9 reasons to love Hakuba, one of Japan’s best ski resorts

Confession: we’re very open about our love of Niseko, but we’ve been hiding something – Niseko isn’t our only ski time love. We’ve been obsessed with another Japanese ski town for a while now – Hakuba.

No, we haven’t been hiding Hakuba out of shame or fear that everyone would suddenly discover it (1998 was a big year for the place). It’s more like we wanted to pretend that the region was our dirty little secret. Well, we’re finally ready to start talking. So, to get you more acquainted with the region, here are some of the reasons we love disappearing into Hakuba and why you’ll love it too.

1. Slopes

In the heart of the Japanese Alps, Hakuba is one of Japan’s top winter resort areas. Consisting of nine major resorts stretched across a valley, the area offers the most varied terrain, vertical rise and advanced slopes in all of Japan. The resorts are all easily accessible from the towns of Happo and Wadano.

Being in the Alps, it gets some of the country’s best snowfall. The annual base of snow exceeds 10 metres, and the snow quality is just as fluffy as Niseko.

With 135 lifts and over 200 different trails, it’s a playground for skiers and snowboarders who want more of a challenge, and it has miles of easier trails for beginners.

2. Accessibility

Hakuba is easy to reach. If you’re going directly from Narita, you can hop onto a bus or taxi to get you there. There are services that will take your bags straight to Hakuba from Narita for you (without you having to lift a finger). Alternatively, you can catch the Shinkansen bullet train from Tokyo Station. Hakuba is perfect if you’re holidaying in Tokyo or anywhere else along the bullet train route.

Note: the buses can take up to 6 hours from Narita, and the bullet train is a 3.5-hour journey from Tokyo.