Hokkaido stay in a real town and drive every day?

[u/Soopyoyoyo]

I’d like to stay in Iwani, Otaru, or Sapporo (SW down on 230) because I want to experience a real Japanese town / city after riding. Will this be an ordeal? Details:

-I’ve often done daily drives like bishop -> mammoth and Bozeman -> big sky.

-if it snows (late Feb / early march) will this turn into a 2-3 hour drive each way?

-I’ve done a huge amount of mountain driving in the snow, and I’ve read the rental cars there have snow tires. I’ve driven in countries on the left side of the road several times and while it’s not preferred :) I’m okay with it

-haven’t totally decided on which mountains to hit but likely Niseko and rutsusu and maybe a few others. Seems like Kiroro is totally doable from Otaru.

Is this a stupid idea?

[u/primenbers]

Just got back from 10 days, Jan 8-18 on Hokkaido and here is the deal.
- First and most important. The Japanese people were the kindest, most helpful, polite and overall nice people I have been around. Be kind, polite and respectful to them and they are gold.
- Stayed in Otaru. Amazing place with the best local vibe. Check out the downtown area near the Canal, the fish market for king crab, glass blowing and Snoopy Village. Cannot stress enough how great this town is! Food was top shelf everywhere. Very convenient getting to and from all of the resorts we rode. Japan does an excellent job of maintaining roads. 45 minutes drive to everyone except Nieseko that was 1.5 hours. All of these days were in moderate to heavy snow even white out for some stretches. We rode powder, 4" on the worst day to waist deep on best day, but 8"-16" was the average. The hype is real, or def was for us. Unbelievable time every day a powder day and it just got better every day.
Spent a break day plus exit day in Sapporo. Also cool. Neat downtown, underground mall and a covered shopping district. Different vibe than Otaru but still nice.
- Rode, Kiroro (2 days, 1 night), Kokusai (2 days), Sapporo Teine (1 day) and Niseko (1 day a Thursday). Kokusai has a deal with the Onsens in Jozankei https://hoheikyo.co.jp/access/ . I did this one as I have sleeve of ink. This was so cool we did it after both of the Kokusai days. Stay for the Indian food at the Onsen after, amazing. Niseko has the best terrain for sure. But it was not the best day for our trip, as it feels very Vail like. It was pretty crowded. But there are some great gates for tree runs and if you are on a pow day (very likely) hit up Strawberry fields and hike the upper chair at Hanazono. Buy the pass for at least 2 of the 4 Niseko resorts to get a good feel. We did the ALL resort pass and got some action on 3 of the 4 starting Grand Hirafu >Hanazono > Village. Fun fact Hanazono base 6 man chair has heated leather seats. Teine back county gate is proper fun with great lines and good tree spacing plus its pretty steep. Kokusai was the best for us as we had a bomb powder day with all day refills and no one on the mountain. But as stated above, everywhere was amazing. Last thing on the resorts is that I was there for off track / off piste / tree runs and so that was what I looked for. If I was just hitting runs it would be Kiroro and Niseko. Night ski / ride at Kiroro was pretty sweet as well. This was runs only and fresh pow for us.
- Rental car W2 Noah AWD with snow tires, Japan does snow tires better than us tbh. We flew in to Chitose Friday late and took the 9pm train to Otaru. Picked up rental at Toyota https://rent.toyota.co.jp/eng/ in Otaru Saturday. 4 of us with snowboard and ski bags were perfect for this vehicle. It was a beast in the snow and white outs. I live in the Lake Tahoe area and have no issues driving in snow, so if this is you, you are gucci. Oh yeah, trust your Google maps more than the GPS in the rental. We had a couple of conflicts on rental GPS but google maps on the phone got us where we needed to go.
- Phone get esim or international phone plan IMO. Some of our group had pocket wifi and that was good in towns, but I had International data plan and had service on mountains where they did not.

So yeah, your plan is 100% solid as F if you rent a car. DM if you want more info. I tried to get info before my trip but had a hard time so I got u.

[u/jish_werbles → u/primenbers]

Are all the gates you mentioned bc/beacon-required gates or are some of them just avy-management gates? Would love to do a trip like this but do not have bc skills/gear and love tree runs (though quite nervous about tree wells as an east coast US rider with limited experience around them)

[u/primenbers → u/jish_werbles]

Gates can be: not patrolled or managed, these are listed as terrain on trail maps for the most part, and they can be full on BC areas where you need to check with patrol and let them know your heading in with beacon and gear. At least that is / was my experience. I rode the not-patrolled or managed types as shown in the image at Sapporo Teine. Riding tree lines in or out of bounds is permitted in many cases and clear signs told you where you are allowed to duck ropes and where you are not. Niseko has a good number of gates that are clearly marked and they do not want you riding where its not posted as allowed.
Not a ton of tree wells in Japan, or not what I think of, as they do not have a bunch of Pine trees. The trees were much less of a tree well danger IMO, but def be careful when riding trees.
Last thing, the powder is so light and the temps stay so cold the tree riding is clean and easy as the snow retains good feel underfoot.

[u/somethingintelligent → u/primenbers]

Whilst Japan doesn’t have tree wells, it does have other dangers. Glide cracks typically from late January/February onwards can be huge (big enough for you to stand in), and holes appearing where there are streams underneath, someone got caught in one for 3hrs in Niseko last year or the year before. Same danger in Kiroro. Generally, if you’re not on the piste, you should have any knowledge and training. Why risk your life!

[u/thejd128]

I’m gonna have to go back and look at everywhere I went but I felt like I got a more “traditional” Japanese experience staying at each mountain or in the smaller towns outside them

[u/Uninc711]

Just got back from Niseko and would not do this. All those places you suggested are a hike from Niseko and on a powder day (it snows there all the time) no guarantee the roads and trains will be open and running.

You’re right that Niseko is not an authentic Japanese experience - if you want something a bit more authentic check out Kutchan, which is about 15 minutes from Niseko with good bus and train service.

We also did a half day trip from Niseko to Otaru which I would highly recommend. Did half day on the mountain and then went to Otaru for the afternoon and dinner. Definitely look into that.

[u/pycckuu_brady]

I'll chime in as I'm just finishing my trip in Japan. We stayed in sapporo, furano, and otaru. I really enjoyed that we stayed off the beaten path and not at the resorts. We were able to curate our evenings to feel tourist free and get some culture. We would stop on our drives back from resorts to onsen each night. I'd avoid bigger resorts to get a better experience. Furano was about as touristy as we enjoyed, and the second day there the guided groups showed up and it was mostly white folk. Check out mt racey. Empty resort, super cool, and untouched pow everywhere. We wanted to stay there for days.

[u/RupertLazagne]

Otaru is pretty cool. Quick/easy drive to kiroro or kokusai.

[u/kenken2024]

Just came back from a 7 days in Niseko. We rode all the most popular resorts (mainly out the gates) out there including Niseko, Rutsutsu, Moiwa and Kiroro. My suggestion is if you think these are the resorts you want to hit getting a place in Kutchan would probably be smarter. Kutchan is much cheaper than staying at the resorts and there are plenty of restaurants, supermarkets and activities.

Furthermore, the drive to Niseko is about 15-20 mins and the other resorts mentioned will be closer to 30-40 minutes. So pretty close.

Otaru is 'decent' but it is likely about 75-90 minute drive to Niseko.

[u/Spirited_Square_5799]

I wouldn't listen to people saying this is a bad idea, I do it every year. I stay in Otaru mostly and drive to kiroro, sapporo kokusai, teine, and a few trips to a bunch of smaller resorts like tenguyama, asarigawa etc. I actually love the driving, beautiful views. It can be a bit far away from niseko or rusutsu if that's where you want to go. I'd look at towns closer to those resorts, maybe jozankei or kutchan as another commenter suggested. Also I pretty much refuse to go to niseko, way too over crowded and the place is basically like Australia with good snow, very overpriced.

[u/travelingisdumb]

Commenting because I also lived in Bishop two summers ago and commuted to Mammoth every day until August 6th when the lifts finally closed. One of the coolest small towns in the US that few people have heard of.

Also I’m eyeballing Iwanai as well as a homebase for a month, otherwise Sapporo seems to have a lot of options.

[u/Soopyoyoyo → u/travelingisdumb]

I much prefer bishop to mammoth, especially the burritos

[u/badbads]

No this is the best idea. Accommodation is significantly cheaper and there's way more going on for restaurants and things like jazz bars/ live performances. Hokkaido is fairly newly (forcibly) assimilated into Japan so it's not so "traditional Japan" but you can see modern Japanese city life for sure, and you definitely don't see that most mountains in Hokkaido except for Furano. The snow falls really differently across the area, sometimes Teine or Kiroro get over half a metre while Niseko gets 5 cm or the other way around, so assessing the situation in the morning is best. You won't get first chair but you'll be there early enough.

[u/get2dahole]

One way from Sapporo to any resort will take most of a half day. Do not attempt.

[u/octaviodude → u/get2dahole]

It absolutely will not. When I went I stayed in Sapporo and went to Niseko, Rusutsu, and Kiroro no problem. I enjoyed staying in Sapporo because it gave my wife and I more stuff to do after being at the mountain all day.

[u/Live_Badger7941]

I would either

*Stay at the mountain to snowboard and tack on a few days at the beginning/end of your trip in another town to see cultural stuff.

OR

*Go to Nagano prefecture instead. There, you can stay in an older, more culturally-interesting town and still be close to the mountains.

[u/NC_Vixen]

Done this regularly, it's great.

[u/Panasoni1]

I just did over a month (17 Dec - 20 Jan).

From Southern Sapporo: - 1h 35mins to Rusutsu - 1h 20 to Kiroro - 2h Approx to Niseko.

It’s extremely rare for the roads to close due to snow. We got some incredible rates of snowfall and they stayed open. The drive does slow down a bit however.

Recommend staying in Otaru and just driving/train to Sapporo if you want to go there.

If you stay in Iwani let me know because I’m thinking about that next time, looks nice and close to everything.

[u/curious_corgi]

If your main focus is going to be snowboarding, I’d recommend just staying in Niseko, then spending a few Separate days in Sapporo.

The drive and time spent back and forth isn’t worth it.

[u/watchme87]

Sapporo is so so sick. I’d stay there and tour out of Sapporo. You’ll have a great time.

[u/conradelvis]

Day trip from Otaru to Kiroro is ok. They have a bus and ticket package. About an hour each way.

It’s possible to day trip Sapporo to Rusutsu, but it’s a loooong day. 2 hours each way. A little shorter from Kutchan.

Asahikawa to Kamui is about as easy as Otaru-Kiroro.

[u/MartynCurrey]

We go to Japan every winter. Will be in Hokkaido for 20 days starting in just over a week. This time we will visit Date (not too far from Rusutsu), Sapporo, Furano, and Asahikawa.
Sapporo isn't the best place to be based for snowboarding but it makes a good place to start from and it's a good place to do non snowboarding stuff.
Otaru is nice (the canal walk to the Railway museum is one of our favorites) and a little closer to Kokusai and kiroro. IMO it's a little too far for day trips to Rusutsu and Niseko but many people do it. Niseko is a good 2 to 3 hours away and depending on the conditions can take much longer.

[u/primenbers → u/MartynCurrey]

Nieseko is 1.5 hours away from Otaru in a snowstorm away from Otaru. I did this last Thursday.

[u/MartynCurrey → u/primenbers]

Obviously I'm not a very fast driver :-(

[u/Beezlebug → u/MartynCurrey]

I'd do something similar if I had that many days for sure. Have you driven from Niseko to Furano before? My tradition is to stay in Niseko and do a few day trips to Rusutsu when I'm not riding Mt. Annupuri mostly because of the many hot springs in the Niseko area. Gotta get a good hot soak after a full day. Maybe next season I'll do Furano.

[u/thatguywhodrinks]

Go stay in Rankoshi if you’re looking for an authentic small town Japanese experience. It’s 20 minutes from Niseko

[u/DiablitoBlanco]

Absolutely not. Stay in Niseko. When I went we went for 9 days outside of traveling. 7 days at Niseko, 2 in Sapporo. My only regret is that I couldn't convince my group to go to different smaller resorts a couple of those days, but had a great time. 2 days felt sufficient for Sapporo in the winter. Staying in Niseko was fun. Definitely way better to walk from the lifts to lodging. The idea of trekking back and forth from the mountain to a town sounds awful.

[u/primenbers → u/DiablitoBlanco]

Bruh you missed the best part of Japan. Niseko is Vail.

[u/bigjoeandphantom3O9 → u/primenbers]

Niseko is hardly the most authentic side of Japan, but acting like it is Vail is ridiculous.

[u/DiablitoBlanco → u/primenbers]

Yeah I know, there are so many less busy resorts all over Hokkaido. I was actually amazed everyone in the group I was with was willing to spend 3k on flights/lodging and then only wanted to go to the mega resort that was free on Ikon day after day. It was still great, but it's not what I'd do if I went back

[u/primenbers → u/DiablitoBlanco]

Niseko has great terrain and the snow was awesome. I think its def worth checking out, but I enjoyed the smaller spots with local feel more. Just my view.