New Year in Japan

It is almost Christmas already! Where has the year gone? Everything in Snow Country is starting to hit its winter stride. There has been a good early snowfall which has allowed several resorts to open, and the rest are planning to start their lifts this weekend.

New Year is a pretty busy time in the resorts. The peak holiday period this year will probably start around 29th December, so if you are planning to spend the New Year's Period in the snow, make sure you have your hotel booking sorted in advance.

As a time of celebration there is always great food on offer around New Year and you are also likely to catch some good fireworks. These always looking amazing with snowy mountains as a backdrop.

Here is a list of some NY Fireworks if you are lucky enough to be in the area. Don't worry if you don't know when they start, you'll most definitely hear them.

December 31st

Yuzawa Park Ski Resort

NASPA Ski Garden

January 2nd

Kandatsu Kogen Ski Resort

Enjoy

Yuzawa Area Ski Resort Videos

Heading to Yuzawa for a bit of snow action this winter but not sure where to go?

Or just looking for some shots of snow to get you pumped up for your turns when the snow falls?

Then check out these video intros to some of the ski resorts in the Yuzawa area of Snow Country. There are guides to Yuzawa Kogen, Snow Wood, NASPA, Nakazato, Naeba, Ludens, Yuzawa Kogen, Iwappara, Ipponsugi, GALA, and Yuzawa Park.

Start getting excited about the snow.....

Classic Cars - La Festa Autunno in Snow Country

Fans of classic cars and all things oily need to makes some space in their diaries in October for La Festa Autunno 2012. From 19th to 22nd October some amazing vintage vehicles will be making a round trip from Harajuku. As part of their three day tour they will pass through Tsunan, Tokamachi and Yuzawa in Snow Country, as well as scooting through parts of Gunma.

Map & Schedule

Even if you are not a fanatical petrol head, it is great to see (and hear) these old cars roar past. Many of them have been lovingly restored and are in impeccable condition. There are a few stops on the way so you can get up close and personal with the entrants.

This classic car rally has been going since 2001 and is sure to draw enthusiasts and the curious alike.

Kids' Days at Yuzawa Resorts

"Kodomo no hi" or Kids' Day is a great initiative that has been taken up by almost every resort in the Yuzawa area. On the third Sunday of every month over winter elementary school students and younger receive a free ski pass.

This is bound to be a hit with the parents.

The following resorts offer a free lift ticket for children of the right age: Naeba, Kagura, Kandatsu Kogen, Ludens, Echigo Nakazato, Iwappara, Yuzawa Kogen, GALA Yuzawa.

NASPA Ski Garden offers 50% off to elementary school age children on Kids' Day, and Ipponsugi offers entry into a prize draw.

Time your trip right and the savings will get Mummy a bottle of wine.

Happy My Birthday in Yuzawa

If you are lucky enough to have a birthday between 10th December and 30th April you are in line for some free stuff in Yuzawa this winter. It's the Happy My Birthday Campaign.

Head to the Tourist Information Office on the West Side of Echigo Yuzawa Station on your actual birthday to register and you will get your birthday card (and lanyard if you are one of the first 500.) You are now set to pick up a whole bunch of free stuff from resorts, restaurants, shops and hotels in the area.

There are 8 resorts offering free lift passes (Nakazato, Yuzawa Park, Iwappara, Kandatsu, NASPA, Ipponsugi, Yuzawa Kogen and GALA) and a whole host of accommodations and shops offering free drinks, cakes, discounts, etc. Some pretty good bargains to be had among the 40 odd establishments taking part so well worth trying to get the day off and head up to Yuzawa on your birthday.

Happy My Birthday Campaign flyer - you are going to need to produce some official photo ID with your birthday on to get the goodies.

Ski Resort Opening Dates - Yuzawa Town

List of some of the planned opening dates for the upcoming winter. As always, it is snow dependent so subject to change. It has been pretty cold recently but the snow is still quite high up. Many of the resorts listed below will need quite a bit of snow lower down to be able to open on these dates so some postponements are looking highly likely.

Kagura (Mitsumata) - 23 November
Kagura (Tashiro) - 10 December
Naeba - 10 December
Iwappara - 10 December
Yuzawa Kogen - 10 December
Kandatsu Kogen - 16 December
Yuzawa Nakazato - 17 December
Ludens Yuzawa - 17 December
Nakazato Snow Wood - 17 December
GALA Yuzawa - 17 December
Yuzawa Park - 22 December
NASPA Ski Garden - 23 December
Nunoba - 23 December
Ipponsugi - 23 December

Yuzawa Resorts Radiation Checks - No worries

The Geiger counters were out this week in Yuzawa as checks were done on all the ski resorts before the snow falls to see what current radiation levels were. Everywhere was given a clean bill of health with readings within the range of 0.016 - 0.160 uSV/h, so you can hit the slopes with peace of mind this winter. For a run down of results by resort in English have a looks at this document or if you would like to check the full results (in Japanese) head to the Yuzawa Town homepage.

Super Sweets Buffet 2011 - Nov 27

Should you be partial to sweets, cakes and desserts there is a not-to-be-missed event coming up on Sunday 27th November. As the name suggests the Super Sweets Buffet is going to be a chance to indulge your sweet tooth and gorge yourself and world class pastries.

The New Otani Hotel is home to Patisserie Satsuki which is renowned for the quality of its dessert menu and whose chefs are have become celebrities for their creations. They are bringing the pastry chefs and kitchen en masse to The Naspa New Otani in Yuzawa for a tasting event which promises to be a fantastic afternoon. Places are limited so you should get in early to avoid disappointment. We'll be there - look for the slightly bloated characters closest to the buffet with cream round their mouths, sticky fingers and a light dusting of icing sugar all over.

Yuzawa is a pretty good place to be if you like your sweets. The cake shop on the East Side of the station, Maruya always has a mouth-watering selection of cakes on display including some of the best chou creams in the country (IMHO). Most of the ryokans in town also have coffee shops open to the public and the resident chefs make sure there are delicious cakes and desserts to delight even the most exacting connoisseur.