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Last Updated: Jan 19, 2025
Japan’s Snow Country
More than a Locale for Winter Sports
Welcome back to another installment of Japan area guides. As always, we’ll be diving deep so that you, the reader, can explore a region of rural Japan without worry. In today’s post, we’ll examine a slice of Japan known as Snow Country. Spread across a wide swath of mountainous terrain that spans Niigata, Nagano, and Gunma Prefectures, this area receives a shocking amount of snow each year. In fact, snow plays such a critical role in this part of Japan that the activities for the remainder of the year often center around preparing for winter.
Now, if you turn to Google to learn more about Snow Country, you’re bound to get a bit confused. Even the ever-reliable Wikipedia is plagued by what can only be described as an extremely vague entry. Indeed, after reviewing the literature, I still cannot make out exactly what constitutes Snow Country, as it seems there are competing definitions. For the purposes of this article, I’ll go with the Snow Country Tourist Association’s definition, which includes the six towns of Uonuma, Minami Uonuma, Yuzawa, Tokamachi, Tsunan, Minakami, and Sakae.
When it comes to the slopes of Yuzawa, Snow Country is internationally renowned as a getaway for skiers and snowboarders. In fact, the region’s famous GALA Yuzawa Snow Resort is the only one of its kind to have a bullet train stop built directly into the facility. As you might imagine, this ease of access draws a crowd. Since many tourists already flock to Snow Country for winter sports, I’ll opt to omit these attractions in the coming analysis. Instead, I’ll focus on the lesser-known aspects of Snow Country, such as the area’s rich cultural heritage.
Before we get into the details, I want to stress that Snow Country is by no means alluring only during winter. Though the name may be a bit misleading, Snow Country offers plenty all year round. For example, the mountainous town of Minakami is regularly hailed as Japan’s premier destination for adventure tourism. That said, if you have your heart set on seeing snow, rejoice in knowing that this area of Japan often remains snow-capped until late spring.
