Hanagasa Kogen is a ski area located in Obanazawa City in the eastern region of Yamagata Prefecture.
This ski area has one 811m pair lift and another shorter simple ('amber') lift.
The park and half pipe are traditionally popular at this ski area.
There is also a cross-country course.
The ski area is southeast of the main city centre.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
450
Vertical (m)
150
Bottom/base (m)
300
Beginner runs (%)
40
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
20
Longest course (m)
1500
Steepest slope (°)
30
Number of courses
3
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)
0
Surface lift
1
Information
Normal season dates
Hanagasa Kogen usually plans to be open from mid- to late December until late March. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Hanagasa Kogen is normally open from 5:30pm until 9:00pm on Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and over New Year it is open from 9:00am until 9:00pm.
Night skiing
Night skiing is officially from 5:30pm until 9:00pm every day of the season (the lifts close between 4:00pm and 5:30pm).
Items
There are various 'snowboard items' on the slopes including the largest triple kicker in the prefecture. Usually there is also a half-pipe.
Lessons
There is no ski or snowboard school at Hanagasa Kogen.
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: 1,900 yen
Child: 1,000 yen
4 hours
Adult: 1,500 yen
Child: 800 yen
1 lift coupon
Adult: 200 yen
Child: 100 yen
11 lift coupons
Adult: 2,000 yen
Child: 1,000 yen
Night
Adult: 1,700 yen
Child: 900 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 20,000 yen
Child: 9,500 yen
Season ticket (from February)
Adult: 16,500 yen
Child: 8,500 yen
Season ticket (from March)
Adult: 8,000 yen
Child: 4,000 yen
The simple ('amber') lift costs 800 yen for the day (adults).
Pre-school children are not charged.
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: 21st December - 31st March (101 days)
2024-2025 season: 21st December - 31st March (101 days)
2023-2024 season: 24th December - 31st March (99 days)
2022-2023 season: 17th December - 31st March (105 days)
2021-2022 season: 28th December - 31st March (94 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
2025-2026 season: 210cm on 1st-4th February
2024-2025 season: 270cm on 11th-12th February
2023-2024 season: 75cm on 17th January
2022-2023 season: 230cm on 29th-30th January and 4th-6th February
2021-2022 season: 270cm on 6th-8th February
2020-2021 season: 250cm on 10th February
2019-2020 season: 75cm on 6th January
2018-2019 season: 255cm on 27th-28th January
2017-2018 season: 230cm on 14th, 18th-19th, 22nd and 25th-26th February
2016-2017 season: 175cm on 3rd February
2015-2016 season: 175cm on 26th January
2014-2015 season: 210cm on 20th January and 15th-16th February
Resources
Weather & snowfall (Japan Meteorological Agency) [open in new window]
Introduction to the region
Yamagata Prefecture is located in the southwestern corner of Tohoku, facing the Sea of Japan. Yamagata is bordered by Akita Prefecture to the north, Miyagi Prefecture to the east, Fukushima Prefecture to the south, and Niigata Prefecture to the southwest.
There are quite a lot of ski areas across the mountains of Yamagata Prefecture. In fact, after Hokkaido, Nagano Prefecture, and Niigata Prefecture, Yamagata is home to the fourth-most ski areas in the country. However, many are small and have only one or two ski lifts (some of which are surface rope-tow type lifts).
The larger ski areas in Yamagata Prefecture are located in the mountainous eastern and southern regions, close to the borders with Miyagi Prefecture and Fukushima Prefecture.
The largest ski area in Yamagata Prefecture, by far (and one of the largest individual ski areas in Japan), is Zao Onsen in Yamagata City.
Hanagasa Kogen is the only ski area currently operating in Obanazawa City.
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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