I had heard plenty about the Japanese skiing experience but never been before this trip, but now I'm a convert - I've already re-booked the same trip for next year. Even setting aside our unbelievable powder luck (at least a foot of fresh every day), the trip was amazing, from the tiny mountain onsen visit, to the fantastic food, to the friendly and professional guides.

One important thing to understand about this trip is that you'll be visiting resorts you would never have discovered otherwise. Most of them are pretty small and a bit dated, with almost no Western visitors, and honestly not that many Japanese visitors either. Coming from Tahoe, where you might sit in traffic on 89 for hours before getting turned away at the parking log, it was pretty crazy pulling up to a resort after it had dumped 18 inches the night before and seeing less than 50 cars in the lot. The upside to all of this is the lack of competition for fresh powder. The combination of the expertise of the guides and the remoteness of the resorts means that you'll ski untracked lines the entire trip, conditions permitting.
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I feel very fortunate to have stumbled across this tour from a google search, all I knew was that I wanted to get out to Japan to go snowboarding. Travelling on my own I didn't really know what to expect however, I could not have been happier with the outcome. Chris was awesome from the pickup to final day drop off and the guides who joined us along the way were great fun and knew exactly where to find the best snow... the group was well matched and we all got on really well, which you always hope for but was exactly what we got on this tour. I would highly recommend Japan Ski Tours and will definitely be going back!
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Japan backcountry powder ski trip report sent to Jackson Hole and Mt Hood race group....

Good Morning from Northern Japan…
Just a quick text from Aomori Japan (the snowiest city in the world). where I am finishing an 8 day powder and backcountry ski trip with a Japanese ski tour operator.
Overall the experience has been fabulous, and I cannot recommend a Japan powder ski trip enough. I have never seen so much snow, and in fact we did not have any non snowing days during my 10 day visit. It would regularly drop 12 to 18 inches of fresh cold Siberian snow every night, and after a week of this, I managed to handle skiing two to three feet of fresh powder on every run. The ski areas are not large by Western standards, and few if any runs are groomed. The food is of course very Japanese, with fish and sea creatures part of every meal. Few Japanese in the far North speak English, to include at the hotels, but everyone gets by. Most of the Gaijin (foreigners) skiers were from Australia, with a few Americans and Europeans just behind. Everyone is here for the powder, and backcountry ski touring with a local guide is how most people go about it. I booked my 8 day trip with Japan Ski Tours, and the ski package ran roughly $2700, which included hotels, lifts, snowcat, and the guides.I did end up having to rent some backcountry skis (with skins), since I rarely have the opportunity to for this type of skiing. This type of skiing experience is extraordinarily rewarding, but physically demanding. Show up with an open and adventurous mindset, a good state of physical conditioning, and you will have fabulous ski experience.
I shall see everyone at either Jackson Hole, Mt Hood, or Alta during the next few months…
Sayonara

Stephen
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We happened to schedule this trip during a rare mid-January warm spell, so the skiing was mostly dust-on-crust, rainy, wet, heavy snow. Nevertheless, it was a great intro to many little ski areas that we were able to see and explore more than if it was puking. Rare January vistas of the peaks were one benefit, and the travel was easy. I never wore my storm parka. This was my 4th ski trip to Japanuary, and the odds of finding deep Japow caught up with me on this trip.
The itinerary was expertly planned and executed from north to south with improving accommodations every two days. Our host was invaluable and helped with logistics and language throughout the trip, and our fellow riders were most congenial. Highly recommended.
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Hi there,
Our group of 7 had the most amazing 7 day trip in late January/early February 2023.
Doug and Steve are fantastic guides who could not be faulted for their meticulous planning of every aspect of the trip from safety on the mountain, local knowldge of powder stashes, where to find the best freshes, safe driving, compaionship and friendliness and identifying and leading us to many great restaurants, onzens and other cultural items along the way.
Most of the small local mountains we skied were virtually empty so we were able to get more than our share of fresh tracks. We had a big week also in terms of snow with many opportunities to ski bottomless Japow.
Everyone enjoyed the trip with ages of our group ranging from 22 years (our sons) to 70. Everyone was fit enough for what is quite a demanding schedule.
My only slight reservation was a quoted guide to skier ratio or 1:4 however we had a group of 7 with a front and tail guide that was too large for the terain. 2 groups of 3-4 would have been better.
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It was rather sad when this incredible trip in northern Tohoku came to an end!! We’ve done quite a few ski tours in Japan with different companies, and whilst it wasn’t the best or deepest snow we’ve experienced (as it wasn’t the greatest season), overall it was the best tour we’ve been on. It was the combination of unique experiences, having fun guides that understood the culture and spoke fluent Japanese so they could easily navigate some great dining and onsen options, and our luck in being grouped with solid skiers who were all on the same page, entertaining, and lovely, considerate people. Staying in cities was also a highlight, rather than getting a “resort-ified” experience by staying at a ski resort.

The tour was fabulous and we’d highly recommend it.

Skiing:
Whilst Japan generally had been experiencing a low snow year, northern Tohoku was faring slightly better than other parts of Japan, and JST managed to find us great untracked powder each day of the tour, even if we had to work a little harder than usual to get to the goods.

There was plenty of variety with respect to the skiing which included some backcountry touring, lift-accessed off-piste and sidecountry, road pick-ups, and a few snowcat runs.

We had 4 different JST guides during the trip, and they were all were pretty relaxed & had a sense of fun whilst also having a good focus on safety considerations. One of the guides at times needed to pre-empt guests’ many questions, whilst the others made it very clear what the plans were. It was pretty impressive that we always had a tail guide (or 2) & Taro filled us in on fascinating insights into Japan. At Hakkoda there are all sorts of interesting guiding politics that go on, so we had to have a local Hakkoda lead guide who wasn’t particularly impressive compared to the JST guides, but thankfully we also had 2 JST guides with us to fill in the blanks.

The Shizukuishi cat skiing was a fantastically fun morning. See our Shizukuishi cat skiing review for more information, but essentially if you go on the Shizukuishi cat without JST guiding, you won’t be allowed to play in the trees.

Eating:
Staying in the cities of Morioka and Aomori gave the guides plenty of dining options to choose from, and their choice of restaurants each night was nothing less than extraordinary! The week started off simply with a yakiniku restaurant (grilled meats), tonkatsu restaurant, and noodles. And then it was full Japanese cultural immersion with a sushi restaurant, kaiseki (multi-course) dinner with a sedate shamisen player, and then another amazing multi-course dinner with a funky upbeat shamisen show.

The breakfasts at the hotels were also very good and provided a lovely balance between Japanese fare and western items.

Morioka in particular had a huge array of bars. The nightlife tended to only really come alive on the weekends but there was a cool bar near the hotel that attracted the only gaijin in town.

Onsen:
The onsen the guides chose for our 2nd daily soaks were really unique. Instead of shiny modern onsen, they chose old traditional onsen, many of which had the option of mixed gender bathing or ladies-only bathing. There was also variety with respect to indoor and outdoor baths, and the pièce de résistance was an ocean side rotenburo where we watched the waves crashing in front of us.

Organisation:
The administration of JST was highly organised. The registration process ensured that we had our expectations appropriately set, the pre-trip documentation was comprehensive, and the arrival day information was great.

One of the huge pros of JST is that it’s run by bilingual guides who grew up in Japan and live in Japan year-round. They have a mix of Japanese, Japanese/western and western guides, and are really well connected in with the locals at the destinations visited.
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Background: This was our third snow trip to Japan. Having already done Hakuba/Nagano and both central and southern Hokkaido (twice) we were ready to check out a new region - enter Japan Ski Tours "Frontier Explorer" itinerary.

Initially I had hoped to do what I usually do on snow chasing trips - gather our own group of friends, hire a private guide for our ski/snowboard days, and mimic a solid itinerary but book all my lodging, etc on our own. This was the solid itinerary. As it turned out I couldn't rally any friends this year so my husband and I went out on a limb and joined this set group tour...fingers crossed we would get a solid group of skiers/snowboarders and would like the pace of the more set itinerary.

Spoiler alert - we loved it! I am so used to doing all the logistics for my group that it was such a treat to be able to sit back and let Japan Ski Tours and their capable team take care of everything. Of our three trips to Japan the snow was the most touch and go on this trip...something we knew before we left. I am only saying this because I see some of the previous reviews seemed to have knocked Japan Ski Tours for this. This is totally out of a guiding company's control. Japan has the most reliable snow in the world but that doesn't mean it's perfect.

Through the expertise of the JST team we managed to stretch some favorable storms just before our trip and a surprise big storm day on our first day into four epic powder days in the Tohoku region. They knew exactly where to go to find the stashes (even 3 days post storm). Upon moving up to our second base area for days 5 and 6, we were able to find a few fresh lines, despite the lack of any notable fresh snow, again, with the expertise of our JST team. We really only got skunked on our 6th and final day and Daniel...our amazing round-the-clock guide, driver, coordinator, translator, hand holder, and local expert still worked his hardest to find us anything skiable. We did have to throw in the towel a touch early on this very last day because mother nature was just not cooperating...but he made sure the rest of the day was filled with as much activity and cultural experiences as the group wanted. Speaking of the cultural aspect, the added bonus of having a built in local expert, who just so happened to also be our guide, knowing exactly which onsen to take us to each day post skiing and with awesome dinners arranged for us each night, was such an added highlight I didn't appreciate nearly enough when booking this trip. This added bonus was just off the charts, particularly for this region of japan which is very much not

Having done many, many, many international snow chasing trips as "custom itineraries," for fear of what a group tour would look and feel like, I can honestly say I don't think I could have asked for a better first experience jumping into a set group tour. And if it is this region of Japan you are looking to explore - you won't want to do it without the expertise of Brent, Daniel, Cedric and the rest of the JST team. They made this trip unforgettable.
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We did not do the Frontier Explorer due to it being full. However, Japan Ski Tours arranged for a similar itinerary for my husband and me. Despite very disappointing ski conditions, we were very impressed with the professionalism with which Japan Ski Tours assisted us in making the most of our time in Hachimantai. They made every effort to find us the best skiing that was available and provided options for other things to do in lieu of skiing. We hope to return in the future and would absolutely use Japan Ski Tours again to plan the trip.
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The experience was very good on almost every factor. There two suggestions I would have to make it perfect.
First, we had one of 8 in our group get injured and this person was one of two that were not quite at the skiing level as the rest. It would have been better primarily for this person to be grouped with a guide that skied at his ability. Overall I don't think it really impacted the runs we did, but it was beyond his ability.
Second, it was billed as an 8 day tour and the expectation was seven days of skiing. It was really not spelled out that there would be six days of skiing.
I would definitely due this tour again and suggest it to my friends and family. Main guide and other guides made it a great trip.
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It's a low snow year in Japan, everybody knows it. So I'm mainly writing this review, so people know that when weather is bad, there's not much the guides can do. Majority of the trip turns into an Onsen tour.

It rained the day before I started the tour (or near-freezing-level snow, I don't remember which), and made everything below 1000m complete garbage snow. Depending on the resort choice, sometimes even above 1000m can be heavy and wet too. For example, on the day of the cat tour, only the first 200m is skiable off piste. For the rest of it, we take an icy groomer down (video linked). The last day at Hakkoda was amazing because the ropeway ran, and Hakkoda didn't get rained on like Iwate region.

The guides are super nice, and they try their best to make everybody happy. But when the weather doesn't cooperate, this is challenging. Two additional catch:
1) The resorts in the region are very small, so when the off piste isn't skiable, the guides just ask everybody to ski groomers. There aren't many groomed runs available, and there certainly isn't interesting moguls to practice on. So skiing becomes very boring.
2) The guides don't guide you into backcountry, unless it's the last two days at Hakkoda which is backcountry only. That means, if the guides bring you to a resort at a lower elevation, and you must hike up to find good snow, you're out of luck - go at your own risk.

I mainly say I don't recommend this tour, because I'm not willing to roll the dice anymore after this experience. But if you're willing to roll the dice, then I would certainly recommend this tour, because I'm sure they are amazing when snow isn't destroyed by rain (based on the past reviews anyway). Or, if your main purpose is Japanese culture, and skiing is secondary, then I also recommend the tour.

There were multiple other issues during the tour, which the group had discussed with Brent and the guides in person. Many people were frustrated. The purpose of this review isn't to point fingers; rather it's to inform people that bad weather can exist in Japan which can lead to negative experience, especially if your sole purpose is skiing.
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