Learn to Ski in Japan

Earlier this year my girlfriend and I spent 2 weeks in Japan and thanks to everyone on here who commented on our itinerary thread we were able to put together an incredible trip and have decided to return in Jan 2020.

After having been once already we have a list of things we missed or couldn't get to in the 2 weeks we were there.

1 of which was spending some time in a ski resort, I snowboard and obviously am desperate to get into the Japan snow. My girlfriend however has never learnt.

So my question is, where would be a good resort for her to learn to ski, I'm happy to go wherever as it's more important she has an easy time learning and enjoys it which will hopefully lead to plenty more trips to the snow for me.

Thanks in advance

These are good ski resorts in Japan.
I think both of them are English-friendly ski resorts.

Hakuba valley in Nagano pref.
https://www.hakubavalley.com/

Niseko United in Hokkaido
https://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/news/the-early-bird-gets-the-best-deals/

If I searched with SnowJapan, the results sorted by Number of Resort Reviews gives
80 Niseko
78 Hakuba
73 Naeba
68 Nozawa Onsen
66 Kagura
60 Zao Onsen
:
Yes, Niseko and Hakuba would be the top two in English-speaking community.
https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/search

And here is a page for English Schools. Most ski resorts listed here appear in the above ranking,
but I would like to note on Shiga-Kogen.
https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-ski-resorts/ski-and-snowboard-lessons-...

Shiga-Kogen is one of the biggest ski resorts in Japan. It is a set of ski grounds under various ski lift companies. Because of this, you would have difficulties to find their names in the rankings. SnowJapan handles ski resorts based on their smallest divisions.

It is also true for other ski resorts. Mt Niseko is a set of Hirafu and the other three. Hakuba Valley is a series of resorts, including Happo-one, Hakuba 47, and others. Mt Naeba is a set of Naeba proper and Kagura. Big Mountain includes GALA and other Yuzawa ski resorts...

Note that Gala and Yuzawa have the great advantage of a shinkansen stop right in the ski resort. I think that's unique. All other ski resorts are more remote and require more lengthy travel. So if you just want to spend a few days trying to ski but also want to do more tourism, Gala or Yuzawa (they are very close to each other) would be probably the best destination.

Enjoy your winter trip!

Hello Astreet86,

If you like snowboarding and your girlfriend wants to learn how to ski, I recommend you to have a look at the Kiroro Ski Resort (Hokkaido).

The 21 runs at Kiroro are a mix of green, blue and black slopes, although most are suitable for beginners and intermediate levels as even the blacks are not too difficult. Ski lessons are available in English as well. There are also extra activities such as snowcat or snowshoe tours, as well as both indoor and open-air onsen hot springs.

Here you can check more information and other ski and snowboarding resorts: https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/skiing-snowboarding-japan#Kiroro_Ski_Re...

Have fun!

Thank you for all the information.

We have decided on staying in Hakuba, we only have 3 days sadly in early Feb to ski but we will make the most of it.

But we received plenty of tips on other places to go as well and have a long list of Japanese ski resorts to visit next time once my girlfriend learns to ski

Thanks for your help again