Snowboarding & Exploring Nozawa Onsen

Sunny!

We had a really long travel day to get here from Niseko, so when we arrived it was lovely to see our futon already laid out at Sakaya Ryoken and ready for us to crash.

Greg's knees were quite swollen from all the boarding in Niseko, so we decided to sleep in and take it easy exploring the gorgeous little town the first day. It is so pretty! Loads of little shrines, warm water running under the streets so not much snow or ice on the roads, and onsens everywhere. As well as a place where the villagers supposedly cook there veges in the 90 degree spring water. We spent a wonderful couple of hours walking around and browsing all the little stores.

Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of snow, so the boarding was a bit average, even though still loads of fun. We found some fantastic runs that would have been great in lots of snow, and some that we hit super hard and fast. There was a great long run called Skyline which followed the ridge all the way down and had lovely views. We ate lunch at Buna on the Paradise slope, and enjoyed sitting in the sun, drinking sake and watching everyone go by.

Nothing better than lunch followed by sake in the sun

The hotel had an option to include dinner, which we did for one night, and so glad we did! It was kaiseki style, which is a multi-course meal with lots of perfect little Japanese dishes. It was so delicious, and we were tempted to repeat it, but there were too many other great looking places in the village to try. One of the best is a Hamacho Sushi where everything is made to order. Such delicious sushi and so fresh. The guy was a complete crackup and posed doing the peace sign for photos whenever anyone got a camera out.

Peace from our sushi chef at Hamacho Sushi

We also discovered Foot Bar, and had a massive night out with the locals (who happened to be mainly Aussies working over there), and other Japanese on holiday. The burgers at The Corner were fantastic against our hangovers the next day.

Nozawa Onsen ended up being a great addition to our trip in spite of lack of snow. It's a lot more "Japanese" than Niseko, and has more of a local town feel rather than ski town.

Heading up the moving pathway to the slopes

Skyline run right down the ridge into town

How to Onsen like a pro

Some really yummy gloopy stuff wrapped in a leaf and cooked in the spring

Where the villagers cook their veges

Kaiseki dinner at our hotel

Nice turns Greg

Check out the view

More nice turns

Looking down into Nozawa

The main onsen

One of the shrines

In the streets of Nozawa

Perfect way to finish the night - steamed buns and foot bath - bliss!

How we got here: We travelled from Niseko, which meant a 2 hour bus from to Sapporo, 2 hour flight to Haneda (Tokyo) then another 5 hour bus (Chuo Taxi) to Nozawa Onsen. Apparently you can get there quicker from Haneda by train / bus / taxi combination, but with we didn't fancy dealing with the changes required with or big cases and snowboard bag

Where we stayed: Ryoken Sakara, a great little Japanese style hotel with onsen, and providing just breakfast, or both breakfast and dinner. We had the kaiseki dinner one night and it was awesome - definitely recommend at least once while you are there. It's in a pretty good location close to everything in town and only a short (steep) walk to the moving pathway which takes you up to the slopes. Sleeping on futons was definitely a good experience, even though it wasn't that comfy. Glad we've done it, but I don't need to do it again in a hurry! The staff were delightful. Most didn't speak much English, but they tried so hard to help us, and we always managed to find an English speaker when required.

Dinner at Rakuichi (Niseko)

Cold soba with dipping sauce

Rakuichi is known for it's home made soba noodles, which are delicious! Luckily we took the advice from our hotel seriously and booked dinner here back in August, as it's full for the entire winter, and they already have bookings for next ski season!

The restaurant is located a short (and snowy) drive from Niseko. Once you arrive, you walk across a cute little bridge and into the tiny restaurant. It seats 12 at the bar from where you can sneak peaks into the kitchen to watch the sashimi being plated, and the delicate tempura being battered and fried. It's a set menu, all in Japanese, which of course we couldn't read at all. This means we had no choice but to sit back, relax, and enjoy the journey.

The couple next to us seemed to know what they were doing, so we copied them and ordered a bottle of sake with gold flakes. Pretty decadent, and very oishii.

As for the food... wow! It was all so delicious, and the stand out was indeed the soba, which we watched the Master Tatsuru Rai hand craft from scratch. First it was kneaded in a bowl before being rolled out and sliced into perfect noodles. We chose to have ours as they recommended - cold with a bowl of dipping sauce. Such a good way to enjoy the actual soba flavours and texture.

The hosts were delightful in their traditional kimonos, and we managed a few conversations. Their English is much better than our Japanese, and we had a good time working out what each other was saying through the use of our limited words and much miming.

All in all it was an amazing dining experience, and one we will definitely repeat on our next trip to Niseko.

The menu - can anyone translate?

With the lovely and friendly owners

Sashimi: fatty tuna, scallop (my favourite) and uni

Sake with flakes of gold

Tempura - light and delicious

Salmon

A super tasty fish that we can't remember the name of...

More delicious tempura

Shabu Shabu

Rolling out the soba noodles

Standing in the snow on the bridge outside

Amazing Powder and Food in Niseko

Mount Yōtei

Wow! Niseko certainly lived up to it's reputation. We spent 6 wonderful days there experiencing the snow and food, and meeting with old friends and new.

Our first day boarding was complete whiteout - felt a bit like Whakapapa, though with much better snow and food, and of course trees! The next few days it was quite warm, which meant a bit heavier snow, however we had a clear day to get our bearings, and even had some great views of the surrounding area. There was a little new snow each day and we were having loads of fun boarding and beginning to understand why people would like Niseko. But then... it got colder, and the snow really fell. Wow! Now we understand why people rave about it!

We boarded all 6 days, and even managed a night session. Our legs and bodies were pretty tired by the last day, but the snow was just too good. We even managed a few small hikes up behind the gondola to make fresh tracks down through the trees (thanks to Greg's old school mate for the directions!).

Proof we hiked to find the most amazing runs

In the trees

And it's not only the snow. The food is amazing too. We had so many good meals, and didn't even get a chance to go to all the places we wanted to. We ate ramen (mmm... ramen...), karage, sushi, sashimi, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, don buri, soba, udon, uni... and the list goes on. We learnt very quickly how to say Oishi (delicious) to describe pretty much everything we ate. The wine bar with excellent wines was discovered on day one, along with some new friends, and then we also found Gyu for cocktails. Oh, and the sake... so good!

We stayed at The Vale which was in a fabulous ski in / out location, right at the bottom of the family lift. It was also really centrally located with most restaurants and bars an easy walk. The outdoor pool was a little cold, but the onsen was absolutely lovely and I spent time there most days getting my Japanese on (though I think taking my kindle was not so Japanese). We were a little disappointed that the breakfasts had only Western options. A couple days we skipped breakfast at the hotel and headed straight out to catch the fresh snow, with a mid morning stop at Boyo for delicious steamed buns and to pat the super playful cat (missing our Duncan and Parker).

In the pool at The Vale

Meat dumplings at Boyo for breakfast - with the crazy cat

There are so many restaurants in Niseko. Here are our restaurant favourites so far...

• Rakuichi for the best hand made soba noodles ever. This place is so incredible it deserves it's own post. 
• Ezo for fresh seafood ordered straight out of the tank. The king crab was amazing, so much of it, and the best thing - it's already split open so super easy to eat! A very fun night with the amazing Calvin and Sherry (who we met in NZ on New Years Eve) - looking forward to seeing you both in the next country!
• Rin for sukiyaki. Our first sukiyaki experience and it didn't disappoint. The grilled meats were also really good.
• The restaurant in the hotel by the King Quad (forget what it's called) for the best sushi and sashimi we've ever eaten. Try the tempura sushi - nope, it doesn't have tempura in it, instead the whole sushi roll is tempured and then sliced. Deliciously fresh sushi with a lovely thin tempura crust around the outside. So good.
• Bigfoot for burgers and poutine. Ok, so it's not Japanese. The burgers however were pretty good, and the poutine was outstanding. Yummy chips doused in the tastiest gravy with cheese on top. Perfect for a late hung over lunch after a morning boarding session, and followed by more night boarding. And they have good cocktails too.
• The ramen place in the main street for... ramen. And the best karage chicken we had in niseko. We ate lunch here the day we arrived, and it was the best start.
• Boyo under the gondola for the best steamed buns (and pussy cat)
• The wine bar next to Niseko Pizza for Raclette. Such a lovely late night surprise when we stopped in for one last wine on the way home to find the owner with the raclette machine out. 
• Gyu (aka fridge door) for cocktails.
• The izakaya next to the Tuk Tuk place, just up from Ezo - forget the name. Cute inside with delicious food.

Best sashimi of the trip

Best sushi of the trip

Unagi (eel) box for lunch at Abucha

Spot Greg

Riding the chairlift

Outside Gyu (aka Fridge) where I had to duck to get through the door

Inside Gyu, watching the snow fall through the big picture window

Sukiyaki

Dumplings and sake - the best afternoon pick me up on a snowy day

Now that's what I call a mountain lunch!

Niseko main street with the night skiing in the background

Awesome views of Mount Yōtei (Hokkaido's version of Mt Fuji)

Greg disappearing through the powder to visit with a tree

Found the wine bar, complete with 99% chance of wine - we visited here most days for the great wine and to chat with the interesting owner

First ramen in Japan, with karaage and gyoza to go with

In the trees

Outside one of the Izakaya (Japanese pubs) in Niseko

Let the snow fall! Night boarding

Checking the view of Mt Yotei

Looking up from the gondola