Yokone is a ski area in Oguni Town in the southwestern region of Yamagata Prefecture, close to the border with Niigata Prefecture.
There is one 468m pair lift at Yokone and just one main ski course, also open for night skiing on certain days.
Yokone is well-known for its 100m long (14m wide) half-pipe that attracts snowboarders from Niigata as well as Yamagata. A simple surface lift services the half-pipe.
The usual planned opening date is late December but the region struggled with snowfall during the 2023-2024 season and was only able to open in late January.
There is actually another second ski lift in the area above the pair lift, but that lift has not been used in recent years.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
250
Vertical (m)
110
Bottom/base (m)
140
Beginner runs (%)
40
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
20
Longest course (m)
600
Steepest slope (°)
27
Number of courses
2
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
Yokone usually plans to be open from late December until mid-March. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Yokone is normally open from 9:00am until 5:00pm in the daytime. The half pipe is normally open from 11:00am until 4:00pm. It is closed on Thursdays and during night operations.
Night skiing
Night skiing is from 5:00pm until 9:00pm on Mondays to Saturdays (no night skiing on Sundays or national holidays).
Half-pipe
The half pipe at Yokone is popular. It is normally open from 11:00am until 4:00pm and closed on Thursdays.
Lift ticket prices
2025-2026 season
Information for the upcoming 2026-2027 season will be added by December 2026
1 day
Adult: 2,500 yen
Child: 1,500 yen
1 lift coupon
Adult: 150 yen
Child: 90 yen
12 lift coupons
Adult: 1,500 yen
Child: 900 yen
22 lift coupons
Adult: 2,500 yen
Child: 1,500 yen
Night skiing
Adult: 1,500 yen
Child: 900 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 20,000 yen
Child: 12,000 yen
Rope-tow (1 day)
Adult: 1,800 yen
Child: 1,100 yen
Rope-tow (season)
Adult: 14,400 yen
Child: 8,800 yen
The rope-tow can be used with the main ski lift tickets.
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: 9th January - 15th March (66 days)
2024-2025 season: 4th January - 23rd March (79 days)
2023-2024 season: 28th January - 18th February (22 days)
2022-2023 season: 29th December - 21st March (83 days)
2021-2022 season: 30th December - 21st March (82 days)
Deepest recorded snow depth
Data is not available for this ski area.
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.
Yokone is the only ski area currently operating in Oguni 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.
Learn more about how we research, check and update information on SnowJapan.