Nozawa Onsen Shopping

The town of Nozawa Onsen has various souvenir shops as well as a few ski and snowboard shops. 

Nozawa Onsen Ski Shops

Whilst there are various options for Nozawa ski and snowboard rentals, Nozawa Onsen doesn’t have many ski or snowboard retail shops, and very little in the way of hardwear. Where possible you’d be best advised to arrive in Japan well equipped, or go shopping in Tokyo.

A large ski shop is located inside the Nagasaka Gondola, which sells a small amount of hardwear and mostly ski and snowboard accessories and souvenirs.

Compass House is located on the road into town, which sells a small range of ski hardwear including boots, and they have a boot technician. They also have a small range of backcountry gear. The Mt Dock store near the Nagasaka Gondola is mostly rentals but also has a small retail section.

Souvenir Shopping Nozawa

The central part of the village has various souvenir shops to cater for the many Japanese tourists that visit Nozawa Onsen. The shops have the usual Japanese souvenirs: Hello Kitty accessories; colourful key rings; souvenir cakes; confectionary gifts; and other food stuffs.

A couple of shops near the Ogama cooking onsen have really interesting souvenirs including tasteful homewares such as chopsticks, tea sets, and platters. Akebi vine crafts are typical handicrafts of the village and the classic Nozawa souvenirs are the Hatoguruma; pigeons with wheels that are made from akebi vines.

Grocery Shopping

A couple of market stalls near the cooking onsen sell all matter of foods. In addition to onsen eggs and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, they also sell an array of packaged foods that are generally unrecognisable and rather scary looking. You can do some taste testing of many of the foods - this can be rather entertaining! Remember that an essential part of a Japanese holiday is to taste ALL the food!

Nozawa Onsen has a couple of convenience stores, and the main pedestrian street has a liquor shop that also sells cheese, salami, olives and other western-type après-ski foods. For more substantial grocery purchases, there’s a little supermarket on the road out to Nagano.

Of if you’re arriving at Nozawa via train there’s a big supermarket in Iiyama right next to the train station, so stop there to get supplies before arriving. The supermarket has mostly Japanese fare (thank goodness for the google translate app) but also a small range of more western food, and recognisable fruit and vegetables. Typically there’s only about 10 minutes between the train arriving and the bus departing, but you can always get a taxi to the resort (which will drop you at your accommodation) or wait for the next bus.