Nozawa Onsen Customer Reviews

Nozawa Onsen was a fabulous little place, and although we didn’t really have any fresh snow or powder days there, the weather was perfect and frankly after Hokkaido we were happy enough pottering around the pistes! On the final day there the weather wasn’t so great, so we took a little bus trip to see the snow monkeys which were very cute. The Tokiwaya ryokan was just lovely, and again the staff there were absolutely perfect.

Nozawa Onsen village has great charm and is quite pleasing. Definitely worth a visit. We had 2 days skiing there, which was enough, with fresh snow on both days. With in-bound skiing only possible in the limited area at the top of the mountain, fresh tracks can only be had for less than 2 hours. Queues here were the longest that we experienced in Japan, but still fairly short (and orderly and well behaved) unlike Europe!

The resort itself was great. The lifts are modern and efficient and the queues very short. I love the windscreens on the chairlifts, very cool. There is a good range of on-mountain restaurants. In 4 days we’d pretty much done the resort, but we enjoyed it a lot. We were lucky with the snow. It has snowed a couple of days before we arrived and rained on the day we were leaving, but we had pretty good snow and sunny days whilst we were there. The town itself is fun. It’s a cute little onsen / skiing town with lots of cheap little restaurants, shops, bars etc. We had fun exploring it and eating in different places each evening (but avoid the lamb BBQ restaurant).

We LOVE Nozawa Onsen. It's the second year we have been. Snow was great this year; lots of powder. There are plenty of English-speaking staff at the Ski School on hand to give friendly advice whenever you want it. It is a beautiful resort and the slopes are well-groomed and there are only minor queues for the gondola/lift at the weekend when a lot of people visit from Tokyo, making use of the Shinkansen. The village is traditional Japanese; small and unspoilt. Loads of places to eat; plenty of choice and prices. Easy to travel by bus to nearby Iiyama if you want more choices. Local people are so friendly and helpful. No problems; a totally stress-free and enjoyable holiday. The Tokiwaya Ryokan is located next to the public onsen. It is an easy 5-10 minute walk to the Yu Road moving walkway which takes you up to the slopes, ski school, equipment hire etc. The staff could not have been more friendly or helpful. Breakfasts were traditional Japanese fare, absolutely delicious and kept us going all morning. The apartment was very spacious and beautifully decorated. No beds, futons and bedding were laid out for us during the evening and cleared away again while we had breakfast. (They were kept in the cupboard so, if we really wanted something to lay on, we could get them out when we wanted). The ryokan has its own private onsen for guests. Hot water and heating is provided by the thermal springs so there can be sulphurous smells in the rooms and hotel. Lovely place to stay; would definitely stay there again.

We loved our truly Japanese experience and had a great time in Nozawa Onsen.