While planning this trip we were looking for ski resorts in Nagano. Hakuba, Shiga Kogen, and Nozawa Onsen were all consistently highly rated. After doing a little more research we settled on Nozawa Onsen for Day #2 of our JR Nagano Niigata Pass. The main reasons being its accessibility, walkability, and its supplemental attractions.
Since we do not have a car, accessibility is a key concern for us. Luckily we had the JR Nagano Niigata Pass and were able to take the shinkansen to Iiyama Station. From there it was a short 25 minute bus ride to Nozawa Onsen. It was a dedicated bus that went directly to Nozawa Onsen with only a few stops in between. The bus stop was located to the left when we exited the station. There were some vending machines on the left where we bought our tickets. The tickets costed ¥600 per person. The bus was a motor coach bus as opposed to a normal city bus and was quite comfortable.
Lodge Matsuya Breakfast
We got up at 7:00 am to find it snowing quite heavily. We changed into our winter gear and headed down to get breakfast. After breakfast we headed out towards the Yu Road conveyor belt. It was a short six minute walk up a slight slope. The roads and paths were pretty clear of ice and snow.
Yu Road
Yu Road was a series of two very long conveyor belts that were covered with a semi-enclosed tube. Each section took a couple of minutes and we pitched ourselves forward slightly to maintain our balance. The conveyor belts were super convenient to take and saved us a lot of time and more importantly effort. Best of all it was free to take.
Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort
Once we got to the top we walked straight and were met by two buildings. The building on the right is where we purchased our lift tickets. The building on the left housed a number of equipment rental shops as well as cafes/restaurants.
We’ve gone skiing a number of times and appreciate a good rental service. The last thing we wanted was to get up on the mountain and have a boot not fit right or a binding incorrectly adjusted. We decided to go with Shirkaba Rental which was in the building on the left when we exited Yu Road. The rental fee for skis, boots, and poles was about ¥4,500 which was ¥500 more per person compared to the competition. However, they had excellent reviews and for the before mentioned reasons we didn’t want to have problems later. We made a reservation the night before. We found a discount code online and were able to apply it for a 10% discount.
Shirakaba Rentals
Our check in the day of went smoothly, we showed them our reservation confirmation email. They sat us down and helped us get our boots fitted correctly. The gear seemed pretty new and the quality was good. After getting our boots situated, we headed downstairs to put our shoes and other belongings in a coin locker. We saw this poster over the changing room and were amused. We headed back up and picked up our skis and poles. It was snowing pretty hard and there was a lot of snow on the ground, so we were able to put our skis on and “skate” to the Hikage Gondola Station.
We took the gondola up to the Uenotaira Station. It was snowing pretty hard and the wind made it feel like a blizzard. Visibility was pretty poor and we could only see about 10 feet in front of us clearly. It was a little scary as the ground, sky, and surrounding area were just completely white. We would only see the occasional skier or snowboarder streak by in their colorful snow gear. We did a couple of runs and took periodic breaks at the Uenotaira Station which had restrooms and a giant gas heater surrounded with seating.
Lunch at One Day
It was about 11:00 so, we decided to break for an early lunch, which turned out to be a good idea. We took the lift back down to the Hikage Gondola Station. For lunch we went to One Day. They were doing a collaboration with a well-known ramen shop in Nagano called Hoshino (清湯醤油 ほし乃).
We both got the shoyu ramen with a side of karrage (fried chicken). We ordered downstairs and then headed up stairs to the seating area. There were many tables and a nice sized raised platform with tatami seating. The ramen was really good. The shoyu broth was very flavorful without being too salty. The hot soup was the perfect thing for a cold snowy day. It warmed our bodies and gave us new energy to go back out and tackle the slopes.
After lunch we headed back out. As we were leaving, we noticed that a big line had formed downstairs as it was prime lunch time. We always like to break for an early lunch. We usually don’t have to wait in long lines for food and when we finish, most people are just getting lunch, which means the slopes are largely empty.
Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort
After, we headed back to the Hikage Gondola Station and took the lift back up to Uenotaira Station. There were hardly any people at the top. In some cases we had the entire ski run to ourselves. We wrapped up early afternoon with a final run on “Rinkan” which was a gentle sloping green run that weaved through the forest. It was super beautiful as the snow was falling quite heavily. The run was almost completely empty and was very calming and peaceful. It was probably our favorite run of the day. The end of the “Rinkan” run dropped us off right in front of the Hikage Gondola Station.
We “skated” back over to the rental shop and turned our gear in. At the rental shop, we took a short break, gathered our gear, and then headed back towards Yu Road. We took Yu Road and headed back to Lodge Matsuya to drop off some of our gear. Along the way we snapped some photos to show the amount of snow that had recently fallen. After dropping off our gear we booked it to the Nozawa Onsen Tourist Information Center in the middle of town.
Nozawa Onsen Stamp Rally
We had heard about a special stamp rally in Nozawa Onsen that we wanted to participate in. We purchased our stamp books for ¥420 each at the Nozawa Onsen Tourist Information Center. Instead of a traditional stamp and ink pad, this stamp rally was a series of 27 impressions. The 27 impressions were spread throughout town and highlighted important landmarks or historical points related to Nozawa Onsen. Each one included a post with a unique metal seal on the top. We took our stamp books and rubbed out an impression onto the carbon paper with the help of an attached wooden pestle.
We would have liked to have taken a leisure pace and gotten all the stamps, however we had an extremely limited amount of time. The center closed at 17:30 which gave us a little under an hour and a half to collect at least 10 of the towns 27 stamps. There was a larger prize if we got 20 of the 27 stamps, but our time constraints made this impossible. We zipped around town and were able to collect the required amount of stamps and return to the center before closing. Upon returning, we were given the option of either a blue or red onsen bathing towel with a unique design. We decided to get one of each.
We asked the staff at the Nozawa Onsen Information Center for a dinner recommendation and told us about a Sobadokoro Daimon. It was a tempura and soba restaurant. We stopped by for a quick dinner.
Fukiya Souvenir Shop
After dinner we stopped by Fukiya Shop which was just around the corner on the main road. It was a really large omiyage (souvenir) shop with a wide assortment. We picked up a couple of things to try. We tried to focus on Nagano specific products like apple kit kat, fresh apple juice, etc..
Haus St. Anton
On the way back to Lodge Matsuya, we stopped by Haus St. Anton which was a hotel and jam factory. We had heard earlier about their jam and wanted to check it out. We picked up a couple to try. They were also serving fresh steamed oyaki outside. We decided to pick up a couple for a late night snack.
Nozawa Onsen’s 13 Free Community Onsen
Afterwards, we headed back to Lodge Matsuya to drop off our stuff and pick up our bathing clothes. We went to the closest of Nozawa Onsen’s 13 free public onsen. The onsen was located on the second floor of a small two story building. The baths were separated by gender. The entry area was pretty small there were cubbies where we could put our clothes, shoes, and other belongings.
The inside of the bath itself was also pretty small. There was one tub and four or five washing stations. We washed up before entering the bath. Let’s just say the water was hot. Scalding hot to the point where we couldn’t keep our limbs in for more than a few seconds. Fortunately, there were a couple of cold water spouts. We turned them on to lower the temperature of the onsen water. After waiting a couple minutes the scalding hot water was at a tolerable temperature. We soaked for a couple of minutes before heading back to the changing room. Afterwards, we finished up and walked back across the street to Lodge Matsuya.
We went back to our room and rested for a bit. We cracked open and tried some of the omiyage to see if we wanted to get more. These apple mochi were really good. They were soft and the apple filling was nice and smooth. Only downside was that they were not individually wrapped, so sharing would be difficult.
Haus St. Anton Oyaki
We also ate both of our oyaki. We used the microwave downstairs to heat them up. They were both really good. The apple one kind of tasted like an apple turnover or apple pie. The apples were tender, but not mushy and the cinnamon was a familiar taste. The Nozawa Onsen vegetable one had a nice savory taste. The vegetables were marinated and had a nice salty flavor. Definitely a must try in Nozawa Onsen. We cleaned up and packed up a bit in preparation for tomorrows early departure. With that we called it a night on Day #2 of our JR Nagano Niigata Pass.
More to Come…