hey bro, sorry to barge in..
letting you know I'm doing ski trip from 14 Feb - 1 Mar 2025
(I'm doing snowboarding)

will be at Hakuba for around 7 night and Myoko > Madarao > Nozawa Onsen
let see your schedule roughly the same or not maybe could ski together haha

regards,

cool lets how it goes,
pm me when the time near or when your itinerary set.

Exchange number by then haha

Can anyone recommend a hotel or Airbnb in Tokyo for a family of four that is in close proximity to either the Skyliner or Narita Express?

Also, can anyone advise if a puffy jacket with 600 loft duck down fill combined with a Uniqlo Heattech thermal,  beanie, scarves will be sufficient for Sapporo in mid-December - mainly on around the city and otaru?

The jacket should be able to provide some form of water/wind resistant thou unsure if that will be sufficient for the season

Its not Visa thing. It just like a you want visit Japan, you must sign a paperwork saying let Japan Govt doing deep scan on you, everything. All info they gathering and start evaluate you got any chances will jump aeroplane into Japan. You allow Japan Govt peek into your personnel account see how much money you have. EPF contribution know you are B40 or M40 or T20.  B40 chances going in start decrease as Japan govt think you will jump aeroplane.

if i am not mistaken, total spending of min 5000 jpn yen qualified for tax refund. correct me if i am wrong. coz i am going to osaka next monday. need to know too. 

Yes. You will get back that 10% VAT. Tax Refund are not including Food. So you buy those Kit Kat, Tokyo Banana...etc etc......Those are not under Tax Refund policy.

anyone can give a heads up on the wifi availability in kansai airport. can we get free wifi upon disembarking from the plane?

Nippon Rent A Car - All kind of Brand
Nissan Rent A Car - Nissan only
Honda Rent A Car - Honda only
Toyoya Rent A Car - Toyota only

Nagano on Feb are thickest snow. Alot Road will be closed plus you have any Snow driving experience? I mean The real deep shit super experience that kind. Nagano on Feb snow are Blizzard Level. Don't play play.

You need high performance AWD car + ESP + LSD that kind of Car to drive on FEB Nagano......Rent Cheap car = cari mati

Never ever drive on winter without AWD car unless you super experienced. Must have AWD. Even compact car also need AWD version. Toyota Yaris got AWD version, Honda Fit / Jazz also got AWD version.

No winter driving exp, i advise you dont take the risk specially Jan - Feb. Once Accident, all your vacation plan bye bye.

If no transpotation means the road or rail are suspended due to snow. If road was closed even youself driving also stuck. Japan winter, most reliable transport is Bus. Buses wil always run as long the road are not closed. No matter how big winter storm, Japan buses services will never stop. Those driver are all God level.

Winter 2025 meaning January 2025 onwards?

Bookings should already have opened, and I'm guessing some of the more popular options would've sold out by now.

I was checking Marriott Hakuba previously for January and not much choices (rooms/dates) remaining.

Feb should be better than Jan, although still considered high season.

Which ski area are you looking at?

I normally try to lock in my ski trip plans 6-9 months ahead of time.

later can meetup i also want to hit nozawa this coming winter

inb4, can book for february a

Don’t quote me - this will be my first time skiing in Tokyo as well
I chose Hakuba this time around cos I heard it was tourist friendly - easier to get around, convenient food options and engrish ok 👌🏻
Will probably venture to other areas if this trip goes well.

this one susah man, i can't even teach my own wife she hates snowboarding now

use local travel site (jalan.net) to book, most of the time cheaper

not sure jalan.net foreigner can use or not but should be ok kut..they have english site but i always use the japanese ones, i think cheaper.
probably you will be wandering about the kids slope  but actually one thing I used to like about nozawa onsen it's they have one of the longest run in Japan..
from top to bottom like 10km, really ski/snowboard until your leg jelly by the time reach the bottom  
the forest run mid to bottom part the gradient very low, so very beginner friendly

yea see how later, I'll probably book only in Jan or something, see whether can drag the wife together or not otherwise it would be the usual single dog snowboard trip

for nozawa onsen or most places, you can get the discounted ski pass from the hotel, it's cheaper than buying day pass yourself.

single point ticket might also make sense for beginner because u mght not be going up and down the mountain so many times or taking as many lift ride.

I usually buy 4 hours ticket for nozawa and whack it hard for half day, then save the energy for the next day, because the snow condition would be shitty in the afternoon

Eh nozawa onsen no need worry about onsen, there’s a shit ton of free community onsen, very fun to walk around town and explore random onsen to bath in each one

Yea, but ski should be easier. If snowboard then yea, first time literally lol sit on ground all the time.

Yea, I like night skiing although cannot go off piste. Fun, not so many ppl, blast down the hill in chonky ice
this one my fav night ski resort with night gondola, 3km non-stop all the way down, pure happiness

I'm a big sucker for nozawa onsen though off ski time there's plenty to roam around and other activities to do.
i don't think you will do night skiing though, day time enough bruises and muscle sore

hakuba i need to check it out again because last year I only drop by Cortina for day ski, didn't visit the other main stream ones like Hakuba 47, Kashimayari, etc. and stay overnight.
previously i stay overnight in Hakuba okok je, need car to drive around for food.

In nozawa onsen the town is small enough u can walk without driving

bro if you are in Hakuba Echoland area let me know,
I'll be at Hakuba (Beginner - Snowboard) maybe can rolling together at bunny hill hahahah !

below is my itinerary;

Hakuba (Based nearby Happo One / Echoland) from 14 Feb - 22 Feb
Myoko Kogen (Based nearby Akakura Onsen) from 22 Feb - 1 Mar

yea, that's why need book in advance for peak travel period, can use like jalan.net to do it. if you need help with it just let me know.

idk, I prefer small town better, vibe is different compared to Hakuba..hakuba valley is one huge place comprised of many ski field, I stayed one time close to hakuba train station, er, almost nothing to do at night? even walk around just like typical japanese flat town. another time i stayed at some really nice cottage style place in hakuba, winter snow wonderland but far from everything else  

Madarao have some nice and long beginner slopes, it's pretty nice although night life is non-existence unless you drive to other parts. lesson in english at madarao might not be as easy to find compared to the more popular ones. best part about Madarao are the trees, god i love them

madarao big long flats on the left, access with one single high speed quad lift (longer queue on busy day)


at madarao you also can try the single chair lift to the top (advanced), not many of these single seat chair lift left in JP