THE SECRET SAUCE
We will introduce you to some secret spots that are within 2 hours drive of Madarao Kogen Area.
So beg, borrow or steal a car and get on the road less traveled!
So beg, borrow or steal a car and get on the road less traveled!
Yuzawa town and Kagura Ski Area
The MountainsYuzawa in Niigata Prefecture is known as “yukiguni” or “snow country”, based on a Nobel-prize winning Japanese book that described the hard life in the frozen area in winter. It was set in the hot spring town of Yuzawa.
Yuzawa is now only 75 to 80 minutes on the bullet train, though in the past was a rather isolated, snow=locked area. But the yukiguni is wonderful today because all that snow is awesome for skiing and boarding. There are about a dozen ski resorts within the Yuzawa town area, including Naeba, Gala Yuzawa and Joestsu Kokusai. But our favourites are Kagura and the lesser known ropeway at Muikamachi Hakkaisan Ski Resort. |
The SakeNiigata is generally regarded by Japanese people as having the best sake in Japan. Again, it is about the snow. There are areas in the mountains of Niigata that receive over 10 metres of snowfall a year. Owing to the fresh water and clean air that comes from the copious snow in the region, it makes the area perfect for creating sake. Most Niigata sake houses put their efforts into producing handcrafted sake of incredible quality. Hakkaisan though is the classic Niigata sake and is renowned throughout Japan. But it also has an abundance of smaller sake factoroes that makes a sake tour through the area a must-do activity.
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The Snow CountryNobel Prize-winner Yasunari Kawabata's Snow Country is widely considered to be the writer's masterpiece, a powerful tale of wasted love set amid the desolate beauty of a rural, mountainous Japan. At an isolated mountain hot spring, with snow tumbling down and a frozen landscape, Shimamura, a wealthy man from Tokyo meets Komako, a lowly geisha from the country. Doomed love, stark landscapes and a general state of misery- the perfect ingredients for a Nobel Prize. Hopefully you will have more fun in Niigata than these two poor wretches did!
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Kagura Ski Area
Kagura Ski Area is a bit beaten up and a bit out of the way, but has access to some of the best tree skiing in Japan.