Japan's powder capital. Siberian storms crossing the Sea of Japan dump some of the driest, lightest snow on Earth — "Japow." Mt. Annupuri tops out at 1,308m.

Three connected peaks — East Mountain, West Mountain, and Mt. Isola — famous for birch-tree powder runs and a base-area amusement park with a Ferris wheel lit up over the snow.

Hosted the FIS Alpine World Cup more than 10 times — a Japanese record. The same rolling hills turn into the country's most famous lavender fields every summer.

Hosted alpine skiing at the 1972 Sapporo Games — Asia's first Winter Olympics. The original Olympic flame plinth still stands in the Olympia Zone.

Host of the 1998 Winter Olympics. Ten resorts spread across one valley, ~3 hrs from Tokyo by Shinkansen + bus — Japan's widest terrain variety.

Eighteen linked ski areas on one lift pass — Japan's largest and highest resort. Hosted the 1998 Nagano Olympics giant slalom, with the Jigokudani snow monkeys just down the road.

The only ski resort with its own Shinkansen station — 75 minutes from Tokyo Station to the gondola, no transfers required.

Ride past "Juhyō" — wind- and frost-sculpted "snow monsters" — then soak in a hot spring town that's welcomed skiers for a century.