Ski Japow: Life changing snow
How to get the most out of skiing in Japan
Skiing in Japan is a dream come true. The snow is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. I skied in Japan for almost a week and heres what I learned.
Renting a van or camper is definitely worth it. Public transit isn’t as prevalent in Niseko, Rusutsu, and other smaller areas in Hokkaido. If you want full freedom to chase the storms, and explore onsens I would rent a car. I rented a camper for the week so it was my lodging and means of transportation. Once I got used to driving on the other side of the road it was great! I liked having the freedom and even though I couldn’t use the bathroom in the camper there are so many Onsens around that it really didn’t even feel like camping! You can Google different rental car companies I had to talk to a few before I found one that fit for me. You’ll need an international DL to rent a car and can get one at your local AAA agency.
Parking overnight is super easy in Hokkaido! Google “Michi no eki” and you’ll get multiple results for overnight parking. Michi no Eki are rest stops in Japan. There are bathrooms and vending machines inside that are super clean and safe. Try not to park at 24/7 facilities. They are super on top of plowing and will wake you up to move your car in order to do so. Better to park at a rest stop that allows overnight parking instead.
Rusutsu resort
Rusutsu was my favorite resort. It had more of a small town feel and the snow was better than Niseko (at least for my visit). The views were incredible and they also had night skiing! You can buy a day pass online which will be cheaper than buying day of.
For gear I brought my own stuff from home. It was a little bit of a pain carrying around a ski bag but it was worth it! Having your own gear makes a huge difference and I used domestic shipping (Yamato transport) to ship my ski bag to my last hotel in my visit so I didn’t have to worry about it after the ski portion of my trip.
Last thoughts: If you are a huge skiier and want to dedicate your Japan trip to skiing that’s great! I wanted to do more than ski so I only went for about a week. That being said think of what you want out of your Japan trip before going. If you want to have a once in a lifetime ski experience and explore all Hokkaido has to offer I wouldn’t go anywhere else. If you want to ski but mostly explore other areas I would do what I did and only go for about a week and explore a couple of resorts. Either way no matter what you decide you won’t regret it!
