Guide to Snowboarding in Hakuba, Nagano, Japan [Getting there, where to stay, tickets, etc]

Guide to Snowboarding in Hakuba, Nagano, Japan [Getting there, where to stay, tickets, etc]

Hello everyone will and Alex here and today we’re heading from okanawa at naha airport up to hanita Tokyo Airport and from there we’re going to continue on to go snowboarding up in hakuba so hakuba if you’re not familiar with it is in the Japanese Alps which are about 3 hours

Drive Northwest of Tokyo so we’re going to be up there for about 5 days probably about 2 or 3 days of snowboarding celebrate New Year’s check out hakuba and just feel like it’s actually Christmas New Year’s time frame rather than the hot humid okanawa so really excited we’ll see you up

There getting there there are several ways to reach hakuba the nearest airport to H Kuba is the Matsumoto airport this approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes drive from Nagano and shuttle buses are available for around 3,000 yen or 22 USD however Matsumoto is a small airport with limited flights per day for this

Reason we opted to for go another airport connection and travel straight from Tokyo from hanita and Nita airports you can either run a car or op to take public transportation by car from haneda airport the drive is approximately 4 hours Northwest and from Narita the drive is approximately 4.5 hours a fast

Train or sh Consin from Han Kuba will take you about 3.5 to 4 hours depending on the train schedules note you cannot take the bullet train directly from the NATA airport to hakuba first you have to take the airport monreal to the hamama Mato station from there you’ll take the

Local green JY line for Tokyo three stops to Tokyo station then you can access in shonin from Tokyo to Nagano a one-way trip on the fast train from Tokyo to Nagano takes around one and a half hours and costs approximately 12,000 yen once you reach Nagano you

Must exit the train station and take the hakuba HAPO bus from stop number one on the east side of the Nagano train station this bus ride will bring you through the winding mountain roads and into the hakuba valley and lasts about an hour one way it’s approximately 3,000 yen per person one

Way where to stay the largest and most popular ski resort in hakuba is Hapa one this Resort offers something for everyone and the area has plenty of hotels and bnbs as well as restaurants and shops I highly recommend booking a hotel several months in advance if you’re able because they book

Up fast and the price goes up as the winter season approaches since we did not give ourselves as much lead time as we probably should have we opted to stay in the goru area at the rujan anen if you’ve never been to Japan and keep in mind when booking a hotel that about

Half the rooms in each hotel are Japanese style rooms which means that they don’t have real beds and you’ll be sleeping on a futon or mattress pad a top bamboo to Tommy mats that’s not something you’re interested in try booking a quote unquote western style room which will have regular Style

Beds we enjoyed the hakuba region and one of the biggest selling points for us was that it’s one of the few hotels that offers a traditional Onsen within the building their onson has several hot and cold baths separated by gender and even offers a beautiful outdoor warm bath

Where you can take in the falling snow while rejuvenating sore muscles after the slopes the onson is also publicly available for a small fee if you choose to stay elsewhere I recommend checking out our booking.com Link in the video description to compare accommodations in the hakuba region use the map search

Feature to hone in on where you’d like to stay ski tickets tickets can be purchased online at hakuba valley.com or from the kiosk at the base of any of the nine ski resorts in the hakuba valley the hakuba valley day pass will cover you at all of

These Resorts and cost 8500 Yen for an adult and 4,900 for a child day pass during the 2023 2024 season if you purchase online you can pick up at the kiosk within the lodge rentals there are several rental shops around hakuba the shop I personally recommend is rhythm they

Offer a wide variety of boots boards skis helmets and more you can even put your rental costs toward the purchase of New Gear if you decide you just can’t leave without that set of skis or board Rhythm also offers tuning services for those with their own gear if you drop

Off your skis or board in the evening you can pick it up in the morning on the way to the lifts getting around the ski pass includes access to the hakuba valley shuttle bus Which conveniently connects all the resorts make sure you pay attention to the time timetable here

And especially which direction the bus is heading if you’re not careful you’ll end up like me and miss your stop and spend far too much time on the long loop back to the proper Resort so a bit of a rough morning trying to get around huba today so definitely watch this if you’re

Interested in trying to figure out the bus system um so we’re staying again at the rujan anzen it’s in the South uh near goru what I didn’t know was at the bus station that was near us and the bus stop was not going to take me on the

Line that I needed to be on one to be on the hv3 line or the hv2 which goes to the resorts from south to North um you can take it the reverse way but really what I found out is that I had to walk to goru uh at the goru station and from

There basically take that hv3 blue line up to the haa 1 Resort so I’m on 3 and 1/2 hours now trying to get around the town I’m now at the hakuba station but it’s a 20-minute walk from here up the street so I’m going to get there

Hopefully link up with my friends soon and get to snowboarding finally I bought the three-day pass the three-day PASS gives you access to all the lifts and it was 2100 Yen for an adult so you can pick those up make sure you pick it up

At one of the stations and the lifts you have to get it at the electronic machine and that gives you access to the buses for free uh however I didn’t know that I had to pick up the ticket at the resort so the first bus I took I had to pay 510

Yen for so make sure you pick up your tickets with your QR code and your email uh ahead of time in order to use the bus for free you can pick up the shuttle map and timetable at all the base lodges or just pull it up on your phone at hakuba

Val.com one feature we love forgetting around in the evening was the hakuba night demand taxi for the 2023 to 2024 season they’ve renamed the app to hakuba doo hakuba do and expanded the service I think Uber but was slightly more waiting times normal taxi services are also available through the hakuba valley but

Tend to cost a lot more than this service so I recommend downloading this app ahead of time and save your money for more ramen restaurants and bars our top restaurants include Pizza Kaaya Pizza Kaya serves pizzas with unique combinations of toppings as well as pasta and other Italian Entre in a cozy

Atmosphere Takahashi K delicious Ramen with a relaxed atmosphere they serve both soy sauce and miso Ramen hakuba brewing company has a variety of delicious craft beer made in-house and Hardy pub food The Rabbit Hole Cafe offers craft beer upscale pub food live music and plenty of seaing Samurai Kebab

A fast Middle Eastern treat to help refuel after long day of skiing for some bars check out holy smokes it’s a very small speaky easy basement bar accessed by a vending machine near the street the pub it’s a quaint half Timber building with vaulted ceilings happy hour

Specials and a variety of pub food and the Mockingbird offers pool table draft beer loud music and its open light for those interested ski resorts for View and Impressions if you never ski or snowboard in Japan you’re in for a treat hakuba experiences on average a more

Than 11 M or 36 ft of snow each season that’s an average of 16 ft or 5 m more than veil in Colorado and approximately 6 M or 20 ft more than the Alps Japan skiing and snowboarding is some of the best in the world and that was also my

Experience you really can’t go wrong with choosing a ski resort in the hakuba valley and with nine Resorts within driving distance you’ll have more than enough trails to keep you busy on this trip I visited haa1 gory and hakuba 47 Resorts all these Resorts have some small differences with HAPO one being

The largest of the three those looking to hit the terrain Park I recommend hakuba 47 Hao 1 has the most variety of trails and surrounding accommodations while goru seemed to be the most family-friendly Resort overall the snow is amazing at all of the resorts and I honestly don’t think you can go wrong

With whichever you choose my one recommendation would be to try and get lodging that is a short walk from a chair lifter Gondola this will save you a lot of time and reduce the energy expended lugging your gear to from the hotel and resort Additionally you won’t

Have to wait on the buses here’s some more clips from my time snowboarding around the hakuba valley just to get an idea of what you might experience thanks so much for watching I hope you found this video helpful and if you’re looking for information about NCO in Hokkaido

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Will’s guide to snowboarding in Hakuba, Japan. He shares how to get there, where to stay, ticket information, ski shops, and food and drink recommendations. This is some of the best powder in the world!

Our other snowboarding videos and guides:
– Niseko (Hirafu), Japan: https://youtu.be/8A9DVUFPjK8
– Super Ski Dolomite, Sella Ronda, Italy: https://youtu.be/S_O1ihBexHc
– Vogel Ski Resort, Slovenia: https://youtu.be/DET0CYQSnbc
– Liechtenstein: https://youtu.be/Gu6UKorokuA
– Chamonix, Le Brevent, France: https://youtu.be/o0SLWkglcUI

Affiliate Links:
– * Staying near Happo-One or Hakuba 47 resorts would be good locations if you want to go out at night and walk to things. We stayed south in Goryu, and it’s way more quiet with less things to do in the evenings.
– Hotels in Hakuba: https://www.booking.com/searchresults.en.html?city=900039080&aid=2163227&no_rooms=1&group_adults=2
– Where we stayed: https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/bai-ma-long-shen-wen-quan.en.html?aid=2163227&no_rooms=1&group_adults=2

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– Nagano Zenkoji Temple and Snow Monkey Day Trip: https://www.getyourguide.com/nagano-l5079/nagano-zenkoji-temple-and-snow-monkey-day-trip-t54964/?partner_id=FCKSOQH&utm_medium=online_publisher
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Resources:
– Bus from Nagano to Hakuba (with timetables): https://www.alpico.co.jp/en/timetable/hakuba/r-nagano-hakuba/
– Ski Tickets: https://www.hakubavalley.com/
– Shuttle bus timetable: https://www.hakubavalley.com/pdf/shuttlebus-timetable-2024.pdf
– Hakuba Village Website: https://www.vill.hakuba.nagano.jp/english/traffic/?gclid=CjwKCAiA7t6sBhAiEiwAsaieYumKOAi08HshU2VrcOZ0tyNdOn0ZCRruCDsFbO2Dv_Hibt7k4mnzEhoCQg0QAvD_BwE#ancPoint