Hakuba Japan

Hakuba in the Japanese Alps near Nagano is a valley with many ski resorts. Each Hakuba ski resort alone may not offer a huge amount of terrain variety, but it’s the combination of the different Hakuba ski areas and villages that makes the valley special. Hakuba Japan is very popular with international tourists because it ticks lots of boxes.

Each of the Hakuba ski resorts and villages have their own pros and cons, but here is an overall impression of the Hakuba Valley.

Pros and Cons of Hakuba Japan

Pros

• The alpine scenery of the Hakuba Valley is amazing with rugged towering peaks over 3,000m.
• Hakuba Japan provides a huge range of piste terrain for beginner to advanced skiers and snowboarders, if you’re prepared to travel each day to sample various resorts.
• The Hakuba backcountry skiing and splitboarding opportunities are immense and include both high alpine and treed terrain.
• Like the other Nagano ski resorts, Hakuba scores more bluebird days than some northern Honshu and Hokkaido ski resorts.
• The region scores plenty of snow.
• There is a range of Hakuba accommodation including deluxe options and self-contained lodging, which is a bit of a rarity at Japan ski resorts.
• Other than the luxe houses and apartments, the Hakuba accommodation tends to provide good value for money, especially relative to ski resorts such as Niseko, Kiroro and Rusutsu.
• Echoland and Happo offer some decent nightlife (which is very rare for a Japan ski resort).

Cons

• Hakuba has a lot going for it (including being on the Epic Pass) so it attracts lots of international as well as Japanese visitors. The crowds during peak times can result in moderate lift queues and tracked out snow, but nothing like you’d see at high profile ski resorts in Europe or North America.
• A few of the Hakuba ski resorts only allow off-piste and tree skiing in designated areas, but the areas are so small that they chowder up quickly.
• The ski areas and villages are very spread out, but unlike places such as Shiga Kogen or Niseko, most of the Hakuba ski areas are not inter-connected via the slopes and lifts. There are extensive shuttle services, but it takes time and effort to get around unless you have a car.
• Like many Japanese ski resorts, a lot of the lift infrastructure is archaic and stuck back in the bubble era. As to be expected, big storms may result in lift closures so check lift operations reports before heading to a particular Hakuba ski area, and antiquated snow clearing techniques may result in delayed lift openings.

Pro or Con Depending on Your Perspective

• Overall, Hakuba has some good services for kids with English speaking staff such as ski school and childcare, but chances are you’ll need to catch a bus or drive to access it.
• The main villages of Hakuba are reasonably “westernised” so it is an easy place to travel to, and you’ll be able to freely converse in English whilst still experiencing a bit of Japanese culture. If westernised isn’t for you, there are also Hakuba villages that have retained some “Japanese-ness”.
• There are lots of cheap accommodation options, so there are various patches around Hakuba that attract drunk bogan Australians (snowgans).

Hakuba Ski Resorts

The Hakuba Valley area incorporates 10 ski resorts that combined, offer expansive terrain. The Hakuba ski resorts aren’t interconnected via the slopes (except for Hakuba 47 and Goryu, and Cortina and Norikura), yet the ski areas can be accessed off a common lift ticket (or an Epic Pass) and there are shuttle buses to get around. The Hakuba ski resorts from north to south are: Cortina, Norikura, Tsugaike, Iwatake, Happo-One, Hakuba 47, Goryu, Sanosaka, Kashimayari, and Jigatake. Each of these links provides the pros and cons of each ski resort. You can also see our Hakuba ski terrain page for an overview of each of the ski areas, and the best Hakuba ski resorts page for an overview of the top terrain for different ability levels.

The Hakuba skiing is varied across the resorts but it’s generally very well suited to beginners and intermediates, with many long perfectly groomed runs and fantastic fall-line. Advanced skiers and snowboarders will also love the steep groomers at a few of the resorts, and if you’re into bumps you’ll be in heaven. You can join many of the Japanese who just adore moguls!

Advanced and expert riders will want to head off-piste. Most Hakuba ski resorts are somewhat relaxed about off-piste skiing, whilst Goryu has retained a mostly old-school approach to tree skiing. Fresh powder in-bounds tends to get gobbled up quickly, but relative to high profile North American or European ski resorts, the crowds are only moderate.

The sidecountry can be pretty good and if you’re prepared to earn your turns, the Hakuba backcountry skiing and snowboarding can be phenomenal, and powder hounds should consider doing a Hakuba backcountry tour (these need to be booked well in advance).

Hakuba Snow

Hakuba is blessed with plenty of snow, with an average of 11-13 metres (433 to 512 inches) of powder per season. Hakuba offers lots of powder days and plenty of opportunities to sample the famous Japow! The Hakuba snow isn’t quite as dry as Hokkaido powder but it’s still very good.

Where is Hakuba?

The town of Hakuba is located 44km west of Nagano City (about one hour drive) in the Nagano Prefecture. Hakuba is located on the island of Honshu (the main island of Japan), about 270km northwest of Tokyo.

Hakuba is easily accessed from Tokyo, Narita Airport or Haneda Airport via train and then bus or local train, or a direct bus or shuttle from the airport to Hakuba with Nagano Snow Shuttle. See the Hakuba travel page for more information.

Hakuba Accommodation

Hakuba covers the full spectrum of lodging from backpacker hostels to deluxe accommodation. There are lots of Hakuba hotels, some Japanese style inns where you can sleep on the floor, and self-contained apartments and houses. Hakuba accommodation is situated in various villages which all have quite different personalities. You’ll find info on the pros and cons of each village on the Hakuba accommodation listings page, along with a map, accommodation availability and rates, and the ability to book.

Some people are keen to find slopeside Hakuba accommodation, but keep in mind that it would only be ski-in ski-out to one of the Hakuba ski areas. One of the major pros of Hakuba is the range of terrain across the valley, so it seems a shame to only ski/ride at the resort near your accommodation. To make the most out of Hakuba you ideally want to sample various Hakuba ski areas, so unless you have a car it may make more sense to pick accommodation near a bus stop or stay somewhere that offers shuttles. However if you’re really keen to stay near the slopes, enter your potential dates on the Hakuba accommodation page and you can filter available accommodation by various factors including “ski-in ski-out” or within “5 mins walk”.

Here's a summary of each village with respect to access to the slopes or buses:

• Happo Village has a little slopeside accommodation, and great access to buses that head to all Hakuba ski resorts. NB self-contained and/or deluxe accom in Happo sells out early.
• Lower Wadano – very limited accom near slopes (and a ski school that offers group lessons), moderate access to buses
• Upper Wadano – lots of accom that’s ski-in ski-out or close to it, but bus connections to elsewhere are limited
• Echoland – not near the slopes, good bus connections, very good nightlife
• Goryu – short to moderate walk to slopes, not many bus connections
• Iwatake – a handful of properties near the slopes, not many bus connections
• Tsugaike – lots of ski-in ski-out accommodation, limited bus connections
• Norikura/Cortina – lots of ski-in ski-out accommodation, limited bus connections

Facilities & Services

Hakuba has lots of facilities but they are incredibly spread out across the valley.

Hakuba ski rental shops are abundant in the main villages (Happo, Wadano, Echoland) and the staff speak English. Childcare facilities are limited or there are expensive babysitting options. There are lots of Hakuba ski schools, but most only offer lessons in English in a private format, and you’ll typically need to catch a bus/drive to get to group lesson providers. Private lessons are a great option if you’re happy to pay the premium.

There are lots of restaurants and the nightlife is rather vibrant (for a Japanese ski area) in Echoland and Happo. Hakuba restaurants include western style dining as well as plenty of opportunities to sample the fabulous Japanese food. Hakuba is also renowned for the izakayas (little Japanese bars) where you can get a good feed, and there are also some good pubs. Or if you want to stay in a very quiet Japanese village with negligible nightlife, there are options in Hakuba for that too.

Activities

Hakuba Japan has some non-skiing activities that provide a great insight into traditional Japanese culture, both locally and in surrounding areas. Soak in an onsen (see the Hakuba activities page for options), dress up in a kimono, visit Japanese temples or castles, or visit the famous Japanese snow monkeys.