About
Who runs this site, what it measures for itself, how it is run, and where the data comes from.
Operator
Site: JAPANSNOWLINE
Operated by: JAPANSNOWLINE
Established: 2026
Contact: [email protected]
What this site is
Daily snow depth, snowfall, temperature and wind for 3,112 snow resorts worldwide. All 395 ski areas in Japan are covered by prefecture, in both Japanese and English.
Each resort page gathers its official live cameras, nearby cameras, and videos from the resort's own channel (151 videos across 66 resorts). Links to official live cameras are checked automatically; dead links are removed from display.
What we measure ourselves
This site does not just collect what resorts publish. Every place is re-measured the same way, which is what makes it possible to compare across countries and regions.
Typical snowfall. All 3,112 resorts, calculated identically from the same weather reanalysis.
Snow quality. For all 395 ski areas in Japan, not how much falls but what falls: the temperature when it snows, how often more than 5 cm falls, how often it rains instead, and the wind.
Snow at onsen towns. The 79 onsen towns designated by Japan's Ministry of the Environment, measured on the same ruler as the ski areas.
Distance from the city. Ski areas with at least 300 cm of snow in a typical season, ranked by how close they are to a city of 200,000 people or more.
Checking against observations. The snowfall estimates are compared with measurements at 63 Japan Meteorological Agency stations, and how far off they are is published.
How all of this is measured, where the numbers stop being reliable, and a dated record of the mistakes we have found and fixed are on Data and scoring.
How the site is run
We do not forecast. This site produces no forecasts of its own. The "Where it’s going to snow" page lists forecast values exactly as published by our weather data provider.
Mistakes are fixed and recorded. When we find an error in a figure or an article, we correct it and record what was wrong, with a date. Articles whose conclusions changed are rewritten and carry a note saying so.
Check official sources before you travel. The figures here are estimates and information published by others. For operating and road conditions, check the resort, the road authority and the national weather service.
Data sources
Weather data: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0)
Observations used to check snowfall: Japan Meteorological Agency, historical weather data
Resort names, coordinates and accommodation: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0)
Accommodation data and prices (Japan): Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
List of designated onsen towns: Japan's Ministry of the Environment
Nearby cameras and the snowfall map: Windy.com
Videos: each resort's official YouTube channel (shown through YouTube's embedded player)
Map coastlines: Natural Earth (public domain)
Japanese prefecture and municipality data: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan
News headlines: publishers’ official feeds (copyright remains with each publisher)
Corrections and takedown requests
If something here is wrong, or you are a publisher or operator who would like a link or headline removed, write to the address above or use the contact form, and we will act on it promptly.
Last updated: 2026-09-26