Hakuba
Alpine giants of the Japanese Alps
Hakuba is Japan's big-mountain valley. Where Hokkaido is all deep, mellow tree runs, Hakuba delivers genuine alpine scale — steep faces, high ridgelines and long descents beneath the jagged 3,000-metre peaks of the Northern Japanese Alps. It hosted the alpine and jumping events of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
"Hakuba Valley" is a single lift pass covering ten separate resorts strung along the valley, from beginner-friendly Iwatake to the steep, storied terrain of Happo-one and the powder and backcountry of Cortina and Tsugaike. Add easy access from Tokyo and a growing, cosmopolitan village scene, and Hakuba is the Alps of Asia.
At a glance
- Annual snowfall
- ~11 m
- Top elevation
- 1,831 m (Happo-one)
- Vertical
- ~1,000 m+
- Resorts
- 10 (Hakuba Valley pass)
- Night skiing
- Yes (select areas)
- Season
- Early Dec – early May
- Nearest airport
- Tokyo (NRT/HND)
- Transfer time
- ~4.5 – 5 hrs from Tokyo
Why you'll love it
- The most serious lift-served steep terrain in Japan
- Ten resorts on one pass — enormous variety
- Reachable from Tokyo in an afternoon by train + bus
- Dramatic high-alpine scenery
Good to know
- Lower base elevations can see warmer, wetter snow than Hokkaido
- Terrain is spread across the valley — you'll shuttle between resorts
- Top of Happo-one is exposed and closes in storms
Read the full guide
Page 2
The Mountain
Terrain, snow, lifts and where to find the goods.
Page 3
Village & Travel
The town, onsen, food and how to get there.