Japan · Akita

Yashima Ski Area

鳥海高原矢島スキー場
8 / 100 Powder Score
No Snow Weather Partly cloudy

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.

Base depth
1cm
Snow 48h
0cm
Next 72h
0cm

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 →

Snow 24h
0 cm
Next 24h
0 cm
Temperature
2°C
Max wind
11 km/h
Elevation
477–685 m
Across
1.3 km

This season so far (1 Nov to 9 Nov): 4 cm. The average for these dates is under 10 cm, so we do not give a percentage yet. The average is over twelve winters on the same weather model. Across Japan →

Updated: 10 Nov 2026, 12:15

7-day outlook

Date Weather Snow (cm) Low / high (°C) Wind (km/h)
Tue 10 Nov Cloudy 0 1 to 2 11
Wed 11 Nov Cloudy 0 1 to 5 11
Thu 12 Nov Rain 0 4 to 13 14
Fri 13 Nov Drizzle 0 6 to 14 16
Sat 14 Nov Fog 0 6 to 16 11
Sun 15 Nov Rain 0 9 to 13 11
Mon 16 Nov Drizzle 0 −3 to 9 18

Score breakdown

Fresh (48h) 0/40
Forecast (24h) 0/25
Snow quality 0/20
Wind 8/10
Base 0/5

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

A high-speed quad lifts you up to the Panorama run, the longest on the hill. There is a snow park, and the slope stays open for night skiing. The city-run hill lies at the foot of Mount Chokai, in Yashima, Yurihonjo. Sources: ski.city.yurihonjo.lg.jp, city.yurihonjo.lg.jp (sources read 13 Oct 2026; an AI draft the site operator has not yet checked)

Runs and lifts

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.

Marked runs
6
Run length
5.2km
Lifts
2
Vertical
208m
Top 685 m · base 477 m

Run map

EasyIntermediateAdvanced Lift
North is up. Runs are coloured by difficulty; black lines are lifts.
Run map

Drag to move around, and use + and − to zoom. On a phone, swipe to move and pinch to zoom in further.

Slope shape, difficulty and lift types

The shape of the mountain

Longest run on the map1.3 km
Steepest pitch26°measured over at least 30 m
Average gradient of the runs10.9°

Which way the slopes face

North 11%
East 87%
South 2%
West 0%

98% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. Those slopes get the least sun, so the snow lasts longer.

By difficulty

Easy 1 · 1.3 km
Intermediate 4 · 3.3 km
Advanced 1 · 0.5 km

Lift types

  • Chairlift2

See past trail maps on Skimap.org ↗

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.

Live cameras

This ski area does not put a camera on its own slopes. The nearest live view is the road below.

Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.

How much snow it gets

Modelled from weather data the same way at all 3,069 ski areas we cover. These are not the resort’s own published figures.

Seasonal snowfall
467cm
per season
Worst of 12 winters
183cm
The middle winter of the 12: 490 cm. The best: 686 cm.
World rank
101
of 3,069 worldwide
Rank in country
47
of 397 in Japan
Elevation rank
249
Highest to lowest, of 397 in Japan. The centre point sits at 580 m, 186 m below the national median.
Quality rank
176
of 397 in Japan
Temp when snowing
−2.4°C
Japanese median: −3.6°C
Rain days
25%
Japanese median: 16%
Days over 5 cm
32%
Japanese median: 15%
Wind when snowing
20km/h
Average daily peak, 10 m above ground across a model grid cell; not the wind on ridges or lift tops
Dryness 32
Frequency 90
Freedom from rain 35
Calm when snowing (model grid) 95

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).

Compared with what is nearby

Within 50 km in a straight line. Ski areas in the same weather-model cell (about 30 km across) get the same figure.

Ski areaDistanceSeasonal snowfallWorld rank
Gionyama Ski Area20.0 km321 cm401
Inakawa Ski Area Suberotta39.0 km229 cm885
Green Valley Kamuro Ski Area40.0 km277 cm586
Gosannen Ski Area44.0 km230 cm877
Tengamori Ski Area46.0 km377 cm211

Compare side by side with Gionyama Ski Area and Inakawa Ski Area Suberotta →

When it falls, and how winters differ

Month by month

The most snow falls in January. March brings 39% of January’s snowfall. That is a steeper fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%): the snow here is concentrated early in the season. For skiing, though, the amount matters more than the share: March brings 62 cm, more than the median of 46 cm.

143cm
Dec
158cm
Jan
105cm
Feb
62cm
Mar
Average snowfall by month, last 12 winters

Winter by winter

Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 467 cm, and 4 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2015/16 with 183 cm; the biggest was 2017/18 with 686 cm (3.7 times as much).

249
183
490
686
517
418
478
560
557
455
525
490
14/1515/1616/1717/1818/1919/2020/2121/2222/2323/2424/2525/26

Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.

How these figures are made

Hot springs nearby, as analysed

2 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 47.5 °C).

Show the sources
SourceDistanceTemperaturepHType
湯の沢4.3 km15.5℃ cold7.6 mildly alkalinesimple
猿倉鳥海荘4.6 km47.5℃ hot8.5 alkaline—

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

Worth seeing nearby

Within 20 km in a straight line, nearest first. Some lie over a pass that is closed in winter.

Show the list
PlaceTypeDistance
Sarukura Onsen猿倉温泉 (由利本荘市)Hot spring town4.6 km
Mount Chōkai鳥海山Mountain10.4 km
Hottai Falls法体の滝Nature11 km
Naso no Shirataki奈曽の白滝Nature12.4 km
Kisakata象潟Nature15.8 km
Shirase Antaractic Expedition Memorial Museum白瀬南極探検隊記念館Museum16.4 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.

Map

The weather map, and where it sits among nearby ski areas.

Getting there

By train
Yashima Station (Yuri Kogen Railway Chokai Sanroku Line): 20 minutes by taxi
By car
9 km from National Route 108

Source: ski.city.yurihonjo.lg.jp · checked 2 Nov 2026. Shuttle days and times change with the season; check the official site before you go.

We have not yet checked the family facilities (kids’ area, childcare, parking, rental) on the official site.

Places to stay nearbyPR

Contains advertising. Property names and Rakuten Travel’s booking pages are in Japanese.

1 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within about 3 km of this ski area. The table shows the nearest 1 with a listed price.

Property (links to Rakuten Travel)Lowest listed (per person, tax incl.)RatingDistanceGetting there
鳥海 猿倉温泉 ホテルフォレスタ鳥海 ¥7,1504.21/5 485 reviews3.2 km秋田自動車道 本荘ICより車で約1時間/「鳥海山ろく線:矢島駅」から事前予約で無料送迎あり。
Pick dates and guests to check rooms on Rakuten Travel

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)

Places to stay on the map

6 places within 12 km of the slopes, as mapped on OpenStreetMap, many of them small inns and pensions. Many are not on booking sites — open the name for the website or the map.

Nearest: 4.4 km

Show the nearest places

Nearest first

Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap

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.

Guides that cover Yashima Ski Area

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