Snow & Stay Japan

Tateshina · Nagano

12.23 — 29

Let’s be honest

Family ski trips are where holidays go to fall apart.

  1. 01The kids want to ski — and to just play in the snow.
  2. 02Half the group won’t ski at all — and won’t sit in a resort canteen all day either.
  3. 03You flew all the way to Japan. You’d like to actually enjoy some of it.

So skip the ski resort. Book the week.

Snow out the front door.

Here’s the deal

One house. We do all the driving.

Sleep

The whole house, just your lot. Sleeps 2–6.

Ski

We drive you there and back, 40 minutes each way.

Rest

Suwa Taisha shrine one day, the old post town the next.

Leave

We run you back to the station. One train home.

The house · Chino, Nagano

Wooden beams, tatami, and nobody else’s suitcases.

A century-old kominka, restored — warm and modern inside, and yours alone for the week.

Sleeps 2–6 Whole house, one group 25 min from the station
A bedroom in the kominka — timber beams and made-up beds

Christmas morning happens in a living room.

Wide beginner slopes at Kurumayama Skis

Big, gentle slopes. Nobody watching you fall over.

Kurumayama SKYPARK is wide open with no trees in the way.

The snow-covered lava plateau at the top of the ropeway Doesn’t ski

Cable car to the 2,237 m viewing deck. No skis required.

Seven warm minutes up, and you’re standing on a snow-covered volcanic plateau.

Both of you are back at the house before dark, in front of the same fire.

Sore legs? Perfect. Go be a tourist for a day.

The days in between

Lake Suwa in winter

Lake Suwa

30 min away

A hot spring town on the water, an easy lakeside walk and a very old shrine.

Narai-juku street under snow

Narai-juku

About an hour

A whole street of 400-year-old wooden inns, under snow, with almost nobody in it.

Each one gets its own day. No rushing back for a 3pm lesson.

Getting there is the easy bit

One train out. One train back.

  1. Shinjuku, Tokyo

    Hop on the Azusa express. No changes, about 2 hours.

  2. Chino station

    Your nearest station. We meet you here and drive you the last 25 minutes to the door.

  3. The house · all week

    Ski days, onsen days, and Christmas dinner at home.

  4. Back to Tokyo

    We drive you to the station. Same easy train, about 2 hours.

Station pick-up, trips to the slopes, days out — we drive all of it.

What the week looks like

Dec 23 → 29

  1. Dec 23

    Train from Tokyo up to Nagano. Settled in before dark.

  2. Dec 24

    First ski lesson. Everyone else takes the cable car up for the view.

  3. Dec 25

    Christmas Day at Lake Suwa — a walk and a hot spring. Dinner back at the house.

  4. Dec 26

    Back on snow — and suddenly the kids are linking turns.

  5. Dec 27

    The old post town in the snow. Bring a camera.

  6. Dec 28

    Last ski lesson, then something hot on the summit terrace.

  7. Dec 29

    Back to Tokyo, in time for lunch.

A sample week only — we build the days around your group.

Christmas dates are open.

Tell us how many are travelling and how many want to ski.

DM us “SNOW”