I've been back for 2 weeks, but y'all asked for it and I'm finally getting around to writing this up. I was going to put this in PWOYM, but I don’t want to clog up the thread with my essay. I’ll find some pics to upload in the comments.
The trip was 17 days including travel, about half focused on skiing and half on other tourism stuff. I traveled with my housemate the whole time. We started out in Tokyo for several days, skied Niseko for 3 days, spent 4 days in Kyoto, then finished off the trip with 3 days skiing at Nozawa Onsen.
Getting there: I found a business class seat on American Airlines for 65k miles. That was incredible and honestly I don't even know how to take advantage of that kind of luxury. Basically got a $3000 ticket by paying a $99 credit card fee.
Tokyo: This place is crazy. All the wild stuff you see online is real and it's incredible to just be in the middle of it in person. Walking anywhere in the city feels like Disneyland with how crowded it is. But it's also very orderly and so much less stressful than similar crowds in Europe and NY (plus no pickpockets). There's so much to see and do in Tokyo, even just walking through the touristy districts can entertain you for days. Lots of foreigners are there everywhere, but also lots of locals and Japanese tourists, so I didn't feel like much of the touristy stuff was inauthentic or just to rip off giajin.
Niseko: Getting there is actually pretty hard. The direct buses from the Sapporo airport were booked up a month in advance, so we took the train instead. Due to train schedules and delays, it took all day, but we got to stop at the Sapporo Beer Museum (historic brewery) and at the picturesque fishing village of Otaru, both of which were very cool.
Niseko is an interesting place. It seems to be around 50% Australians, 25% other foreigners, and the rest Japanese. The town is new and expensive, with somewhat of an Aspen feel. The restaurants are busy and pricey, so most of the young people flood the convenience stores for cheap food and a couple of strong seltzers every afternoon. From an American perspective the resorts are weird, with most of the trees roped off, generally mellow slopes, and lots of "backcountry" gates. It seems like the resorts just don't want to deal with avalanche mitigation or risk management, so they just close off half their terrain or designate it as a backcountry area, even if it's right in the middle of the resort. The result of this is nobody respects closed signs or rope lines there and ski patrol spends most of their time chasing people down to pull passes. In spite of all this resort weirdness, the Japow delivered. We had several inches of powder every day we were there, usually getting a mid day refresh too.
Kyoto: The historical capital, Kyoto is much more traditional and less built-up than Tokyo. Kyoto is the most visited city in Japan for a reason. There are so many shrines, temples, castles, and historical districts scattered around the city. For two nights we splurged and stayed in a Ryokan (traditional japanese inn). We slept on futons on the tatami mat floors. Our meals were served at low tables set up in our room. The level of service, ritual, and formality was insane. If you've seen the Shogun tv show, it was exactly like that. It's definitely a bucket list item and worth the splurge for a night or two. Picky eaters beware, the "kaiseki" meals are mostly traditional delicacies, so expect a lot of weird fish gelatin, tofu, etc. cut into geometric shapes. Most of it was very tasty, but a lot of it was decidedly weird to my western palate (eg. fish skin jelly block with breakfast).
Nozawa Onsen: This place is cool. Little Japanese ski town in the mountains of Nagano. The skiing is mediocre, with less off-piste terrain and backcountry access than Niseko, but the town more than makes up for it. I arrived during a heat wave after a big storm, so there's 3-4 feet of snow on every roof all quickly melting off. The meltwater was flowing through open stone gutters, ducking into pipes under streets, shooting up on the other side and splashing into ponds as it made its way down through the town. This gave the impression of being in the middle of rapids for 4 days with the sound of rushing water all around. While there were plenty of foreigners around, this town is much more traditional, with lots of older buildings in Japanese styles. There are innumerable bars and restaurants around town, mostly very good and very cheap. The town also contains 13 public Onsens (hot spring baths) which are quite an experience to visit. Most of the onsens look like big wooden temples on the outside, but when you go in, there's a big tub in the middle of the room, filled with incredibly hot water and a bunch of naked old Japanese men. The rules are, you have to get completely naked, thoroughly wash yourself (squatting on the floor, using a bucket and water from the tub), then you can soak in the hot spring water. It seems like a lot of the local japanese people just come to the onsens for their daily routines, rather than showering/shaving at home. Overall Nozawa Onsen was super cool, and while the skiing is mediocre the town is an unmissable cultural experience.
Final Thoughts:
Japanese skiing is not better than skiing in the Sierras/Rockies. But the experience of a Japanese ski trip is still 100% worth it.
If you’re not going for the best skiing anyway, skip the mega resorts. Niseko was fine, but it was also expensive and inauthentic. Next time I think I’ll focus on smaller ski areas with better towns.
Australian tourists in Asia suck. It’s like Americans in Cancun or Brits in Spain, they treat it like a cheaper version of their home, don’t bother to learn any of the language, and just get wasted and cause problems.
Ta-Q-Bin is a lifesaver. This service, run by Yamato Transport, will cheaply, quickly, and reliably get your ski bag to/from any airport or hotel in Japan. It’s much better than trying to lug your gear around on crowded trains and buses and only costs $20-40 depending on the route.
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