Nozawa Onsen has always been on my list as a Japan skiing destination. The traditional village, free public onsens and great powder has been the drawcard. And I was not to be disappointed.

It was a late decision in early January to take my 15 year old boy/girl twins. I found accomodation at Villa Nozawa about 1.5kms out of town on the shuttle bus route. Although not being able to be in town in the evening as the last shuttle left town at 4.50pm, it was a wonderful lodge run by a Mother and son team. I would highly recommended this place. The shuttle bus stop was right outside so it was easy to get to the Gondola in the mornings on the first bus around 8am.

We were fortunate to get a 40cm dump the night we arrived so the snow was amazing that first day - the twins had a blast. The best runs are at the top of the mountain at Yamabiko where you can also duck into the trees or under the lifts to get fresh tracks after a snowfall. The black runs are below this and tend to get bumped out pretty quick. Nagasaka gondola line in the mornings is busy but moves very quickly. If its closed due to the wind you need to use the Hikage gondola, which unfortunately has long lines, to access runs higher on the mountain. Mountain restaurants have very good inexpensive food, particularly Yamabiko station where you get off the Nagasaka Gondola. It's not a big resort so probably a week is enough or many other resorts are close by if you want to go for longer, all accessed through Nagano (Myoko, Hakuba, Madarao).

We hired ski equipment from Nozawa Sports which is right at the base of the Nagasaka gondola and we could leave the gear there overnight so we didn't have to lug it back to the hotel. Lift passes are inexpensive. As the twins were 15 and under and I was over 60 it costs us $120 a day for lift passes for the three of us - exactly half what it cost me alone to buy a lift ticket at Perisher to ski on sheet ice.

Other highlights were the steamed pork buns in the main street after skiing, free public onsens (although you have to wash yourself in cold water!) and a day trip to see the Snow Monkeys soaking in the hot springs. Overall a great experience, especially for families. Well organised and a great village feel.
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After 7 visits to Hakuba we thought we'd give something else a trial. Hakuba has great mountains, but it's very spread out (both the mountains and villages).

Nozawa really was quite different. Instead of 3 or 4 separate village it really is one small, dense village. It's a beautiful crowded maze of tiny streets, creeks and waterways. I was stunned by the amount of canals that existed to move water around the town.

The town itself had quite a few small bars, izakayas, restaurants, etc. Hakuba probably has slightly more, however in Hakuba it's spread over about 3-4km. This was just in one spot.

However basically every eating place was booked out every night. We were fortunate in that our hotel had offered to make reservations for us prior to our arrival, but you would see lots of people walking around each night trying to find somewhere to eat.

The nightlife was nothing on Europe or North America, but it was the best I'd seen in Japan outside of Nisseko. Which basically meant there may be one or two others in the bar.

Like Hakuba there are a lot of run down houses and you can tell it's glory days are behind. There is some investment coming in, but you can tell it's nowhere near as buy

So really it's a great little town, easy to get to and around, just make sure you have dinner reservations.

However after the town the slopes were a bit of a disappointment. Unless your staying right at the base of one of gondolas or chairlifts and can be hard to get there. Nozawa's small streets means there isn't a bus network to ferry people from their hotels to the slopes. Our hotel would drop us at the mountain, but we still had to get home, which isn't fun in ski boots. There was one little shuttle bus, but it was still a decent walk home.

The mountain itself is also quite small. There's only three smallish base areas plus another section up the top. If you're with beginner ski's there's not really any runs that allow you to take an intermediate/difficult run and start and finish at the end point.

I'm a pretty good skiier and we were able to cover the whole mountain in a little under two days, so it's not huge.

So all in all definitely pluses and minuses. I was with a group of 6 and we loved it. Decent nightlife, the usual amazing Japanese hospitality and very reasonably priced food and drinks. It's definitely at least a 7.5/10.
Next time it will be a tough choice between Hakuba as both have different pros and cons

Pros:
- Not very busy
- Great snow
- Easy access from Tokyo
- Very cheap ski passes
- Compared to the rest of Honshu there is some nightlife
- Beautiful little town (although slightly showing its age)

Cons
-As per the rest of Japan there's not much of an Apres ski vibe.
- Most restaurants are fully booked days ahead.
- Not a huge mountain
- If you're not staying near the mountain it can be hard to get to the base.
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The ski resort is very professional. Crew are very responsible and friendly, when near sunset, the crew will check the whole ski field seriously, service and notice for english speakers are also very good.
Terrain for beginner, middle levels and experts are ballance, anyone can find there best ways. When snow or after snow, the snow is soft and nice quality, but the weather can greatly affect, strong wind can cause the whole high mountain area closed and lift stops, heat weather can cause the snow melt and you might feel ski on wax.
Service around is super comfy and convenient for foreigners, absolutely no worries if you can speak English. Transport to the resort and village is convenient and fast, but try to have a little pre-study can be better. Ski rentals are nice and have tons of choice, which is also good price value. Village serice is the best ski village i have ever live, nice and not expensive hotels, some no-ski play projects, different great hot springs, various nightlife and restaurant options. the only hard is pre-order, food and stays are required booking, try to study a lot on them.
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Our time in Nozawa Onsen was short but very sweet & it cemented that this is an all-round fantastic ski resort & town that ticks so many boxes for so many people looking for a Japan ski destination. One stand-out feature is the town which is unique for a Japanese ski area.

It was really impressive that in a country of shrinking ski resorts and decaying lifts that Nozawa Ski Resort has a new Nagasaka Gondola. Not only were the cabins replaced with large comfortable cabins, but the line of the gondola has been altered to improve transition at the top and significantly decrease the travel time. The mid-station has been removed, which is a bit of let-down for those wanting easy laps of tasty terrain, and the secret tree skiing is now on show.

Nozawa is really popular with Japanese visitors, so unlike some other major ski resorts that suffered over Covid, Nozawa fared pretty well. Most businesses were still intact and firing on all cylinders. The only notable exception was that the Karasawa lift didn’t seem to operate (the link lift was still going) and the Shinyu lift seems to have been retired, which is a bit of a shame for slope access for accommodation in the west village.

We visited during February and thought it would be quiet after all the January Australian holiday makers had left, but we’d forgotten about the Foundation Day holiday weekend. The village wasn’t too busy, but the days were fine and the slopes were incredibly hectic with lots of keen Japanese folks. Lift queues were long for the Nagasaka Gondola and the lines at the top two lifts were horrific. In classic Japanese style there were no corrals to manage the lines, and lots of quad chairs only had one or two people on them. Various locals assured us that lift lines are not usually a problem, and we’d just struck an uncharacteristically crazy weekend. Despite the lift lines, there were still fresh lines to be found just beyond the obvious spots.

We stayed at the Naraya Ryokan, which was delightful Japanese accommodation with a lovely indoor and outdoor onsen and classic omotenashi. It seems such a shame that so many people go to Nozawa and clamber over each other to find western style accommodation, rather than embracing the Japanese culture in a town that is renowned for its onsen and traditional accommodation.

You can see how we rate Nozawa Ski Resort versus others on our Japanese ski resort ratings and our thoughts on the pros and cons of Nozawa Onsen are outlined on the overview page.
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Disappointing as it’s very boring skiing compared to other resorts in Japan and the town is very touristy but not especially charming despite the large number of onsens.
I think it suffers from international popularity but unlike Niseko it does not have the snow or beautiful country side to match.
Definitely will not come back, but loved Shiga Kogen which was nearby and wish I had stayed there.
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Nozawa is one of the rare resort in Japan with a real nightlife and true soul, the village is beautiful and has a lot of small Onsen (free) everywhere in the city.

The resort has a fairly good size with a lot of tracks for every level. You can find steep runs which is quite rare too in Japan.

Off piste is good with several « allowed » zones and a great tolerance to off piste in general (no one will bother you)

It has also good amenities (kindergarten etc…)

My main bad feedback is the crowd… it’s one of the first resorts in Japan where I felt like in the alps waiting at the lifts sometimes for 20min
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Skied it February 2020 (one of the worst seasons they every had). I am an advanced skier and came with my wife who is an intermediate skier. We were lucky enough to get 3+ feet of snow when there so were able to experience both storm and bluebird conditions. The ski area is on the larger side for Japan however is very limited in terms of advanced runs (really only about 4 depending on what was open, all of which are at lower altitude and require offloading on gondola so hard to do efficient laps). The advanced area on the left looking at map (Kandahar) looked good but is essentially always closed because they save it for competitions. Lots of good runs for beginners and intermediates. Lifts are well cared for but clearly dated (look like from the 90s, including 2 gondolas and a couple of "high speed" quads that don't feel super fast.

Snow quality on the groomers was very good, even for their bad season. Powder on the heavier side so unless you were able to find a decent steep (difficult due to overall mild terrain), you tended to just get stuck in waist-deep pow. Upper legal off-piste areas are ok but get tracked out very quickly whenever there was snow. Off piste runs required alot of bushwhacking through trees/bushes, actual clear pow runs up there were good but quite brief. Overall terrain for off-piste (outside of the permitted areas up on top) is challenging in terms of finding clean/easy lines compared to other areas where I have skied: lots of gullies and other natural terrain traps. If not careful can require a very long hike up back to slopes or, in some cases a night in the woods (and from talking with folks, this does happen).

Facilities nice in terms of food options but all bathrooms very basic and COLD, soap only sometimes available. The town is super quaint with lots of good food options, natural hot spring baths (onzens), and bars. Definitely feels like an authentic Japanese mountain town as opposed to a resort. Overall would return for the scenery and unique ski culture experience, but if all you care about is steep and deep, not the best place to visit.
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Loved this place so much! Possibly my favourite place in the world.

- Self-responsibility area at the top contains two natural valleys that can be used as half-pipes
- The hardest course is a thrilling steep speed run on with dizzying cliff drops on either side
- The ticket area and shops at the bottom of the chairlifts feel like a little wild-west town in the snow
- Onsen on every second corner means you're never far from a natural spring hot bath
- Look for the secret mini-chairlift to get you up to the snow directly from the town!

Great for up to 3-4 days of some of the best snowboarding you'll ever enjoy!
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Nozawa Onsen is an amazing little town with just enough western influence and tradition mixed in. It has the most wonderful traditional Onsens to relax in after a hard days riding on every street corner. (My favourite was Oyu Hot Spring)
The food is good too. You can get cheap street food (try the dumplings on the main strip Oyu Street -St Anton Bun café.) Coffee lovers can get their fix from Hotel St Anton. Above Stay Bar there is an amazing place to get Sukiyaki or Shabu Shabu but be warned its pricey. We just ate at a lot of the traditional ramen places as we left the hill.
Bar wise we loves Foot bar and Stay bar. We also liked Neo Bar or the Craft Room near the Olympic Park area.
There is a post office to get money out if needed during the day as it’s mainly a cash only place.
Now for the mountain. It’s awesome. Just enough piste to keep you busy- we were there 5 days and didn’t not get bored. Word of warning ducking fences is not advised unless you’re with someone who knows their way around. Pay for a guide from Mountainpros.com to get into the sweet spots.
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Nozawa Onsen is a must visit town/ ski area in Nagano prefecture with easy Shinkansen access from Tokyo. A shuttle bus transports visitors from the Iiyama train station at regular intervals and drops them off at one of several stops convenient to most lodging. The charming village has a European feel to it with narrow cobbled streets crowded with markets, food stands and cafes as well as roving bands of Australian tourists. The snow resort is large by Japanese standards and spread out and is served by a modern lift system. The area has good snow quality but gets tacked out fairly quickly. There are a ton of lodging options most are pretty close to shopping, dining, and onsens. I can personally recommend New Hoshiba, Seisenso, Shirakaba and Lodge Nakajima. Noz has a ton of good food to say the least. I give my personal 5 star 3 Diamond endorsement to Daimon Soba, Mom's Cafe, Juntos, Yoshimi Soba, and especially the Yakitori place on O-yu street in the basement across the street from the St, Anton cafe. Do yourself a favor and get a banana roll from the bakery by O-yu Onsen, A steamed bun or 5, and the takoyaki place is a must hit as well. There are a number of watering holes as well with affordable drinks.

Pros: Coolest village in Japan, easy access, some steeper terrain ( for Japan), large mountain, good snow quality/quantity, good for families and non skiers.

Cons: Can be busy, A lot of walking the village can be spread out and hilly.
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