· updated
When Japan's Ski Resorts Open for 2026/27, and Whether There Will Be Snow When They Do
Opening dates checked on each resort's own site: Sapporo Teine on 21 November, Niseko, Rusutsu, Kiroro and Furano on 28 November, Happo-One, Sahoro and Tomamu on 1 December, Shiga Kogen on 5 December, Myoko and Minamiuonuma from 17 to 19 December. In Hokkaido, December already brings about as much snow as January. In Nagano and Niigata it brings about four-fifths.
If you are booking an early-season trip to Japan, two questions matter: when does the resort open, and will there be enough snow when it does? We checked the first on each resort’s own website, on 15 and 16 September 2026. For the second, we used the snowfall we measure month by month at every ski area on this site.
Every opening date is a plan. Resorts open when there is enough snow, sometimes with only part of the mountain running. Check the resort’s own site before you book.
Dates announced so far
| Resort | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| Sapporo Teine | 21 Nov | not yet announced |
| Niseko United | 28 Nov | 5 May |
| Rusutsu | 28 Nov | 31 Mar |
| Kiroro | 28 Nov | 5 May |
| Furano | 28 Nov | 5 May (season pass period) |
| Sahoro | 1 Dec | 4 Apr |
| Tomamu | 1 Dec | 5 Apr |
| Hakuba Happo-One | 1 Dec | 5 May |
| Shiga Kogen | 5 Dec | 5 May |
| APPI | 6 Dec (season pass valid from) | 6 May |
| Ninox | 17 Dec | 22 Mar |
| Akakura Kanko | 19 Dec | 5 May |
| Maiko | 19 Dec | not yet announced |
Hokkaido opens first. Sapporo Teine, half an hour from the city, goes first on 21 November, and the big names — Niseko, Rusutsu, Kiroro and Furano — follow a week later on 28 November. Hakuba’s Happo-One opens on 1 December and Shiga Kogen on 5 December. Myoko and the resorts around Minamiuonuma in Niigata open in the week before Christmas.
Not announced yet
On 16 September, these had not published their 2026/27 opening dates: the rest of Hakuba Valley, Nozawa Onsen, Kagura, Zao Onsen (its spring season runs to 5 May) and Gala Yuzawa. We will add them as they appear.
Japan’s first slopes to open are usually at Snow Park Yeti, on the lower slopes of Mount Fuji. It opens in late October on machine-made snow, and did so again in 2025. For 2026 the resort says late October again — “the first in Japan” — but has not yet named the day.
Will there be snow when they open?
This is where Hokkaido and Honshu differ most. We compared how much snow falls in December with how much falls in January, at the same ski area:
| Region | December snowfall as a share of January’s (middle ski area) | Ski areas where December matches or beats January |
|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido | 96% | 34 of 84 |
| Tohoku | 82% | 2 of 90 |
| Nagano and Niigata | 79% | 0 of 111 |
| Elsewhere | 74% | 0 of 105 |
In Hokkaido, December is already about as snowy as January. At Furano, Tomamu and Sahoro it is snowier. In Nagano and Niigata, December brings about four-fifths of January’s snow, and not one of the 111 ski areas there gets more in December than in January. The base is still building through December.
For the resorts on the list above:
| Resort | December as a share of January | December’s share of the December–March total |
|---|---|---|
| Furano | 123% | 32% |
| Tomamu | 113% | 28% |
| Sahoro | 106% | 28% |
| APPI | 100% | 29% |
| Niseko Grand Hirafu | 98% | 29% |
| Rusutsu | 90% | 26% |
| Hakuba Happo-One | 90% | 30% |
| Kiroro | 89% | 26% |
| Akakura Kanko | 83% | 28% |
| Shiga Kogen | 81% | 25% |
| Ninox | 73% | 27% |
| Maiko | 71% | 26% |
For a trip in the first half of December, Hokkaido and APPI are the safer bet. In Nagano and Niigata, a trip from late December onward gives the snow more time to build. More on the whole season is in when to ski in Japan.
How this was checked
Opening and closing dates come from each resort’s own website, checked on 15 and 16 September 2026. For APPI and for Furano’s closing date, the dates are those the season pass is valid for; neither resort has published the day itself. Resorts with a spring or “final” season list it as part of the season, and not every lift or area stays open to the last day.
Monthly snowfall is the average for each month from December to March over the last 11 winters, from the ERA5 reanalysis, measured the same way at every ski area on this site. December counts the whole month, so the first week of December is thinner than the monthly figure suggests. The model understates mountain snowfall, and understates Hokkaido’s more than Honshu’s (details), so this page compares months at the same ski area rather than centimetres between regions.
Lift ticket prices for the same resorts are in our 2026/27 lift ticket guide.
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