Ok I am thinking about going to Hakuba from March 2 to March 12 and I will be flying into Osaka because it is the cheapest to fly into though flying into Tokyo is $100 US more. I would like to board Hakuba and the cheapest i have found accomodations is 6,500 yen a night per person (is this good)? The web page i have been looking at is [url=http://www.japanspecialists.com]http://www.japanspecialists.com[/url] . How are the conditions that time of year, how expensive is train fair, lift tickets, food, etc. i have been told i will need to ship my board from the airport to the resort, so i dont have to take it onto the train. Any information you can give me would be great please feel free to lay it all on me. thank you in advance.

6500 yen sounds reasonable. Does it include meals or discounted lift tickets? Hakuba is alway good, so don`t worry when you go.Hakuba has a few different resorts, (Goryu, 47, Happo, etc) so which one are you nearest to? They have some really good hot springs too. Check out Kurashita no Yu. As for getting there, there are a couple of ways. You are kinda far, and depending on how long you want to take to get there, i suspect that you are looking at between 10,000 yen and 30,000 yen. You can go super cheap and take local trains, or get there really fast by bulet train. Another option is the buses. They probably have some service to Nagano, and it might be the cheapest and easiest way to do it. Not to mention you wouldn`t have to ship your bags (it is a hassle bringing them on the crowded trains in the cities). For ticket and snow info, go to [url=http://www.snowjapan.com]www.snowjapan.com[/url]. You can check all the resorts for the most up-to-date info. You might want to search their forum for similar questions. Its got everything you need. Food is tricky. You can live cheaply on convenience store rice balls and water, but you may want to see if the place you are staying at has cooking facilities. Its not so bad here if you can cook, and the noodle joints are pretty reasonable. But you can definately go as expensive as you want. Conservatively, look at spending at least 2000 yen a day on food. good luck

Going along with the food info here.... The food at the resorts are typically very over priced. Your better off packing a small lunch from the convenience stores like Anti-bling stated. That should hold you over for a while, then head out to the smaller places around town for some cheap grub. Side note... if your going to Hakuba in Nagano your better off flying into Tokyo bc its much closer than Osaka. The plane ticket might be cheaper to Osaka, but trust me your going to pay an arm and a leg for travel expenses once your get here. Shinkansen will run you a lil more than $100 most likely, locals will waste too much time and lugging ALL your luggage is a pain in the butt. Just a snowboard and backpack for your gear is not bad, but suitcases will be horrible. It may seem crappy to dish out the money earlier but trust me itll be worth the time and effort that you will save yourself. Ill try to find out some things for you if you like, just gimme a bit.

Im snowboarding hakuba today. Im coming back to tokyo on Monday so, Ill give you an update on the conditions then, cheers.

There is also a bus from Shinjuku station (Tokyo) to Hakuba, it takes around 4.5hrs and is only 4700yen, which is about $60 Australia. Much cheaper alternative, I'm getting it on the third so i'll also try and drop a trip report after I leave Hakuba on the 14th. Good luck

Had a blast. I posted a shout out in the General Section. hope the link works. http://snowboard.colonies.com/forums/posts.aspx?postID=74779

check out www.snowbedsjapan.com

The owners name is mitch, and is an aussie.  Its a hostel style place, but you can't beat his price of $30 bucks a night.  He has a full kitchen to use, local to the bars (5 minute walk), about 10 minutes away from the resorts, and sells discount tickets to Hakuba 47.

Posted by passedoutpolarbear
There is also a bus from Shinjuku station (Tokyo) to Hakuba, it takes around 4.5hrs and is only 4700yen, which is about $60 Australia. Much cheaper alternative, I'm getting it on the third so i'll also try and drop a trip report after I leave Hakuba on the 14th. Good luck

That's exactly the same timing as when I'm getting into Hakuba. Since I'm getting into Narita in the evening around 7, I'm either thinking of taking the Chou Taxi direct to Hakuba or the train to Shinjuku followed by the overnight bus to Hakuba. Chuo Taxi will cost approximate ¥11000 one way.

About how much does it cost to get to Hakubo from Tokyo?   Also, I'm looking for the serious freeride experience--how much are the resorts that would offer me that on a daily basis?

Any other suggestions would be well appreciated. Cheers.

As someone else suggested above, there should be a bus running to hakuba everyday around this time of the year from tokyo metropolitan area.
And I assume it costs about 10,000yen or so.

I think flying in to Narita (Tokyo) is better than Osaka for sure tho...


Last weekend was SICK.  pow everywhere
Me and my friends were covered with snow from top to the bottom...lol

Lived in Japan nearly 6 years. All the above is accurate but why Hakuba? Spend a little more and go to Niseko. Sooo much bigger, more powder, more options, more English, etc.