Ski snowboard in JAPAN! I need advice with Accomodation Location

Question

I live in Australia and me and my boyfriend are planning to go to Saparro and stop by in hongkong for 1 week.

My boyfriend loves snowboarding so I want to take him to Japan during the snow festival. We don't have much money but I don't want to stay somewhere dodgy. I still want a nice place with restaurants shopping since I'd be suffocating in the coldness.

Apparently Niseko is the best place to go. Is Niseko a suburb or city? I don't know much about Japan. In the booklet there is also Hakuba and Furano.

Can you name some places accommodation and also advices on what I should do when I get to Japan.

I need advices on Location, Train etc..

I'm wondering if I can go skiing shop around the city at the same time? Mt Fuji is my boyfriend's dream mountain...I dont know anything about it.. Someone said they went there and there was nothing so they starved in the mountain ..Lol I'm so pathetic when it comes to knowledge about other countries..

thanks:)

ahh..SCARY ..first time traveling without my parent..

I'd probably become a cheap labour oversea since Id get lost and go missing for years and dont know how to come back to Australia :D

Answer 1

Refer to the "Hokkaido Region" of this blog.

Answer 2

If you want shopping and restaurants, and he wants snowboarding, it only takes an hour from Sapporo to get to the Sapporo Kokusai ski area. It's not as large a hill as a resort like Niseko, but a half-pipe is a half-pipe no matter the scale of the ski area. You would get bored pretty quickly at Niseko if you weren't actually skiing. No Japanese ski resorts have the off-piste attractions of a Whistler or Aspen. Here's a cheap place to stay-

http://www.tabi-hokkaido.co.jp/p.setsuri...

Answer 3

Niseko is nice, but during the Sapporo Snow Festival it`s CROWDED!  Kiroro, Rusutsu, and Sapporo Kokusai are all ski areas much closer to the city than Niseko.  I went boarding at Kiroro during the festival, and it was quite nice.  The Snow Festival is awesome, and if you don`t like winter sports there`s plenty to see and do in Sapporo.  So you two could stay in Sapporo and you could stay and play in the city while he goes boarding.  Just make sure to make reservations ahead of time, since a zillion tourists come to Sapporo during the festival.

Mt. Fuji is far, far away from Sapporo, and going there in winter is definitely not recommended.  The official season for climbing Fuji is in summer, and in winter it`s deserted and dangerous.  

Answer 4

Aussie loves Niseko because of the snow quality, location to access and convenience for language. BTW, you should know Japanese snowing resorts open only their Winter during December to March or April.

http://www.niseko.ne.jp/en/index.html

It takes about 3hours from Sapporo city or Shin-Chitose International airport to Niseko town by bus. It is not city but small rural town in Hokkaido. Sapporo instead is huge one million populated city. Niseko is located in South of Sapporo.

Mt.Fuji is not near to Sapporo or Niseko but quite far from Hokkaido. You must fly down to Tokyo and take bus to climb up the skirt of it.You need enough time and budget to try climing Mt.Fuji.

Hakuba is neither located in Hokkaido. You won't see any foreigners there to play skiing or snowboard there. Furano is in Hokkaido but far North from Sapporo,

If first time to skiing in Japan, I definitely recommend to go Niseko for fun and safety.  There is beautiful Mt.Yoteizan instead of Mt. Fuji.