Myoko Akakura

Myoko Kogen sits at the foot of Mt.Myoko, a volcano revered for centuries, in one of the snowiest inhabited regions on earth; storms from the Sea of Japan pile snow metres deep on the village roofs every winter. Akakura is the heart of the area — two adjoining resorts, Akakura Onsen and Akakura Kanko, rise directly from an old hot-spring street of inns and public baths — and neighbouring Ikenotaira and Suginohara are a short bus ride away on the same lift pass. The terrain mixes long cruising trails with steep tree runs where the famous snow depth shows, and the village has kept its small-town character even as Australian and European skiers discovered it. Trains from Tokyo reach the valley in under two and a half hours.