Shiga Kogen Shopping

If you’re in need of a new snowboard or pair of skis or a lust-have snow outfit, you’re probably best placed to buy it before you leave home. You’d be hard pressed to go on any type of shopping spree because there is no town at Shiga Kogen, just a series of little spread out villages that might only have a couple of small shops each. And you’d need to really go exploring, as most of the shops are hidden inside the hotels.

Shiga Kogen Ski Shops

Many of the hotel gift shops sell basic ski and snowboard accessories such as gloves, goggles, and beanies, although these may not be from recognisable brands.

Snowcan has a few retail shops at Shiga Kogen that sell a very limited range of outerwear and hardware (ie skis, snowboards). One shop is located in Ichinose in the Restaurant Diamond building at the base of the Ichinose Diamond slope. They have another two outlets in Ichinose located inside Hotel Japan Shiga and the Shiga Kogen Olympic Hotel. They also have a few other outlets in Shiga Kogen that have a small retail section.

The Grand Phenix Hotel in Okushiga Kogen has a nice Phenix ski shop with a good range of Phenix outerwear and accessories for adults and kids. Not a great surprise, considering that the owner of the Grand Phenix Hotel was the founder of the Phenix ski brand.

General Shopping

Some of the Snowcan shops sell souvenirs such as t-shirts, and all the hotel gift shops sell Japanese souvenirs but these tend to be rather tacky.

Shiga Kogen doesn’t have a supermarket or grocery store, in part probably due to the lack of self-contained accommodation. However there are a couple of convenience stores hidden inside the Olympic Hotel in Ichinose and Villa Ichinose that sell snacks, basic groceries, beer, wine, sake, other alcoholic beverages, and simple health supplies such as ibuprofen tablets and band-aids. However the shops seem to have rather weird opening hours so don’t expect it to be open at a convenient time…. even though it’s a supposed convenience store!