Travelling to Japan in January next year for about 3-4 weeks. I will spend about 3 days in Tokyo with a friend and then do a week of snowboarding up in Hakuba. Suggestions on where else to travel afterward? I was thinking Sapporo because we could do some time at the snow in Hokkaido as well but really I just want to go do some interesting things. Taking lots of pictures of landmarks and doing tours is really not my thing though.
Also are bullet trains worth it to get around or should we just stick with regular trains? Anything that is interesting around Hakuba and Tokyo that we can do in a day trip would also be really cool.
If anyone knows if snow gear is cheap there that would be great too, its really expensive in Australia and I need a new jacket and pants. Thanks in advance guys.
>>1052571
>Suggestions on where else to travel afterward?
If you're thinking Hokkaido I've heard it's got the better snow/conditions for snowboarding. Hakuba is just more popular, I suppose because it's closer to Tokyo. I'm going for the first time to Hokkaido in about a week. If this thread's still up, I'll report back.
>If anyone knows if snow gear is cheap there that would be great too, its really expensive in Australia and I need a new jacket and pants
As a fellow ausbrah, yeah snow gear is ridiculously expensive down here. I got some waterproof pants from Rebel Sport for like $40 on sale, I'm just going to combine them with thermals. I'm bringing that and just going to rent a jacket up there. Not worth buying a jacket if you're only snowboarding for a few days, I've been told.
Anyone know if my pants idea will work btw? I'm a snow virgin but I'm going with a group of experienced skiers and they say it should be fine
>>1052575
>I'm going for the first time to Hokkaido in about a week.
For snowboarding? Really? Hokkaido has only started to get cold recently (i.e., in the past 10 days or so) and there hasn't been much snow at all. Is Niseko or any of the other resorts even open yet?
>>1052575
Thanks man I'll look forward to your report, I think it's pretty early in the season though.
As for the pants it'll probably work but I think pants are the most important part for snowboarding so I wouldn't skimp. A friend of a friend said that gear is cheap as over there so you could potentially get good pants but I dunno if sizing will be weird and I really can't vouch for that information.
>>1052575
No snow yet, buddy. It's been pretty mild so far this winter.
This resort was planning to open today, so maybe check back for updates if they did or not.
facebook forward slash sapporo.teine (couldnt post a link due to spam filter
>>1052578
>>1052584
I should correct myself, I'm going in just over a week for a 3 week trip and we're snowboarding during the last week. I made a thread about it. So a little under a month from now is when I'll be actually snowboarding. We're hopeful that there'll be enough snow by then.
>>1052579
Yeah I looked at hire prices and they're not too bad, I was just more worried because I'm 6'4" with disproportionately long legs so I was worried they wouldn't have pants for gaijin-sized legs haha. Same worry for boots for my size 12 feet but we'll see..
>>1052578
>Is Niseko or any of the other resorts even open yet?
Yeah, Niseko opens on the 27th I believe, I'll be there from the 15th of December so I'm hoping it'll be good for snow.
>>1052589
>Same worry for boots for my size 12 feet
I've never rented clothes so I can't say, but I've rented ski boots (I wear an 11 to 11.5) with no problems in Japan. If you're going to a major resort (Niseko, for example) you'll have no problems as the foreign skiers/boarders outnumber the Japanese 10 to 1.
>>1052590
>I'm hoping it'll be good for snow.
Probably you'll be OK. Snow has been forecast for the past 3 or 4 days, but none forthcoming so far. Snow is again forecast for next week. Again, probably the 15th will be OK, but I'm guessing there won't be much of a base and snow quality may be a bit iffy.
>>1052571
You will probably enjoy these OP, may give you some ideas as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMx4ZjEyiS8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM2tptbt_gE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-7Ev8pWIco
I'm not really a traveller but this web series has gotten me interested
Just tried booking lodging for Hakuba but all the best places were booked out, staying in one of the cheaper places now. No idea how close it is going to be to lifts though, hopefully not far.
>>1052575
Can you report back on the price of gear over there compared to aus?
>>1052917
>Can you report back on the price of gear over there compared to aus?
Sure mate, if I remember. If there's a board with all the prices or something I'll take a pic. I'm just budgetting based off this though, first result on google: http://skihirejapan.com/general-hire-gear/rental-rates/
