In the Myoko area, the number of foreign travelers grow steadily in this two-three years. We are Tokyo-based company, but main area of winter activity is in Myoko.
We went Myoko-Maeyama peak hunting - a famous tour course. This mountain area already has enough snow and underbrush has already been buried beneath a covering of snow.
Look at the amount of snowfall... during the daytime... amazing!
There are some large but lesser know resort amongst Westerners in Yamagata prefecture. Zao (in Japanease pronunciation "Za-o-u") is one of the famous village for hot-spring (Zao onsen, Zao hot-spring) in Japan.
There is a JIzou (stone statue of the ancient guardian) on the top of the mountain that is covered by a lot of snow. Strong wind and snow make trees to a snow monster. There are some ski area around this village. This is a wide choice for many different types of skier and snowboarder both in the ski area and back country area.
We enjoyed hot springs in the village, ate yakiniku (steak), and stay in Yamagata city.
On the other day, we visited the Asahi-machi (Asahi town) that places northern part of Yamagata prefecture and is famous for apple-growing area.
In Asahi-machi, there is a very local ski area, Asahi-Sizen-Kan. That was also very good!
Myoko Kogen - Akakura Kanko Resort is our most favorite snow resort that is already famous among powder snow maniac people even abroad. The resort consists of luxury hotel, spa, golf course and ski lifts.
At the beginning of the snow season, the end of December, it is less crowded than high season. We felt as if we are the only customer.
The hotel provides excellent meal and breakfast. We love to stay this hotel and recommend you to stay here confidently!!
Nikko-Shiranesan is 2,578 m high mountain and is located on the border of Pref. Gunma and Pref. Tochigi in Japan.
Marunuma Kogen Ski Resort is a small to medium in size with 8 lifts and 1 ropeway. During the summer, the ski resort is a good access route for the hiking to Nikko-Shiranesan, and is also famous for a summer skiing. From Numata IC (Numata exit) of Kan-etsu Expressway, it is a 1 hour journey
along Road 120.
You can get on the ropeway from the base (1,400 m) of ski resort,
and after about 20 min on the ropeway, you can reach the start point of the hiking route (2,000 m).
Through most of the hiking route, the width of the course is narrow and there are some dangerous points.
The top of the mountain was covered by huge rocks and it indicates that the mountain was consisted by volcano.
Hakuba area is the one of the most famous village for both winter and summer resort in Japan.
You can reach to the Hakuba-Happo-ike (pond) by gondola, lifts, and 1.5 hours walking. There is no dangerous points, but you need to prepare for the low temperature. Luckily, you can see the three main mountains of the alpine Shirouma-three-mountains, namely, Shirouma-dake, Shakushi-dake, and Yariga-dake.
Following is the model case of the access to the Happo-ike.
Gondola Adam (8 minutes) →Alpine Quad Lift (8 minutes) →Grat Quad Lift
(6 minutes)→The First Cairn (Happo-Ike-Sanso)→60 minutes on foot→The
Second Cairn →40 minutes on foot →Happo-Ike
Mt. Yatsugatake area is one of stunning nature that is popular for tourists throughout the seasons and is famous for highland
resorts. There are many mountain routes around the Mt. Yatsugatake with a pretty view that is popular among beginner hikers and alpinists. There are many chances to encounter various kinds of wild flowers and mosses.
There is a casual hiking course around Shirakoma-no-ike(pond),
it's a fabulous quiet pond,
going half around the pond, hiking route is continued to the Mt. Nyu.
