SnowJapanHistory スノージャパン ヒストリー
A look back at ski areas from Japan’s past 過去の日本のスキー場を懐かしむ
July 2024 update
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Some thoughts after four years online…
Please also see the original Introduction to this website and this message from 2022.
I started putting SnowJapanHistory together in March 2020, and the site first went online on 1st July of that year. So, it is now entering its fifth year!
What a genuinely pleasurable and rewarding adventure it has been. I have learnt so much, and I look forward to learning more.
289 old ski areas are currently introduced on SnowJapanHistory (with recent photos from 191 locations). I have identified over 400, so there are still over 100 more left to add.
As part of my ongoing deep-dive research into the subject matter, I discovered some small local ski areas still operating but not listed on SnowJapan. Of course, those ski areas have been added, as will any others that might be discovered in the future. More here.
Answering the very simple-sounding question, "How many ski areas are there in Japan?" has always been surprisingly complicated. There is no one simple answer that everyone agrees on.
However, with just over 500 current ski areas listed on SnowJapan (*about 25 of those temporarily closed), I am now confident that the number of ski areas in Japan - both past and present - is over 900 in total.
Perhaps one day, I'll be confident of a more exact number.
The research continues!