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Japan is a very mountainous country and so has plenty of opportunities for winter sports, especially in the Central Highlands and Hokkaido.
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[[Image:Snowboarding.jpg|350px|right|thumb|Winter Sports]]
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Japan is a very mountainous country and so has plenty of opportunities for winter sports -- both for newbs and pros.
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==Skiing==
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== Season ==  
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The regular season starts in late December and ends in late March or early April. Peak season is early February. There is also a smaller peak over Christmas and New Year.
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Package tours within Honshu generally don't start until the weekend before Christmas and end some time between the March long weekend and the first weekend in April. 
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An extended season does exist in some areas. Pre-season skiing can begin as early as late November and many resorts list May 5 as the final day of their spring skiing season. When skiing during either shoulder season, expect a reduction in the number of lanes open to the public due to snow conditions and private lane allotments. There are no summer glaciers or summer snowfields in Japan.
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Season 
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Many resorts hold events during the year especially at the start and end of the season for example, fireworks on the last night of the open season.
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  - Regular season (most areas) – late December to late March or early April
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  - Packaged tours generally do not start until either the weekend before or the weekend after Christmas and most run only until the March long weekend or the first weekend in April.
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  - Peak season is early February. There is also a smaller peak around Christmas and New Year.
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Extended seasons (some areas)
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  - Pre-season – begins late November to early December
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  - Spring season – from April until May 5
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  - Expect large reductions in the number of runs open to the public due to snow conditions and private lane allotments
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  - There are no summer glaciers or snowfields
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  - Many resorts hold special events throughout the year especially at the start and end of the season for example, fireworks on the last night of the open season.  
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== Conditions in Japan ==
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=== Mountains ===
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Many of Japan's ski and snowboarding mountains are in the central highlands (Gifu and Nagano), the Tokoku region, and Hokkaido. Though not as well known, the Kinki and Chugoku regions are also skiable.
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Japanese mountains lack altitude when compared to their counterparts in Europe and the Americas and most skiable mountains in Japan are entirely within tree-line skiing or are nearly so. Japanese resorts make up for the lack of altitude by building outwards and by interlinking with adjacent resorts. The Shiga Kōgen area in Nagano-ken is considered by some to be the world's largest ski resort area because of this interlinking system.
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=== Snow ===
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If you talk about skiing in Japan, you will often hear the phrase, "Japanese snow is very wet." What this means is that thanks to mild winters and all the humidity causing sea water around, the microstructure of Japanese snow has a high moisture content. Think the big clumps of falling snow you would use to make a snowman. Anyone who has skied within sight of an ocean or even the North American Great Lakes will recognize this snow type. Wet snow is a mixed blessing. It comes in huge quantities and gives Japanese mountains their high powder-day count. But this form of snow also comes with a high number of rainy days and an extended slush-skiing season in the spring. The snow itself also degrades (ruts) more easily, so the nice even surfaces of groomed runs don't stay that way for long.
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=== Weather ===
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Japan's winter is milder than other major winter sports locations, but the occasional day at -20 Celcius with windchill is still possible. While I've never seen a resort shut down its lifts because of extreme cold, in a typical season, loosing multiple days to extreme wind conditions is normal. Frequent days with damp air, wet snow, fog, and rain are part of the characteristic weather and geography pattern that produces "Japanese snow."  Generally, the further inland a resort is, the fewer wet days it will have, but also less powder snow. The weather also gets colder as you move inland and northward.  It's also worth mentioning that Japanese mountains seldom have the altitude needed to move above the cloudline.
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== Transportation ==
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=== Buses ===
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*'''The Positive Points of Taking the Bus'''
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*:Buses are the main form of public transport for skiing and virtually all ski resorts in Japan can be reached by bus (not being able to get there by bus is a good sign that the resort in question is too small to bother with).  Bus tickets can be purchased on their own, but are more often part of a package which may include your lift ticket and/or hotel among other things. Bus packages can be incredibly cost effective and they are very convenient. They can be booked online or through a travel agent. Bookings are sometimes possible as late as the day before departure.  Most ski buses are of the night bus variety with departures happening between 10pm and midnight and arrivals around 6am give or take. Morning/daytime buses are significantly rarer and are usually used for one-day packages. Return buses almost always leave around the time the ski lifts shut down.
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*'''Leaving from Nagoya or Osaka'''
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*:The 2 major ski transport hubs for people living in Mie are Nagoya and Osaka. Most Nagoya buses depart from the area in and around the Meitetsu Bus Center. Nagoya ski buses mainly service the Chubu region. I have yet to find a bus from Nagoya that will take me to a resort in the Kinki region. I have never traveled via Osaka for skiing, so I don't know much about those routes, but both Kinki and Chubu resort options are available.
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*'''Leaving from Mie'''
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*:Some tours have buses that stop at major train stations in Mie, but expect to pay a lot for this convenience. For example, adding an extra Tsu to Nagoya leg on a round trip by bus can cost as much as the equivalent train tickets plus a night's hotel in Nagoya. There is also a possibility that you will not make it to your stop before last train.
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*'''Problems with taking the bus'''
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*:The major problem with buses is that they get stuck in traffic a lot. While they do try to budget for this in their ETA, late arrivals are still very common. If you miss your last train because the bus was stuck in traffic, do not expect any compensation. Another bus complaint is that some will ask you to pay an extra luggage fee of 1000-1500 yen in order to bring your equipment with you. With some buses, this fee is only charged to snowboarders.   
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