Onogawa Onsen is a ski area located in Yonezawa City in the southeastern region of Yamagata Prefecture.
This ski area is usually closed on Mondays and available for private reservations on other weekdays (when it is not open to the general public). The charges to reserve the ski area for private use on one day start at just 50,000 yen. That includes the operation of the pair ski lift, but charges depend on the number of people and facilities used.
The traditional 'human curling' event at Onogawa Onsen is planned for 21st February 2026 this season!
The ski area is less than 10m west of central Yonezawa.
The other two ski areas in Yonezawa City are Tengendai Kogen and Yonezawa.
Mountain
statistics
Top/peak (m)
340
Vertical (m)
122
Bottom/base (m)
218
Beginner runs (%)
60
Intermediate runs (%)
40
Advanced runs (%)
0
Longest course (m)
500
Steepest slope (°)
17
Number of courses
1

Ski lifts
1
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
0
Information
Normal season dates
Onogawa Onsen usually plans to be open from late December until early March. See below for the actual opening and closing dates in recent seasons.
Normal opening times
Onogawa Onsen is normally open from 9:00am until 4:00pm in December and January and until 4:30pm in February and March. It is generally closed to the general public on normal weekdays. On some of those days, it is available for private reservations (at a cost starting at 77,000 yen).
Night skiing
There is no night skiing at Onogawa Onsen.
Families & children
There is a sledging area in the base area.
Lessons
There is no ski or snowboard school at Onogawa Onsen.
Rental
Ski 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: 3,000 yen
Child: 1,500 yen
4 hours
Adult: 2,000 yen
Child: 1,000 yen
1 lift coupon
Adult: 300 yen
Child: 200 yen
11 lift coupons
Adult: 3,000 yen
Child: 1,500 yen
Season ticket
Adult: 15,000 yen
Child: 8,000 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: 24th January - 8th March (44 days)
2024-2025 season: 28th December - 16th February (51 days)
2023-2024 season: 23rd December - 22nd February (62 days)
2022-2023 season: 24th December - 5th March (72 days)
2021-2022 season: 29th December - 6th March (68 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.
Onogawa Onsen is one of 3 ski areas currently operating in Yonezawa 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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