Japan
- Read this before you go to Japan.
- There are no snow monkeys on the North Island
- Do yourself a favor and have some Wagyu beef while you’re there.
- You can’t drive without an international drivers license, which you get in the US.
- The internet is super fast here (50x faster uploads then at home).
- They like rules here and will be quite persistent if you try to bend them.
- There are no three prong outlets here, travel with a two prong universal power adapter.
- Not everyone takes credit cards (especially restaurants).
Skiing in Japan
- Don’t go skiing in Japan during Chinese New Year
- It doesn’t always snow here and the terrain will bore you quickly if it isn’t a constant powder day.
- You probably want to ski here during December or January for the more classic Japan powder experience.
- Niseko is the only ski area on Hokkaido that does any avalanche control, so that should be an indicator of the level of terrain on the North Island.
- The snow doesn’t stay very good even after only a day or two of high pressure.
- When it’s windy many ski areas will close most or all of their lifts. It seems to be windy a lot.
- Be careful where you stand when the snow starts falling out of the trees.
- It’s considerably more difficult to get around the North Island than the South Island, there seem to be bigger, more interesting mountains on the South Island, it’s worth a look since it also has better non-skiing options if it’s not snowing.
- The snow is super dense and the terrain isn’t huge so you’re probably fine traveling with a ski of 120mm something waist (or less if that’s your thing…). Don’t run a super tight structure, it wasn’t remotely cold when we were here and it seems to warm up rapidly when the sun comes out and the snow will likely have high moisture content regardless.
- There’s lots of traversing in Japan, I don’t know why there are so many snowboarders here.
Niseko
- You will not get a Japanese cultural experience in Niseko.
- If you don’t want to party with Australians, there isn’t much to do in Niseko when it isn’t snowing.
General
- Always remember that your baggage allowance is set by the first airline in each leg of your journey