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December 2020, I set out on my first trip in almost two years to the ski resort town, Nozawa Onsen, in Nagano, Japan. The resort is famous for hosting the 1998 Olympics, and being one of the best resorts in Japan. With so many tourists flocking to the slopes every winter season, the town is easily accessible by shuttle bus from nearby Iiyama Station. There’s a wealth of online resources, in English, about the town.
With such a diversity of people flooding in every year, there’s no lack of food options for people with dietary restrictions either. Most restaurant menus include detailed explanations of the ingredients.
I am pescatarian and rarely eat dairy, and Savannah (mentioned later) is a gluten free vegan. Finding food and restaurants to eat at can often be a struggle, but there was an abundance of places we could eat at! I even had my first proper veggie burger in three years. Keep reading to find out where!
The easiest way to get to Nagano is from Tokyo, especially for JR pass holders. It’s as simple as a ride on the bullet train to Iiyama station, and taking a shuttle bus.
But, things become trickier when traveling from Western Japan - specifically Okayama. The easiest way would have been to take the bullet train, but that would have stacked on an additional $300 in transportation fees.
It was about this time that I was really missing Flix Bus prices in Europe, because unfortunately Japan is not known for cheap modes of transportation for residents.
My friends and I took a highway bus from Okayama to Osaka, spent a day exploring the metropolis, and rendezvoused with three of our friends to take a night bus the rest of the way.
The bus departed at 11pm from Osaka Station, and arrived at JR Nagano Station at 6am. \
Buses are actually my favorite way to travel long distances. It gives me the perfect opportunity to sit, relax for a few hours, and see the scenery of the country around me with minimal effort.
Night buses are a different story.
I was absolutely the Debbie downer of this portion of the trip. I’m a light sleeper, and am horrible in the morning. I do not like the cold (unless I’m doing some sort of sport in it), and as cliche as it sounds, I need coffee in the morning to make me a likable person.
Arriving at the station at 6am after a fitful night’s sleep, with nothing open, and about 7 hours to kill until our train to Iiyama, I was not in the best mood. It being 20 degrees outside before the sun rose did not help me either.
We made camp for an hour in a hallway in the station until Starbucks opened.
Despite the morning struggle, a few hours of morning karaoke healed the soul, and then it was time to collect our items from the coin lockers and take the train to Iiyama station.
There are two ways to get from Nagano to Iiyama: bullet train and local train.
The bullet train, covered by the JR pass, is the quickest way. It’s an easy ride, taking under 10 minutes.
Local trains depart about once every two hours and take around an hour to arrive. One way tickets cost approximately 500 yen, or 4.6 USD~.
Although local trains may not be as comfortable or as fast as the bullet train, I personally would recommend the local train over the bullet train. The bullet train has so many perks, but what you save on time and comfort, you miss being opened up to the most stunning winter wonderland I’ve ever seen in my life.
Gin no Sekai translated into English literally means silver world. I’ve often heard Japanese people refer to snow covered fields using this, but I’ve never been able to experience it until this trip.
Nothing could have prepared me for the mountains and tunnels opening, the city fading away, to be taken through untouched fields, frosted trees, and sleepy towns. Surrounded by my dearest friends, I found a quiet serenity in the midst of nature.
For the first time in years I felt like I was able to appreciate the fact that winter, though brutal, was beautiful.
Want to ski on some more local slopes? Check out Mt. Daisen in Tottori Prefecture.
The entire town of Nozawa Onsen is easily walkable, with free shuttles circulating the town regularly to take tourists directly to the base of the slope. Even though the outside temperature was consistently far below freezing, the geothermal heat and natural hot springs the town was built on heats the streets and the air. Even though I was at a much higher altitude, I felt comfortably warm to walk around the town in regular winter attire compared to Nagano city.
We rented Casa 38 an entire house for the six of us to stay in, including central heating. Anyone who’s spent extended time in Japan knows how much of a rarity that is. The owner was gracious, accommodating, and speaks fluent English and Japanese. He came by a few times to refill the kerosene heater in the garage where we dried our clothes.
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The house was only a few minutes walk from the Shinden bus stop, so it was easy access from the shuttle both from Iiyama station, and to the base of the slopes!
Over the days there we explored the streets, even trudging through the most snow that the town had received in over 100 years.
We chose to cook dinner for two days, getting supplies from the one small grocery store - Food center Uoyasu - run by one grandma who seemed like she’d been in the town her entire life. The store was bare bones and basics, but was full enough for us to be able to make a good few meals.
My personal favorite was the stall selling steamed buns directly across from the grocery store. I must have eaten at least 10 of the famous Nozawana (mountain vegetables) steamed buns over the next few days. For only about 1 USD per bun, steamed fresh in front of me and made with local ingredients, it was one of the cheapest and best meals I’ve had in Japan.
The next day we all enjoyed a feast at the local Genki Burger. The entire store radiated American energy that I hadn’t felt in so long. With an American at the grill, I felt like I was in good hands.
From loaded fries, actually overflowing with toppings, to vegan and gluten free burger baskets, there was something everyone could enjoy. We all left feeling full and refreshed.
The hot springs in Nozawa Onsen, the town’s namesake, are plentiful. All are free and open to the public, with a box for donations stationed out front.
I’ve been to my fair share of onsen during my time in Japan, but these were unquestionably unique.
In most public bath houses and hot springs, there’s stations to clean yourself before getting into the temperature-controlled baths. Most are also stocked with shampoos and soaps.
The public ones in Nozawa Onsen had none of these amenities, only wooden cubbies to put your clothes in. Once stripped naked, you’re freezing to your core and the only options for water you have is a spout for freezing cold, or the tub heated so hot that it turned our skin raw and red.
A local taught us that the easiest way to adjust was to take a bucket and splash some of the hot water on our bodies to slowly warm up.
It was an entirely different experience submerging in it. Again we turned to the locals for help. I slowly lowered myself in and did not move once seated. The second I moved an inch there were sharp pin pricks of pain from the heat.
Sitting perfectly still, though, was tolerable - even relaxing - for a few minutes before it became unbearable.
These hot springs are not for the faint of heart - some sources reporting that in they can reach up to 90 degrees Celsius .
But, to the grandmas around us who’d been bathing like this their entire life, it was a walk in the park.
Even so, these baths are a part of the unique charm of Nozawa Onsen. It’s absolutely worth it to try once for the benefits to your skin thanks to the sulfur in the water.
There’s no shortage of gear rental shops in Nozawa Onsen, but the prices vary from place to place, so doing your research is important if you do not have your own gear. Just googling “Nozawa Onsen Gear Rental” brings up hundreds of overwhelming results.
We rented our gear from a quaint little mom and pop shop only a five minute walk from the lifts. The owners were attentive and let us store our items in the lockers for free, and return our gear at the end of the day to spare us the struggle of lugging it back to our rental.
The prices were lower than most other rental places, it seemed. For me, I was able to rent all the gear and wear for two days for under $120 USD.
Lift passes are available on the top floor of the main ski center. There’s a wide variety of tickets available, and all prices can be found here
Nozawa boasts some of the longest courses in Japan. Not all were open when we were there, but there were still a plethora of options for all levels.
Ski and snowboarding lessons are also available - which one of my friends attended the second day.
My friends and I chose the two day lift pass, and for being one of the best resorts in Japan, felt that it was a really reasonable price compared to other countries.
I had never snowboarded in my life, so for the first day I mainly stuck to the bunny slopes and went home in the afternoon to take a long nap while my friends tried some of the longer routes.
According to them, the long beginner’s course was actually quite difficult to maneuver on a snowboard, with some areas being long and flat, and thin like a hiking trail. There was always the risk of running into someone, or losing momentum and having to hop your way down.
Then, the next day one of the worst snowstorms in 100 years hit. Even still, my beginner self hopped on the shuttle bus - that was struggling to plow over the snow mounds and ice - excited to give it another go. At one point I was almost certain that the bus was going to flip over, but by some force it got us all the way to the top!
I pushed myself to make it down slopes in nearly white-out conditions - something I don’t recommend other beginner snowboarders to try. I fell multiple times into the powder snow, and unable to turn went straight into a snowbank I struggled to get out of.
Even still, I feel like it prepared me well for my next snowboarding adventures.
Things to do in Nagano
After our trip we had almost a full day to spend in Nagano city waiting for our night bus.
This would have been the perfect opportunity to see the Iiyama Kamakura Village or the famous Nagano snow monkeys in Jigoku-dani (hell valley). But, truth be told, we were all fairly wiped out from the trip and the cold to make the journey out that way.
If you’ve ever spent time in Japan during the holidays, you’ll know that New Year’s day is more important than Christmas in the East, therefore most businesses are completely shut down for the time being. So, try as we might to find a place to relax for the day or a hot spring to recharge in, it just wasn’t possible.
We followed the crowd of Japanese people on their way to Hatsumode - the first shrine visit of the year - to Nagano’s famous Zenkoji Temple.
The streets were lined with food stalls like I hadn’t seen in years, and I of course had to indulge in the New Year’s Day traditional food of age-mochi and amazake - fried rice cake and sweet rice wine (non alcoholic).
The temple was like another winter wonderland itself, and by pure luck an old friend who was coincidentally in Nagano at the same time saw my instagram story, and showed up to meet me at the local Starbucks.
It was a day full of beauty, cold, and surprise reunions.
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