HAKUBA
Hakuba is one of the best ski resorts in Japan. Hakuba features 14 ski areas joining together to form six large ski resorts. Hakuba is ideal for skiing and snowboarding.
Hakuba is a fantastic ski resort with world class facilities and snow. The ski season in Hakuba runs from December to April.
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Hakuba Location
Hakuba is located an hours drive west of the 1998 Winter Olympics host city, Nagano and 350kms from Tokyo. Hakuba is in Nagano Prefecture on the island of Honshu, in the Chubu region of Japan.
Hakuba Transport
From Tokyo
The fastest route from Tokyo is by
Shinkansen (bullet train) from
Tokyo Station to
Nagano: 105min./8,170yen. Then by bus from
Nagano to Hakuba 65min./1,500yen. Trains run every
half hour or so, buses every hour. Note that the last bus from Nagano
Station to Hakuba is 8:30pm. This whole trip takes just over 2.5 hours,
9,700yen one way.
These trips are useful for Japan Rail Pass
holders. If you purchase of a JR East 4 Day Flexi pass it will allow you 4
non consecutive days travel in a month time frame, giving the luxury of side
tours or Tokyo stopovers without increasing your
transfer costs to Hakuba. You must purchase your
Japan Rail Pass before leaving for Japan. See the
Japan Rail Pass section for full details.
An alternative method is Taxi limousine from
Narita Airport to your hotel door
in Hakuba is a 6 hour trip. Perfect solution if you are arriving at
Narita Airport on a late flight
and want to make the first runs the next morning. The cost is ¥12,000 per
person one way if your accommodation is booked through us otherwise ¥13,000.
The driver will meet you at the airport. This service must be booked in
advance - for reservations contact
Snowbeds Travel.
Hakuba Accommodation
Hakuba offers a good range of accommodation including hotels, Self contained chalet, condominiums and budget style accommodation. You can book this accommodation online at SnowbedsTravel.
Japanese
Snow Monkeys
Not far from Hakuba and Nagano is Jigokudani Monkey Park where you can see the famous Japanese Snow Monkeys in winter taking a hot spring bath.
Hakuba Onsen (Hot Spring Baths)
The onsen of Japan are
famous and an ideal activity to combine with your ski trip to Hakuba. There
are several onsen in Hakuba including:
Juro No-Yu, +81 261-71-8160 Ten minutes walk from Kamishiro station.
This onsen is open 24 hours a day from
December to March, 10AM-10PM the rest of the year. Closed on the 2nd Tuesday
of every month. Enjoy the piping hot mineral waters in the inside and
outside baths while looking out over the snow capped mountains. When your
skin starts shrivelling up, dry off and head to the lounge to kick back on
the tatami and watch TV or dig into
a steaming bowl of tempura soba. Sauna, lockers provided. ¥500/¥400 for
adults/children for 2 hours bathing. Meals around ¥1000.
Tenjin No-Yu, +81 261-72-3450. 15 minutes walk from Hakuba station.
Open 9AM-10PM. Closed Tu. Recommended by locals for its healing waters,
Tenjin No-Yu offers great views of the mountains from both indoor and
outdoor baths. Lockers available.
Hakuba Off (Green) Season
Near Hakuba, during the green season (i.e. spring, summer
& autumn), there are three freshwater lakes that are so clean that you can
swim in them. In order from south to north, they are called Aoki-ko,
Nakazuna-ko, and Kizaki-ko. The use of engines and outboard motors is banned
on Aoki-ko, making it the quietest and nicest of the three. Popular
activities include boating, sport fishing, and windsurfing. Nakazuna-ko is
very small and only really attracts fishermen. Kizaki-ko is the most
developed, and since engines are allowed, sports like wakeboarding are
popular.
During the summer, most of the ski resorts operate some of their lifts to
allow access to higher elevations. At Hakuba 47 and Aokiko (in nearby Omachi),
the lifts allow access for mountain biking. Hiking or simply enjoying the
views are popular at Happo, Goryu and Tsugaike. Above Happo, an easy trail
extends for 40 minutes to a small pond in which the local alpine peaks are
reflected. A couple of hours further up the trail lies the peak of Mt.
Karamatsu on the main ridge of the North Alps. The top ski run at Goryu
becomes an alpine garden in summer and another trail leads further upward to
a viewpoint (around 50 minutes) or the peak of Mt. Goryu itself (around four
hours). Above Tsugaike, a further ropeway takes you to a wetland that is
designated as a national park. A trail from here takes you up to Mt.
Shirouma, after which Hakuba is named. Shirouma and Hakuba are different
readings of the kanji for "white horse". The smaller ski field of Iwatake
uses its pistes to grow thousands of lilies in summer and also has a dry ski
slope if you're desperate for turns.
Like all mountain areas in Japan, temperatures in Hakuba stay much cooler
than in the cities on Japan's Pacific coast. That alone makes it worthy of a
visit.
(Parts of article based on Wikitravel article by Joshua Kalish, Todd VerBeek, Moni, Peter Vine, Jani Patokallio, nick, Colin Jensen and Jose Ramos, Wikitravel user(s) Thewayoftheduck and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Article used under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.)
