Hachiman Shrine above Villa Nozawa Early Morning Traffic

30cm of Fresh snow this morning on the slopes. After a few sunny days it was most welcome. Still snowing fairly heavily out side at the moment  but it is forecast to get lighter as the day goes on

Looking like tomorrow will be a Sunny day but the last for a while with consistent snow falls forecast for the week ahead. With the base already at great levels this will only help to give us continued great conditions

Does not get much better

The Road down to Karazawa Slopes at Nozawa Onsen

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Blue Bird Day at Yamabiko on top of Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort

It has been a pretty snow filled month so far in Nozawa Onsen. Don’t think we saw much of the sun there for a while as the powder kept falling from the sky. In amongst the dumps there were however a few magic sun filled days and some great photo opportunities.

The trees up top at Yamabiko never cease to amaze. It is called “Jyuhyou” which literally means Frozen Tree!

Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival in full blaze

There were also some pretty hot trees in the Village this month with the famous ‘Fire Festival’. To first timers it is an unbelievable event with people charging at each other with huge burning sticks. It is like a medieval pantomime which is slowly played out over the course of  the evening. Lots of sore heads from the fight and the sake!

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The Hot Springs in Nozawa Onsen, Snow covered retreat

Nozawa Onsen was famous for the Hot Springs long before it was known as a Ski Resort. During the Edo Period around 700 AD travelers from Tokyo would make the long journey overland across the Mountain ranges to bask in the glory of the springs at the base of Mt Kenashi in Nozawa.

Onsen means Hot Spring and there are 13 Public bath houses in Nozawa Onsen and a further hand full of private run hot springs scattered across this tiny Village

They are a special place for the locals, many of whom build there houses with out bathrooms as they have a magical hot spring just nearby thier house.

So when you visit one of these bath houses you are sharing in the Villagers lifestyle. They are more than happy for you to enjoy them but expect you to follow the local customs while visiting. So make sure to respect them and your whole experience will be that much richer. The Onsens are a perfect way to relax after a hard day on the slopes.

Team Work- Villagers working together to clear the Snow from an Onsen

Everyone living in the area takes turns to clean the Hot Springs and to clear the snow from the roof and entry after a big dump. Dangerous work but very rewarding!

The top photo is Shinden Onsen about 100m from Lodge Nagano. The bottom shot is Nakao Onsen just behind Alpine Villa Nozawa. Nakao is one of the largest in town and has two pools one hot and one very hot! Shinden is a bit more cosy and has a great feel too also generally one of the cooler places in town for a soak

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We’ve had an amazing run of powder days here at Nozawa Onsen. And when it’s dumping down, what better place to be than flying through the trees. Check out the video of Matt and Jay to see what the conditions have been like.

Jealous?

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