Honshu, the main island of Japan, has hundreds of ski resorts so you’ll be spoiled for choice with Honshu skiing.

Honshu Skiing versus Hokkaido

How does skiing in Honshu compare to Hokkaido skiing?

Honshu Snow
As a general rule, it doesn’t snow as much in Honshu compared to Hokkaido (especially the coastal resorts). The ski resorts near Nagano come close to the amazing snowfalls of Hokkaido. The main Nagano ski resorts have an average annual snowfall of 10 to 13 metres which is nearly the 14 to 15 metres of Rusutsu and Niseko in Hokkaido. One exception is Tenjindaira where it snows about 16 metres per season. Another exception is Hakkoda where there’s so much snow no one can really measure it. If it snows 8 metres per season at sea level in Aomori, you can start to imagine how much it snows up at 1,600 metres! Other Honshu ski resorts where it snows a lot include Geto Kogen, Tazawako and Ani.

The Honshu snow is usually not as dry and fluffy as in Hokkaido, and this includes the Hokkaido ski resorts that are in close proximity to the coast.

Deep and Steep?
Most skiing in Japan is rather mellow when compared to many ski resorts in North America, Europe and New Zealand. There are of course some exceptions in Japan. When comparing Honshu and Hokkaido, as a general rule, Honshu ski resorts are steeper but there is a wide variation between the ski resorts. If you're looking for steep, head to Tenjindaira.

Cultural Activities
One of the benefits of a Honshu ski holiday is that you don’t just have to ski or snowboard. The Nagano area in particular offers lots of culturally interesting activities such as visiting historical onsen villages such as Shibu Onsen with traditional Japanese architecture, temple hopping, and other fascinating sightseeing.

Once in Honshu it’s also easy to do side trips or stopovers in Tokyo or Kyoto, a real cultural eye opener.

Honshu Ski Resorts Japan

Nagano Ski Resorts
Many of the Honshu ski resorts are within the Japanese Alps in the prefectures of Nagano and Niigata, with quite a few situated near Nagano city (northwest of Tokyo) which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics and put some of these areas on the map. Some of the Nagano ski areas include:

• The Hakuba area consists of various resorts that are interlinked via buses.
• Shiga Kogen is a group of ski areas that are largely interconnected via the slopes.
• Nozawa Onsen is the Kyoto of ski resorts, a historic hot springs and ski resort town in northern Nagano.
• Myoko Kogen is a group of ski resorts located one hour north of Nagano in the Niigata prefecture.
• Madarao Mountain Resort is located between Nozawa Onsen and Myoko Kogen.

Yuzawa Ski Resorts
The Yuzawa ski resorts are also in the Niigata Prefecture and only 70-90 minutes from Tokyo on the Joetsu Shinkansen. The area is a treasure chest of ski areas with more than a dozen places to play near Yuzawa. A juggernaut with all the bells and whistles is the Naeba ski resort. Next door is Kagura ski resort which is quieter and it offers some nice backcountry.

Other Niigata ski resorts include Arai and Charmant Hiuchi.

Tohoku Ski Resorts
Tohoku, the north eastern region of Honshu, includes the prefectures of Yamagata, Fukushima, Iwate, Akita and Aomori. Tohoku skiing is renowned for negligible competition for the fresh powder because most foreigners haven't heard of many of the ski areas.

The Aizu Ski Resorts are ideal for road tripping around.

Zao Onsen is an onsen (hot springs) and ski resort town near Yamagata that is famous for its snow ghosts (ice rain covered trees).

Appi is a classy ski resort that keeps discerning skiers and boarders very ‘appi! Appi is located near Morioka in the Iwate Prefecture. Geto Kogen is also near Morioka and is renowned for the huge volumes of snow that descend upon it. Other Iwate ski resorts are also great for powder hounds.

Even Hakkoda in the Aomori Prefecture 710km north of Tokyo is easily accessed from Tokyo. The bullet train (Shinkansen) only takes 3 hours. Hakkoda isn’t so much a ski resort, but rather a cable car accessed backcountry experience where there’s so much powder you won’t know what to do with it.

Aomori Spring is also located in the very northern tip of Honshu, and is ideal for beginners, terrain park junkies, and tree skiing fiends.

Gunma Ski Resorts
The Gunma Prefecture is very mountainous and it lies to the east of Nagano Prefecture and south of the Niigata Prefecture. Most of the Gunma ski resorts sit in the northeast corner of the prefecture, and being a little further from the coast, the snow tends to be dryer and less voluminous compared to the Nagano ski resorts.

Tenjindaira is for backcountry powder hounds, and nearby Minakami Houdaigi is a good back-up for weather days. Oze Iwakura is a little gem for powder hounds, whilst Manza Onsen is superb for onsen hounds.

Honshu Skiing with the Family

Most of the high profile Honshu ski resorts have well developed facilities and a couple have an abundance of activities to keep the little folks entertained (e.g. Naeba, Appi). However they don’t necessary cater well to English speaking families. Many of the child care facilities don’t have English speaking staff (which may be a concern for some infants), and whilst it’s possible to get private ski or snowboard lessons, it’s atypical to have group lessons with an English speaking instructor. It’s also rare for a ski resort to have self-contained accommodation such as apartments or houses.

Hakuba, Nozawa Onsen and Myoko Kogen are the only Honshu ski resorts that easily tick all these boxes. Check out the ski Japan with kids page for more information.

Travel to Honshu

Another benefit of skiing in Honshu is that for many international visitors, it’s much easier to fly into Tokyo than to travel to Hokkaido. The Japan railways are very sophisticated, so once in Honshu, the many bullet trains make travel fast and convenient.

There are lots of options for flights into Tokyo. Airlines include Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Korean Air, Air New Zealand, Air China, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Thai Airways and Singapore Airlines (you might want to consider a Singapore stopover).

Use one of the recommended flight search engines to find a great flight to Honshu.

If you need to stay overnight near Narita Airport (Tokyo International Airport), here are some listings for hotels near Narita Airport.