takeshi Banshogahara describes itself as a family ski area for beginners to intermediates that offers powder snow conditions.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
1400
Vertical (m)
200
Bottom/base (m)
1200
Beginner runs (%)
25
Intermediate runs (%)
50
Advanced runs (%)
25
Longest course (m)
1000
Steepest slope (°)
25
Number of courses
5
Ski lifts
2
Ropeway cable car
0
Gondola
0
Quad lift (4-person)
0
Triple lift (3-person)
0
Pair lift (2-person)
1
Single lift (1-person)
1
Surface lift
0
Information
Normal season dates
Banshogahara 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
Banshogahara is normally open from 8:30am until 4:00pm.
Night skiing
There is no night skiing at this ski area.
Families & children
There is a special Kids Area at the base area of the ski area. Entry is free.
Lessons
Ski lessons are available at Takeshi Banshogahara.
Rental
Ski and snowboard equipment rental is available.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day
Adult: 3,550 yen
Child: 1,520 yen
Senior: 2,030 yen
Half day
Adult: 2,540 yen
11 lift coupons
Adult: 2,540 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 25,400 yen
Child: 15,200 yen
Senior: 15,200 yen
Residents of Ueda City or Nerima-ku (Tokyo) can buy specially reduced price tickets. A 1 day adult ticket is 3,000 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: 20th December - 29th March (100 days)
2024-2025 season: 28th December - 30th March (93 days)
2023-2024 season: 8th January - 31st March (84 days)
2022-2023 season: 24th December - 19th March (86 days)
2021-2022 season: 25th December - 27th March (93 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2018-2019 season: 65cm on 11th-21st March
2017-2018 season: 65cm on 3rd February - 5th March
2016-2017 season: 65cm on 10th-24th and 28th February, 2nd and 7th-11th March
2015-2016 season: 70cm on 20th January - 14th February
2014-2015 season: 110cm on 3rd-19th March
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.
Takeshi Banshogahara is one of 2 ski areas currently operating in Ueda City. The other is Sugadaira Kogen Snow Resort.
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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