Where is Tangram Japan?
The Tangram Ski Resort is 34km NNE of Nagano City on the border of the Nagano and Niigata Prefectures.
Tangram is 9km southeast of the town of Myokokogen (and 14km from
Akakura Onsen) in the Niigata Prefecture and 16km west of the town of Iiyama in Nagano Prefecture.
The interconnected ski resort of
Madarao is to the east of Tangram Japan.
Getting to Tangram Madarao from Airport or Tokyo
You can utilise either the Tokyo Narita Airport or the Haneda Airport as a gateway airport to travel to Tangram Japan. You can look at
flight options to Tokyo here. Depending on flight times and travel schedules, there is some potential you might need to overnight in a
Narita Airport hotel or
Haneda Airport hotel.
Train to Iiyama then Bus to Tangram Japan
A reasonably fast way to get to Tangram is to catch the shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo or Ueno (a train station on the Nagano side of Tokyo) to Iiyama. Catching the trains also gives a nice insight into part of the Japanese culture.
From
Narita Airport, you can catch the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno (the train takes about 1 hour) then the bullet train to Iiyama (takes about 100 minutes).
From
Haneda Airport, board the monorail to Hamamatsucho then a train to Tokyo Station (about 20 minutes). From Tokyo, the bullet train to Iiyama can take as little as 105 minutes.
For train routes and timetables you can use google or Japan Navitime, and unless it’s a major holiday you probably don’t need to pre-book your train tickets. To assist planning your train travel or to purchase tickets, you can go into a JR EAST Travel Service Centre at major train stations including Narita Airport (Terminal 1, 2-3), Haneda Airport, and Ueno.
To travel from Iiyama train station to Tangram, there are inexpensive buses that drop off at Hotel Tangram. There are only a few schedules each day, so the other option is to take a taxi between Iiyama and Tangram (the trip takes about 45 minutes).
Train to Kurohime then Bus to Tangram
If the bus timetables for above are not lining up with your likely travel times, another option is to get a train to Nagano and then to Kurohime. From Kurohime, there are a few buses a day to the Hotel Tangram bus stop.
Train to Nagano & Shuttle to Tangram
For guests of Hotel Tangram, there is a daily shuttle from Nagano train station to Tangram that can be pre-booked.
Airport to Tangram Bus
Another option to travel to Tangram from the Haneda or Narita Airport is an airport bus. The trip takes longer than the train, about 6 hours from Narita, but the Tangram bus provides the advantage of not having to lug your bags around the train stations and on and off trains. There are only 3 to 4 schedules a day, which may or may not line up well with your flight times.
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Door to Door Airport Transfer to Tangram
Chuo Taxi is an option for direct airport transfers to Tangram. This offers the ultimate in convenience with door-to-door transport at a time that lines up with your flight arrival/departure. Chuo offers private charters which are reasonable value if you have a group. One-way rates for a taxi from either airport (2023-24 season):
•Private jumbo taxi - 78,000yen for 1～4people (larger vehicles also possible).
Driving to Tangram
One of the easiest ways to get to Tangram is to drive there, which will also give you the flexibility to travel around to other ski areas. You can get a
rental car at Iiyama train station or in Nagano.
The phone number of Tangram for GPS navigation is 026-258-3511.
There is plenty of car parking at the base of Tangram.
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Tours
Being on a
multi-resort tour or package is probably the easiest way to travel to Tangram because your guide looks after all the transport logistics for you. There are tours based in Myoko or Yudanaka that travel to Tangram.
Other Ski Resorts Nearby
Whilst inter-connected with Madarao via the upper slopes, the two base areas are about 5.5km away via road.
Tangram is also close to the
Myoko Kogen ski resorts:
- Akakura Onsen is 14km northwest – there is a daily shuttle to Akakura from Tangram but it won’t get you there for first lifts. The shuttle from Myoko to Tangram arrives early in the morning.
- Seki Onsen is 20km northwest
- Suginohara 16.5km west.
- Lotte Arai is 29km northwest (the daily Myoko shuttle also connects Arai and Tangram)
Driving distances to nearby ski resorts: