Convenience +++ Just over an hour direct Shinkansen from Tokyo. Therefore no wasted Ski days travelling to far away resorts!
Not overun with westerners therefore great value for money accommodation and lift passes. A truly authentic Japanese Onsen town experience complete with free onsen foot baths in the main street.
Huge variety of Ski resorts the choose from within close proximity to each other. Many discounted combined ticket options. Including Naeba, Kagura and Hakkaisan. Gala, Yuzawa Kogen and Ishiuchi. The Yuzawa eleven pass is amazing value with 18 resorts to choose from.
Yuzawa has a very convenient and extensive, mostly free shuttle system to all the resorts. And a lot of inexpensive Ski in Ski Out options.
Many "hidden gem" powder skiing options. Not going to give away my secrets - plenty of untracked fun to be had !!!!!
Plenty of Apres activities. Izakayas, breweries, bars, Karaoke and an endless array of restaurants. Highly recommend making reservations especially on a Saturday night.
I wish I had of discovered this place earlier
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There's many small hills in the area. They are fun but terrain is fairly limited, you'll often spend the day on one or two runs. Side country and backcountry wasn't as good as i'm used to in Japan.
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Fabulous and family friendly resort in the Yuzawa machi group of resorts. New lifts and a lot of investment into this resort over the last few years. Yuzawa is known as "snow country" and for good reason. As a side note very much recommend the book of the same name before your trip !

Nice terrain - there is a good video on youtube made by the resort itself please refer to this to sell you more ! Stay at TWINTIPS in Ishiuchi tower or find a local Ryokan they are mostly crying out for foreign clientele and you will receive amazing hospitality.

The resort is situated basically next to GALA Yuzawa if you look on the maps and you ca get across here from accessing Gala lifts if you take the SHINKANSEN which stops at the BASE of GALA itself.


From memory you can access from GALA side but please also check on this. Its a great resort which is very well maintained. Good gradients for all levels and nice restaurant run by an Aussie couple called Hiraigi from memory. You will like ISHIUCHI there is more going on at this resort than meets the eye !
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Yuzawa is home to many Japanese ski resorts. The resorts at town level can have a hard time opening up early in the Season as there can be a lack of snow. All the resorts can be accessed easily from Echigo Yuzawa station and if you do depart from Echigo Yuzawa station make sure to try out the Saki vending machine. My personal favorite resort in this region of Japan is Kagura. Kagura is actually three resorts that are all connected. There are two rope ways to access the resort. If you are with a first timer you should avoid the Taishiro ropeway as you must ride down from the top. Kagura is often the first resort in Honshu to open for the season and is also the last to close. There is almost no bad days at this resort. There are also onsens a short walk from either ropeway. Back down in town if you are in a hurry go one train stop futher on the bullet train from Echigo Yuzawa and get off at Gala. Galas lifts run fro the train station.
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The town of Yuzawa offered such a variety of experiences, both with respect to the different types of lodging on offer and the abundance of slopes. It’s amazing how there can be so many ski resorts all in the one area! It was hard to choose which ski resorts to visit, so luckily we had multiple days for taste testing (of the ski resorts as well as the sake!).

Firstly we stayed in central Yuzawa at the Yuzawa Grand Hotel right opposite the train station. The mountains surrounding the town look very striking, but the town itself is not particularly pretty with a big Shinkansen line running through the middle of it, but it was nice to stay there and enjoy the onsen and the many restaurants (the choice was overwhelming!), and experience the “real Japan”. Getting the buses to the ski resorts was very easy.

Next we moved to the Takahan Ryokan, which provided an even greater Japanese cultural experience. Rich in history, this famous snow country ryokan was delightful and the onsen overlooking Gala Yuzawa and the gorgeous meals were particular highlights.

Next was a stay at the Joetsu Kokusai Ski Resort at the Hotel Green Plaza Joetsu. We had a car, so in addition to skiing at Joetsu we could explore other resorts. We probably preferred the more traditional experiences of staying in town, but Joetsu Kokusai certainly provided the convenience of ski-in ski-out accommodation and plenty of food in the form of buffets.

Needless to say the major pros of Yuzawa are the town atmosphere, the wide choice of ski resorts, the ease of access to the town from Tokyo, and the well developed public transport options to get to the ski resorts.
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