Nozawa Onsen Trip 2015!
I’ve been lurking around and found heaps of awesome information for Whistler which I plan to be doing next year. Before then, I have my nozawa onsen tripped booked and I’d thought I’d share my plans and information/tips for anyone else who might be thinking of Japan and is not quite sure! I’m a bit of an OCD planner but hopefully its useful for someone out there.
I have a few questions down below if any japan regulars could answer that would be great!
24 Jan:
> Land at KIX (osaka airport) at 10:25pm - Try not to land too late as the airport is 50mins away from Osaka and trains close at 12ish
> I usually stay at J-Hoppers hostel - http://osaka.j-hoppers.com/ - Great hostel and the train station from the airport stops right outside
25 Jan:
> Gear shopping around Shinsaibashi!
26 Jan:
> Wake up early to feast on some Sushi - my recommendation - http://www.endo-sushi.com/english.html
> Gear Shopping - Last time it wasn’t open when i went but i heard this place is great for cheap gear - http://www.jsbc.jp/snowtown/
> Save time and accommodation by travelling on a night bus - http://www.alpico.co.jp/access/express/nagano_osaka/
27 Jan:
> Bus arrives in Nagano in the Morning, Take the earliest bus up to Nozawa - http://www.nozawa.tv/english/access.html
> Settle in/Explore Town/ or just go shredding the rest of the day!
> I’m staying in Mitsubachi Maya Lodge with breakfast included organised it through - http://www.nozawaholidays.com/properties/mitsubachi-maya-lodge/
28 Jan - 11 Feb
> SHRED
12 Feb
> Night bus again to save on time and accommodation back to osaka
13 Feb
> Arrive in the Morning, hop on train to the airport!
Costs
Perth to Osaka - One Way - Air Asia $280.00
Osaka to Perth - One Way - Jetstar $450.00
Osaka to Nagano - Return - Night Bus $130.00
Nagano - Nozawa - Return - Bus $25.00
Misc $50.00
Travel Total $935.00
Accomodation
JHoppers $56.00
Nozawa $1,054.00
Accom Total $1,110.00
Misc
Lift Pass $650.00
Food $25 a day $450.00
Mobile - Econnect $46.00
Misc Total $1,146.00
Total $3,191.00
Questions:
Has anyone been to the JSBC Snowtown sales? What brands do they carry? and Are the prices actually a good deal?
Anyone have any snowboarding shops they can recommend in osaka besides the sports retailers around shinsaibashi?
If anyone else has any questions I’m happy to help…Fire the questions away!
Welcome to the forums Bass, if you love Japan you’ll fit in well here!
I’ve never found snow gear to be particularly cheap in Japan (certainly no where near USA prices) and this is after walking through the Kanda area in Tokyo a couple of times (on snow shops are crazy expensive) Your best chance at cheap stuff is finding previous years models (as I’ve heard the Japanese would rather spend extra on the latest) but I certainly wouldn’t be heading over planning on getting a steal.
That’s a fair chunk of days in Nozawa (should be able to tick off all the public onsens though!). Are you planning on hitting any of the surrounding areas? I really loved the town of Nozawa and had amazing snow but found the mountain a little limited after a few days unless you were willing to duck ropes and hit slack/backcountry (the stuff I rode which was pretty easily accessed was great fun but a bit stupid in retrospect)
I really like what I’ve seen of Osaka as well, plan on spending a bit more time there next time.
Thanks! The community on here looks awesome!
I’m still new to snowboarding so far 11 days on the slopes but i’m absolutely addicted so lack of terrain won’t be an issue as I’m just trying to master the basics! I’m happy to do run after run of the same thing if it allows me to improve my skills. So I doubt i’ll be travelling to other mountains.
Things on the list to nail.
> Ride switch like my regular
> Master and do them with ease: 180s in all directions/butters/nollies/ollies/presses
> Attempt a tamedog!
DRC13 hows the park facilities (rails/boxes) in nozawa?
Thanks! The community on here looks awesome!
I’m still new to snowboarding so far 11 days on the slopes but i’m absolutely addicted so lack of terrain won’t be an issue as I’m just trying to master the basics! I’m happy to do run after run of the same thing if it allows me to improve my skills. So I doubt i’ll be travelling to other mountains.
Things on the list to nail.
> Ride switch like my regular
> Master and do them with ease: 180s in all directions/butters/nollies/ollies/presses
> Attempt a tamedog!DRC13 hows the park facilities (rails/boxes) in nozawa?
Ahh nice that’s a great stage to be at as everything is so new and exciting and you progress really quickly. Nozawa should cater for all of those things (they are long runs steepish at times but punctuated with a big flat area in the middle.
If you’re anything like me your list of things you’d like to nail might be pushed to the side if the Japan snow gods smile upon you and you’ll suddenly be working on your pow/tree riding (get to yamabiko early on pow days!) challenge (39 degrees slope) and utopia areas also are good fun.
Unfortunately I’m the wrong person to ask about the park facilities as I only hit them sparingly when in oz and pretty much never when in Japan. I know there definitely is a park setup there but that’s about all I can tell you sorry.
Lot’s of great food/drink and onsens in the village though (get some apple and cinnamon onsen steamed buns!!) and the atmosphere in the village is charming especially when it’s snowing at night.