Further thoughts after two years

As the number of old ski areas introduced reaches 200 and the site enters its third year, I thought it was time to put together some thoughts.

But first…

For a recap on why this project was started and feelings about old ski areas in general, please refer back to the original introduction to the site here.

Research

I started working on SnowJapanHistory in early 2020. The site initially went online on 1st July 2020, introducing 101 ski areas.

Some much more than others, but each ski area covered on the site has been interesting to discover and research.

Some have been relatively easy to put together due to a lot of available information. On the other hand, some have been extremely difficult and have literally taken days of research.

I'm still shocked at how little information about some old ski areas is available. All research for this project is done in Japanese and uses Japanese information sources, including old guidebooks (more than 100 now), pamphlets, maps, online resources, talking with locals, etc. Even so, especially for ski areas that closed decades ago, there's literally next to no publicly available information for some. It's almost as if they never existed, which feels sad and wrong.

On the other hand, discovering pieces of information after spending a lot of time on deep-dive searches always feels highly satisfying.

As much confirmed and relevant information as can be found is presented on the listing pages. Still, many questions often remain unanswered, even with the most detailed listings. For example, what exactly were the circumstances surrounding a decision to close? Why were some facilities abandoned, in some cases even with lift chairs still hanging on cables, while others were entirely removed? Or why was a ski area even built in this location in the first place?

Unfortunately, many of those questions will probably never be clearly answered.

Adventures

Since March 2020, I have had the pleasure of visiting and taking photographs of over 140 old ski area locations across seven prefectures. As much planning as possible is done before each trip, but actually visiting and seeing the locations almost always sheds new light. Information often falls into place, and things become more evident. Often, you can get some feel of what a ski area used to be like. It also helps when you can have a chat with locals too.

All the trips have been a lot of fun - after all, they are all in beautiful mountainous locations - but some have felt like really wild adventures. In particular, those to 'lost world' locations. That's the name we give to long-ago abandoned facilities that now seem to be in the middle of nowhere and/or deep in a forest, providing some surreal-looking visuals. It is almost impossible to believe there used to be ski slopes in some of those places, and it really makes you wonder what they might look like in another 10, 20 or 30+ years. Once abandoned, it doesn't take long for nature to take back control.

Personal favourites

From time to time, people have asked me which of the listings on the site I find most interesting.

So here's my personal pick of the ski areas that I have found particularly interesting for one reason or another.

All but two are places I have been able to visit in the last few years. That is perhaps one of the reasons they are listed here.

But these picks also share a few other things: they are generally small-scale, have particularly interesting or unique background stories, closed many years ago, and took a lot of time to research.

Akagisan Dai 1 Ski Area (Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture)

Annandaira Ski Area (Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture)

Asama Onsen Ski Area (Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture)

Goshiki Ski Area (Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture)

Houshou Ski Area (Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture)

Iwappara Gondola Ski Area (Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture)

Jitsukiyama Ski Area (Nagano, Nagano Prefecture)

Kayama Captain Coast Ski Area (Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture)

Kirigamine Sawatari Ski Area (Suwa, Nagano Prefecture)

Kita Iiyama Ski Area (Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture)

Makiyose Ski Area (Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture)

Nanamaki Ski Area (Nozawa Onsen, Nagano Prefecture)

Osugo Ski Area (Aizu Wakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture)

Sarugedake Ski Area (Kamo, Niigata Prefecture)

Shiraita Kogen Ski Area (Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture)

Yanaizu Onsen Ski Area (Yanaizu, Fukushima Prefecture)

1972 Sapporo Olympic Downhill Courses (Mt Eniwa) (Hokkaido)

Tips for visiting old ski area sites

Based on the experiences of the last two years, here are a few personal tips for people considering visiting some of these locations.

• The best time of year to visit is early to late spring before undergrowth gets out of control and wild bears and other wildlife become an issue. And before it gets too hot.

• Take whistles and make noise to let the wildlife know you are there.

• The above points particularly apply to the 'lost world' locations.

• If there are clear 'Do Not Enter' or 'Entry Prohibited' signs, let's always respect them.

Positives

In addition to enjoying putting this information together and going on lots of adventures, other positive things have resulted from this project.

All the research has given me a deeper respect and enthusiasm for the subject matter, and I have become increasingly interested in the history of skiing in Japan. I want to learn as much as possible about Japanese ski areas - ones from the past and, of course, ones in the present day that we now enjoy.

And that will only benefit SnowJapan.com going forward.

Indeed, some of the ideas created for this site have already been applied to the newly redeveloped SnowJapan site.

There are over 100 more ski areas to cover

In my original introduction to this website in 2020, I noted there would be over 200 old ski areas to eventually cover on SnowJapanHistory.

I know now that the number of ski areas eligible for the site is well over 300. So there is a lot left to cover. (Some previously unknown small ski areas still operating have even been recently discovered. They will soon appear in their rightful place on SnowJapan).

Research, updates and new listings will continue.

Hopefully, at some point, both the SnowJapan and SnowJapanHistory listings will be considered ‘complete’. That’s the goal.

It's going to take time to get there, but it’s going to be fun!

If you want to get in touch, please use this form. It’s always good to hear from people.

1st July 2022