Early Bird Specials

$

Early Bird Specials $

Experience the best of Japan - the thrill of deep powder, the beauty of an unique culture, and the fun of a WELL OILED guided tour.

Enjoy some of the most incredible snow on planet earth, stay in a truly authentic Japanese ski village, visit mom and pop restaurants and mix with the locals, be entertained by Geisha, Taiko Drum, Shamisen Guitar, Lion Dance and Karate performances, visit the world famous Snow Monkeys, enjoy the hilarious magic show, view the amazing tree snow monsters at night, walk through ancient castles, temples and shrines, visit historic Shibu Onsen Town and one of the worlds largest bronze Buddha statues and finish your day by relaxing in natural hot pool onsens.

Much more than the usual ski holiday, our tours combine adventure, culture, quality Japanese run accommodation and local personalities to give you the complete Japanese experience.

And best of all you get to share this all with a group of like minded ski and snowboard enthusiasts and make new lifelong friends, all hosted by our instructor/guides who are just plain passionate about what they do for you, as our GUEST REVIEWS attest to. And don’t forget our hidden gems that we leave as a surprise for you on your journey with us at Japan Powder Culture Tours.

Unique in the fact that we cater for beginners through to experts so that we can make sure that group flow on the snow is maintained which is critical to get maximum turns and to improve your skiing or riding. Whether you are a beginner, intermediate, advanced or expert on the snow we have you covered this coming season with a range of tours that start from 3 to 10 nights, plus we can tailor make something to suit.

So take the time to peruse our site check out the FAQ’s and CONTACT us with any questions you may have. Our tours start from the Mid Dec until end of April each year so why not come join us in our little Japanese Utopia.

Early Bird Rate for 24/25 season available

$

Early Bird Rate for 24/25 season available $

Greg and Lyndell (Owners of www.powderhounds.com) – Australia – February 2024 – Nagano Ski Buffet

This is the 3rd time we’ve been on a JPCT trip and undoubtedly it won’t be the last. The Nagano ski buffet is aptly named because we definitely got our fill of powder and feasted on a range of Japanese food, along with a smorgasbord of other experiences.

Whilst we do a lot of self-guiding around Japan, it was incredibly nice to have someone look after all the logistics and planning, and share powder stashes and other experiences so that we could get the most out of the area.

GUIDING
Jase and his team go above and beyond and they put 120% effort in. Even when we felt a little tired, it was easy to dig deep to try to match their fervour. Our trip was well into the season, yet they still had the energy to put lots of passion into enhancing the guest experience.

We had Naru as a guide one day who is a local telemarker. He knew the ski areas incredibly well, and added some nice Japanese insights and tips along the way. Jase guided us the rest of the time and did a great job. His quirky sense of humour was on fire and it was appropriate that he always flipped from being Mr fun guy to being incredibly serious when guiding to ensure safety aspects were covered. The guides and instructors worked well together in harmony and kept their communication tight. They also communicated well with the group via face to face announcements and WhatsApp messaging.

On one particular day, the strength of their guiding really came to the fore. It was a very stormy day and most lifts at Shiga were on wind hold. The guides started us in one zone where there were a couple of lifts running, then got us back in the bus to drive to somewhere further up the mountain where a couple of lifts had opened up, and later drove us back down. Lots of Shiga and Yudanaka folks didn’t even get out skiing that day due to the storm, yet we scored some phenomenal powder skiing thanks to the guides’ great familiarity with the ski areas, their ability to monitor lift operations and logistics, and having transport on hand.

SKIING
As you’d expect, we had a mix of snow experiences and it wasn’t all phenomenal deep powder and there was a little bit of scratching around on dust on crust as well. The stormy day was like heli skiing on-piste (see insta video) and the subsequent day was a powder buffet with fresh line after line. Hopefully the vimeo video sums up that we had a fab time!

GROUP
Whilst there were lots of people on the bus to get to a ski area, it didn’t feel like a big group tour because not everyone was at the same hotel, and we divided up into small groups at the ski hill and for dinner.
The guides often switched people between groups if they were finding tight trees too challenging or the like. This highlighted that having a decent sized group with critical mass was a good thing because it enabled the guides to easily match people’s ability levels, speed and objectives, which is something we haven’t seen on very small group tours. We met some really great people on the tour that were kindred spirits.

YUDANAKA
We enjoyed staying in Yudanaka because it’s a real town and not one of those destination resorts where it feels like you could be in North America or Australia and not Japan. It was nice to wander around Yudanaka and Shibu Onsen and explore its temples, eateries and other nooks. The guides provided restaurant recommendations, and on nights when there wasn’t an organised dinner, there was the option of a bus drop service off to various restaurants. Whilst the hotel wasn’t in the absolute thick of Yudanaka restaurants, it was a pretty easy walk home.

HOTEL
We stayed at Hotel Omodaka which was very nice. It’s largely not a fancy ryokan, but you don’t expect luxury considering the price of the tour, and it’s good that people can stay in a tatami room to get the full Japanese experience. That being said, we stayed in a deluxe upgraded western/Japanese combo room that had 2 incredibly comfortable large twin beds plus a really large tatami area for sitting. There was also a luxe bathroom with an oversized shower and a bath.

The breakfast room was nice in that it had the Japanese aesthetics with tatami flooring and shoji screens, but it had high tables and chairs, so we didn’t need to get limbered up first thing in the morning to sit on the floor. Breakfast was adequate without being amazing. It was mostly Japanese type fare with miso soup, rice, frankfurters, omelette pieces, dim sims, pickles and a bit of salad. There were also rolls for toasting with jam to feel a fraction westernised, and of course the obligatory juice and coffee.

Dinner at the hotel one night was a highlight and we got our full Japanese experience by wearing our yukata and jacket, and sitting on the tatami floor. The meal wasn’t a super extravagant kaiseki meal that you’d find in a high end ryokan, but it certainly was a lovely feast and included lots of food items and a great chance to sample lots of different Japanese fare.

The onsen was also remarkable. The indoor onsen was good for a quick soak because it was mighty hot, whilst the outdoor onsen bath was the preferred option. One fine morning, the views from the onsen balcony were superb, looking across to Mt Myoko and other surrounding mountains.

OTHER EXPERIENCES
An evening was organised at Geisha Bar for karaoke, and it was plenty of fun even though none of us were particularly amazing at singing!

Sushi train night in Nakano was another organised activity, and even though the processes have changed since Covid, it was still fun to order lots of different plates and get them delivered by train to the table.

We also enjoyed some time in the historic town of Obuse and sampled sake, chestnut oyaki, and visited the Hokusai art museum and the Gansho-in temple with its Hokusai phoenix painting on the ceiling, which wasn’t quite in the same league as the Sistine Chapel but enjoyable nonetheless.

Overall we had a great time, and would recommend this trip to anyone who wants a buffet of food, powder and an experience far away from the curated resorts. You’ll be a good fit for the trip if you don’t take life too seriously, have a good sense of humour, a sense of adventure, and don’t need to party hard. The vibe was to ski hard, enjoy an onsen, have dinner and retire for the evening. Perfect!