Skiing in Japan

We are trying to plan a ski trip in Mid Feb, when our kid has a week off from school. We looked at Alta and were blown away by the prices. So as a joke looked at japan and found out they have a HUGE number of ski areas and (aside from the airfare) its not that expensive. Has anybody skied there and do you have any recommendations? As its a family trip, it would be mostly area skiing ( ). Hokkaido looks like dry snow, but more of a travel hassle. Nagano is 1.5 hours from tokyo by bullet train.

Any advice, experiences, etc would be greatly appreciated

Steve

My brother, who lives in Japan, wrote me this:

Aside from small local areas, I have only skied in the valley of Hakuba

www.vill.hakuba.nagano.jp/e/ski/index.html

which is about 4 hrs by train from Tokyo. Unfortunately my main ski-touring buddy has hit economic hard times with his farming and hasn't been
up skiing in a few years, so typically I only get out a couple of days end April with another fellow who now lives in Tokyo. We stay in a Spartan but
to me heavenly hot spring (Renge Onsen) accessible only on foot/skis
at that time of year. But it isn't open in mid-Feb.

I have never been to Hokkaido. The snow where we go (and I guess elsewhere in Nagano) is indeed pretty heavy and from what I hear, Hokkaido is much fluffier. One hr flight to Sapporo from Tokyo, then ? hours by train I guess.

Anyway, if someone came all the way to Jpn to ski I would definitely look into adding hot springs, culinary, and other aspects to the trip.

A smaller area that hits it peak of snow depth in Feb. is Myoko Kogen. Ascessable by Shinkasen JR east it lies slightly farther NE of Nagano.The atomoshpere is more homey and less crowded and backcountry tours are possible. Our Japanese family runs the Myoko hotel,My wife worked there as a student in the late 60s. travertine's advice is really good to take in the local flavor no matter which resort you end up at. Onsens(natural hot springs) in particular. Laurie used to ski from the slopes down to a noodle shop,then a onsen and finally all the way back to the Myoko Hotel where she worked as desk clerk.
link to the Myoko area
www.myoko.tv/foreign/english/

Martin Volken did a trip last Feb to Japan -
His TR is here. Come to the PGS party this Friday or swing by the shop and I am sure he
would tell you all about his trip.
www.proguiding.com/tripreport/view/niseko-powder

Mary

Thanks for all the help folks.
I've gone ahead and made reservations and I will post our experiences when we return. [ www.hakubapowderlodging.com/ ] Hokkaido does sound like great arctic back country, but seems a bit more hassle as a family ski vacation where I won't be allowed to spend all my time in the BC anyway. Myoko Kogen looks neat. Maybe next time.

Steve

We were near Hiroshima and went to small mountain 1 1/2 hours away (due west) perfect for little kids.

To save money we rented the USMC base RV (free highway tickets with that) and stayed in parkinglot. In the evenings we made a 20min drive to nearby Onsen for a hot cheep bath. Mornings we opened the slopes.

Very expensive is Nagano. We decided it was cheeper to commute to Utah for a one week trip. Never did it because kids were too little to appreciate it. But that was in 1998.