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Sakaemura is stunningly beautiful. Whereas most of rural Japan is blighted by hillsides blasted away to protect from landslips, power lines and concrete, Sakaemura is relatively untouched. Their really are not all that many people living in Sakaemura, and the ‘town’ area is nothing more than a few shops. In the mountains you can find the odd restaurant and souvenir shop, as Sakaemura gets a few tourists, especially in Autumn when the leaves change.

Sakaemura gets an incredible amount of snow in winter. Morimiyanohara station holds the Japan record for highest snow levels at a whopping 7.85 metres. Due to the high levels of snow, houses are built tall and thin so that they don’t get buried. There is even a part of Sakaemura where so much snow falls that the roads are unable to be cleared during the winter. People living in that area are evacuated to apartments in a different part of the village for winter.

Sakaemura has plenty of onsens, perhaps the most unique is Kiriake Onsen. Once you arrive in the carpark of Kiriake Onsen grab a spade (you can borrow one for free) and head down to the river. an onsen trickles out from the riverside into the river, so you can dig your own hole in the river bed and take a bath when it fills up with hot water. This place is really spectacular.

Sakaemura is a long way out of the way and you definitely need a car to make your visit worthwhile. It’s a great place to go for a drive and just explore in the mountains. Please note that a lot of roads are closed in winter and driving conditions are difficult on the ones that stay open.

I arrived in Nozawa Onsen on November 21st last season with grand plans to ride a lot of powder before anyone else got there. Unfortunately it turned out to be an unseasonably late start to the season with hardly anything falling for almost a month. About a week before Christmas an amazing month long deluge of snow started. In the space of just a few days snow depths jumped from just a few cm at the top of the resort to a metre from top to bottom. The resort did a great job getting all areas open as soon as possible.

A collection of photos from last season.

The snowless days were few and far between, and each system that rolled through seemed to be even bigger than the last. I want to pick out a day that I can say was the best, but there were just so many days spent making a pig of myself in the powder down the likes of Schneider, Challenge and Utopia that I couldn’t narrow it down to just one.

The month-long snow culminated with a superdump for three days leading up to the fire festival. During the fire festival blizzard conditions were extreme and the shrine became so heavy with snow that the actual fire attacks were rendered redundant. There was no way that was going to burn. The actual kerosene assisted ritual burning at the end of the festival was delayed by quite some time and it didn’t really go up with much gusto when it did finally catch. Despite the somewhat disappointing fire festival, everyone went home that night duly impressed with Mother Nature’s ability to turn on a show.

After the fire festival Nozawa went through a dry spell with very little snow (and more rain than we would have liked). There were a few small falls up top and then another pretty big dump at the start of February, but for the most part it seemed like the skies had been snowed out.

My time in Nozawa came to an end in the middle of February, and unfortunately I didn’t get the powdery sendoff I had been hoping for. In fact it was quite dry for most of February, until once again it started snowing hard at the end of March. You would definitely not want to plan a trip to Nozawa in March with your hopes held high for powder, but for the last four seasons late March has produced some exceptional powder days. Thanks to the powder gods for this, but for 2010/2011 we must all have our fingers crossed for a more timely start to the season and plain old consistent powder days in January and February.

This is the last report for the season from Nozawa . I’ve had a great month here with some nice powder days, fun parties and great people. Thanks to everyone and I look forward to seeing you all next winter!

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm
New Snow (Village): 0 cm
Weather: Overcast with a moderate southwesterly wind.
Official statistics: (15:20)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.

New Snow (Resort): 30 cm
New Snow (Village): 2 cm
Weather: Mostly sunny conditions and very light westerly winds.
Official statistics: (15:20)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.

New Snow (Resort): 10 cm
New Snow (Village): 2 cm
Weather: Moderate northwesterly winds and light to moderate snow.
Official statistics: (15:20)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.

Light snow and cloudy conditions predicted today for Nozawa, with heavier falls in the evening and tomorrow night with fairly cold conditions which should make for some more good spring riding. Warmer again on Wednesday and Thursday before rain and then another cold change.

New Snow (Resort): 1~3 cm
New Snow (Village): 0 cm
Weather: Light snow for most of the day and fairly cold temperatures.
Official statistics: (16:20)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.

Most of the local contingent made it down to stay bar last night for a bit of frivolity – lifties and other seasonaires put together a great party with games, djs, balloons, projected visuals and lots of dancing!

There was quite a bit of snow up on Yamabiko this morning – the official report says 20cm – and it has been snowing lightly on and off for most of the day, making for another great day of riding here in Nozawa Onsen. A very light westerly wind and cold temperatures kept the snow in good condition well into the afternoon. As is so often the case the snow comes the day after a party (see the slide show above), just to spite us all! Tomorrow morning should be partly fine but apart from that it’s looking like a snowy weekend and coming week. Continued cold temperatures should see snow falling down in the village too.

New Snow (Resort): 10~20 cm
New Snow (Village): 5 cm (observed)
Weather: Very light westerly winds and light snow.
Official statistics: (15:35)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.

It’s a rainy day down here in the village, although it is trying with all it’s might to snow – sometimes the flakes make it down this far before melting but only for brief periods. It is definitely snowing up on Yamabiko though, and it’s forecast to keep doing so until Saturday morning so conditions on the weekend should be pretty nice. Temperatures are also falling somewhat so even some of the lower areas might get a nice top up over the next couple of days

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm
New Snow (Village): 0 cm
Weather: Light southwesterly winds turning northwesterly in the afternoon. Light snow and rain reducing visibility.
Official statistics: (10:20 AM)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm
New Snow (Village): 0 cm
Weather: Moderate southeasterly wind and light snow in the afternoon
Official statistics: (3:00 PM)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.

New Snow (Resort): 0 cm
New Snow (Village): 0 cm
Weather: Overcast with a moderate westerly wind.
Official statistics: (8:00 AM)

Click here to check out a slide show of some of my favorite photographs from this season at Myoko Kogen.