There are some folks out there that moan about people letting the cat out of the bag about “secret” ski resorts in Japan, because they want the fresh powder for themselves. Meanwhile there are ski resorts like Nukabira that unfortunately have been kept such a “secret” that due to financial issues they’re no longer able to fully operate.

Nukabira used to provide some good tree skiing at a decent altitude, but with the top 2 lifts now closed, Nukabira was a waste of time. They were even running the “fast” detachable quad chair lift very slowly, even though it wasn’t windy.

We skinned up to the top, and whilst this offered fun terrain, there are much better spots in Central Hokkaido for ski touring.

Nukabira probably doesn’t get a lot of snowfall because it sits in a precip shadow behind the big mountains of the Daisetsuzan. We drove past Sounkyo (Kurodake) and it was snowing heavily with lots of snow on the ground and as we got further south towards Nukabira, the snow cover petered out significantly.

We stayed at the Nukabirakan Kanko Hotel which like the ski resort, is a has-been. It was tired, had lumpy beds, and stunk of cigarettes, but the meals were great and the onsen was fantastic.

Get out there and support the other little ski resorts in Japan, so they too don’t suffer the same fate as Nukabira.
See our video here