7 of Japan’s best winter activities

By Ben Groundwater
Published: Monday, March 5, 2018

Winter might be a time for hibernation in some countries, but not when you’re in the Land of the Rising Sun. Words: Ben Groundwater

This is a time when the mountains rest under vast blankets of snow, when the trees stand stark against rich blue skies, and when your breath condenses into a cloud right in front of your eyes.

Life doesn’t just go on in Japan in winter, it thrives. It’s a time for festivals and celebrations, a time for eating, drinking, shopping, exercising, and so much more.

If you happen to find yourself in Japan in the colder months, it’s worth making the most of these seasonal activities.

1. Skiing

This is the winter activity that first pops to mind for many people when they think about Japan, and for good reason. The local ski industry is booming thanks to affordable lift tickets, beautiful scenery, and snow, glorious snow.

If you love powder days, Japan is the place for you: we’re talking up to 14m of the white stuff falling every year at popular resorts, such as Niseko on the northern island of Hokkaido and Hakuba on the main island of Honshu.

While those two locales are the best known to Australians, there are plenty of other mountains to discover here, all which offer great skiing, a friendly atmosphere, a unique snow culture, and much more.

2. Eating

The Japanese are obsessed with food, particularly fresh, seasonally-appropriate food, and winter is as good a time as any to enjoy nature’s bounty.

One of the most prized winter foods in Japan is crab, and you’ll see it appearing on menus in plenty of forms – crab sushi, steamed crab, or even crab soup – as the colder months descend.

Winter is also a time for nabe, the Japanese hotpot, which often features plenty of hearty root vegetables, tofu and meat. Pair it with a little hot sake and you have yourself the perfect winter warmer.

A Japanese hotpot is the ideal winter warmer.

3. Hiking

If you’re not keen on skiing, no problem. There are other ways to explore the Japanese wilderness in winter.

Hiking is a popular activity year-round, and you can choose to do it either in a snowy winter wonderland trekking, say, the Nakasendō Way through the mountains around the ski resort of Nagano, or on the volcanic southern island of Kyushu.

Or perhaps somewhere a little warmer, like all the way south in the Japanese island chain of Okinawa. There, the trek through beautiful tropical forest up Mt Yonaha is not to be missed.

4. Festivals

Japan’s busy festival calendar really ramps up during the colder months, with plenty of celebrations, many out in the open air, to get people through winter.

Probably the most famous of those is the Sapporo Snow Festival, a hugely impressive display of ice sculptures and snow statues that’s visited by more than two million people every year.

But there are other festivities happening throughout the country: the old capital of Nara hosts several winter celebrations, including Wakakusa Yamayaki, where grass on the hillside of Mount Wakakusa is set alight, and the Omizutori festival, which features a series of traditional rituals to welcome spring.

Nearby in Kyoto, meanwhile, young archers test their skills at the traditional Omato Taikai Festival.

Sapporo Snow Festival.

5. Snowshoeing

There’s nothing quite like the experience of shuffling through a snow-covered wonderland with no sound but the soft crunch of snowshoes and a light breeze through in the trees. That’s what awaits on a snowshoeing adventure in Japan, with experiences available pretty much wherever there’s wilderness and snow.

Tours range from just a few hours to a full day, in places such as Minakami Onsen in central Honshu, and Yoshino River in southern Shikoku. All you’ll need are warm clothes and enthusiasm – oh, and a camera.

6. Onsens

While the Japanese love an onsen – or hotspring bath – at any time of the year, in winter these facilities truly shine.

It’s not just the bone-warming bliss that a natural mineral pool brings, but the scenic beauty you’ll experience in many of the rotenburo, or open-air onsens.

These are most often found in the mountains, usually around ski resorts: natural thermal springs that are open to the elements, meaning you can soak in warm, mineral-rich water while snow falls around you, and the mountain scenery lulls you into a sense of perfect relaxation.

Japanese onsen.

7. Sumo

Good news, sumo fans: winter is primetime for this traditional form of Japanese wrestling, with several big meets throughout the country.

There are sumo tournaments held in Tokyo in January, in Osaka in March, and Fukuoka in November. All provide the chance to witness one of the country’s great events while taking shelter from the cold in an indoor stadium.

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For more advice, get in touch with RAA’s travel experts.

Call 8202 4589