Myoko Akakura
Akakura is made up of two interconnected ski areas: Akakura Onsen Ski Resort to the lookers’ right; and Akakura Kanko ski resort aka Akakan to the lookers’ left. The combined Akakura Ski Resort is considered by many to be
the resort of
Myoko Kogen because it sits above the main village (Akakura Onsen) where most people stay, it is the largest of the Myoko ski areas, and it has the most developed ski resort facilities and services.
Pros and Cons of Akakura
Pros
- Myoko Akakura (the combined Akakura Onsen Ski Resort and Akakura Kanko Ski Resort) is the largest ski area of the Myoko Kogen ski resorts.
- There aren’t that many Japanese ski resorts with a proper village and Akakura Onsen is the largest and the only “real” village of Myoko Kogen. The Akakura Onsen village also has the most restaurants and bars of the Myoko Kogen villages.
- The Akakura Ski Resort is readily accessible from the Akakura Onsen village.
- Like the other Myoko ski areas, it receives abundant snow.
- Akakura is very well suited to beginners and intermediate riders.
- Akakura Kanko offers some very good slackcountry and backcountry access.
- A reputable English speaking ski school and child care facility is based here.
Cons
- As is common with most Japanese ski resorts, there is very little in the way of challenging piste terrain and much of the off-piste is not particularly steep (although it’s pitchier than Ikenotaira).
- Ski patrol are very old fashioned and can get antsy about off-piste skiing, particularly if it involves crossing a lift line.
- In-bounds freshies disappear quickly.
Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective
- Akakura caters very well to gaijin, with group ski lessons and child care with English speaking staff, many of the restaurants have English menus, and many of the lodgings have various staff that speak English. Akakura is still a cute little village with plenty of Japanese vibe, but associated with the Anglophone benefits comes a loss of the traditional Japanese-ness of the place.
- The lift infrastructure at Akakan is good by Japanese standards but the number of lifts continues to shrink, and in 2022 a key access lift at Kanko closed.
Myoko Akakura Ski Areas
“Myoko Akakura” refers to the two adjacent ski areas of Akakura Onsen and Akakura Kanko. You can purchase a lift ticket for one or the other resort, or for a few more yen, you can purchase the Akakura Kanko/Onsen combined pass. This is particularly handy if your
Myoko accommodation is much closer to one of the areas but you want to ride the other.
Combined, the Myoko Akakura ski areas have 20 lifts and 27 courses.
See the
Akakura skiing page for more information.
Akakura Snow
Like the rest of Myoko Kogen, Akakura has a reputation for scoring lots of pow. For the 2021-22 season, Myoko received a whopping 17 metres (671”) of snow for the season! With respect to quality, the Akakura snow is generally very good to excellent rather than being phenomenal.
Where is Akakura?
Akakura is the main hub of the
Myoko Kogen area for visitors. The Akakura Kanko base area is 4.3km from the Myokokogen train station, whilst the Akakura Onsen Ski Resort base area is another 0.9km up the road.
The two ski resorts sit on Maeyama (front mountain) on the eastern flank of the dominating Mt Myoko.
Ikenotaira Ski Resort sits 3.5km south of Akakura whilst
Seki Onsen is directly to the north, although it’s about a 30 minute drive to get there.
Myoko Kogen is located in the Niigata Prefecture close to the Nagano Prefecture, and the
city of Nagano is only 31km to the south.
From the Tokyo Haneda or Narita Airport you can get a shuttle to Akakura or a train/bus combo with
Nagano Snow Shuttle. See the
travel to Myoko Kogen page for more information on the location of Myoko and options to get there.
Akakura Accommodation
Most visitors to Myoko Kogen stay in the Akakura villages, in either the lower village of Akakura Kanko (Shin Akakura), or Akakura Onsen (slightly further up the hill) which has a higher concentration of shops, restaurants and bars.
Akakura Onsen Accommodation - Upper Village Listings
Akakura Kanko Accommodation - Lower Village Listings
Most of the Akakura accommodation consists of hotels and inns (some with onsen) as well as lodges with communal lounges. There are a small number of self-contained accommodation options. As the Akakura Onsen is the most popular place to stay in Myoko, it’s not surprising that accommodation in this area books up quickly.
[AdListings collection="Japan" category="Myoko Kogen" subcategory="Akakura Rentals"]