An area within Kagura. Lift tickets, opening dates and the official site are shared across the whole resort.
Not open yet for 2026/27. We have not yet found an official opening date. The snowfall below is a model figure and does not mean the slopes are skiable.
A weather-model figure, worked out the same way for every ski area, and lower than what actually falls. Use it to compare ski areas, not against the resort’s own totals. How we measure →
This season so far (1 Nov to 9 Nov): 13 cm, 103% of the average for the same dates. The average is over twelve winters on the same weather model. Across Japan →
Updated: 10 Nov 2026, 12:15
| Date | Weather | Snow (cm) | Low / high (°C) | Wind (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 10 Nov | Snow | 0 | −2 to 1 | 10 |
| Wed 11 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | −3 to 3 | 11 |
| Thu 12 Nov | Partly cloudy | 0 | 1 to 10 | 6 |
| Fri 13 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 1 to 10 | 6 |
| Sat 14 Nov | Cloudy | 0 | 3 to 12 | 8 |
| Sun 15 Nov | Drizzle | 0 | 5 to 13 | 8 |
| Mon 16 Nov | Snow | 0 | 0 to 6 | 14 |
The five add up to the 100-point Powder Score: more fresh snow, more on the way and colder air all push it up. How we measure
Skiing the Tashiro Alyeska Trail, you look down on Lake Tashiro, and Restaurant Alyeska stands on its shore. The Dragondola from Naeba arrives at a summit station in this area. From the Gondola East Trail, which runs down past it, the Tanigawa range lies straight ahead. Sources: princehotels.co.jp, princehotels.com, niigata-kankou.or.jp (sources read 12 Oct 2026; an AI draft the site operator has not yet checked)
Counted from the runs and lifts drawn on OpenStreetMap, within the boundary of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
82% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. Those slopes get the least sun, so the snow lasts longer.
Source: OpenSkiMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Vertical is the difference between the highest and lowest points of the mapped runs and lifts.
Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.
Naeba and Kagura webcams & snow report — all 3 ski areas →
Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
The tick marks the median across every Japanese ski area we measure. All four bars run the same way — longer is better.
The quality score leaves out how much snow falls (it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind).
Within 50 km in a straight line. Ski areas in the same weather-model cell (about 30 km across) get the same figure.
| Ski area | Distance | Seasonal snowfall | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kagura | 6.0 km | 565 cm | 55 |
| Naeba | 8.2 km | 446 cm | 114 |
| Kandatsu Kogen Ski Resort | 9.0 km | 618 cm | 36 |
| NASPA Ski Garden | 10.0 km | 618 cm | 36 |
| Yuzawa Kogen Ski Resort | 11.0 km | 618 cm | 36 |
The most snow falls in January. March brings 61% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 86 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 447 cm, and 4 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 241 cm; the biggest was 2021/22 with 563 cm (2.3 times as much).
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
3 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 50 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH |
|---|---|---|---|
| 猿倉猿倉の湯 | 2.9 km | 38.5℃ warm | — |
| 貝掛貝掛 | 4 km | 37℃ warm | 6.8 neutral |
| 赤湯青の湯 | 4 km | 50℃ hot | 6.6 neutral |
These are analyses of hot spring sources, not a list of baths you can visit. They date from 1910 to 2005, many from decades ago, so today’s temperature and chemistry may differ. Names are as recorded in Japanese. Temperature and pH bands follow Japan’s standard for analysing hot springs.
Source: processed from the hot spring analysis data in the Geothermal Information Database (GRES-DB), Geological Survey of Japan, AIST
Within 20 km in a straight line, nearest first. Some lie over a pass that is closed in winter.
| Place | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Mount Naeba苗場山 | Mountain | 4 km |
| Mikuni Pass三国峠 (群馬県・新潟県) | Mountain | 12 km |
| Kiyotsu Gorge清津峡 | Nature | 13.3 km |
| Nozori Dam野反ダム | Landmark | 16.7 km |
| Mount Tanigawa谷川岳 | Mountain | 17.3 km |
| Shima Onsen四万温泉 | Hot spring town | 18.4 km |
Chosen from the places most read about on Wikipedia, favouring those with an English article. Based on the Japanese Wikipedia lists of sights in each prefecture, as compiled in travel-log-data (CC BY-SA 4.0). English names from Wikidata (CC0). The content of this section is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Checked on the official site (22 Oct 2026) · Source. “Not checked” means we have not looked yet. Compare with other ski areas →
Contains advertising. Property names and Rakuten Travel’s booking pages are in Japanese.
7 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within about 3 km of this ski area. The table shows the nearest 7 with a listed price.
| Property (links to Rakuten Travel) | Lowest listed (per person, tax incl.) | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Japan Echigo | ¥5,400 | — | 3.9 km | JR上越新幹線 越後湯沢駅よりお車にて約20分 |
| 貝掛温泉 | ¥21,800 | 4.68／5 311 reviews | 4.0 km | 越後湯沢駅よりバスにて25分。関越自動車道の湯沢ICよりお車にて15分。 |
Prices are the lowest Rakuten Travel lists; a property name, or “Pick dates and guests” above, shows prices and rooms for your dates.
Contains advertising. Property names and Rakuten Travel’s booking pages are in Japanese. · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Other booking sites: Booking.com ↗ · Agoda ↗ · Rakuten Travelad ↗
“ad” marks links that pay us a commission if you book. Links without it are not affiliated.
Where the snow falls · 15 Sep 2026
Which Way Do Japan's Ski Slopes Face, and Does It Matter?We measured which way every mapped run descends at 180 Japanese ski areas. At the middle one, 77% of the vertical faces north or east. That barely predicts snow quality: the weather decides what falls. Where direction matters is after the snow stops, and above all in spring.
Where the snow falls · 5 Sep 2026
Yuzawa Ski Resorts