SKI > Naeba Ski Resort, Niigata Japan

Naeba Ski Resort is a big, buzzy Japanese snow playground that wraps a classic 1970s ski hotel, serious race heritage and family-friendly terrain into one easy weekend escape from Tokyo.

ARRIVAL >

Reaching Naeba is wonderfully straightforward from the capital, with a 75–80 minute Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo to Echigo-Yuzawa Station, then a dedicated resort bus or local bus for about 40 minutes up the valley to the base.  The journey trades city towers for rice paddies, river gorges and finally steep, snow-loaded walls as you climb toward the Niigata–Gunma border, arriving at a compact valley head dominated by the long, low Naeba Prince Hotel and floodlit pistes rising immediately behind.

Naeba’s scale reveals itself as you step off the bus; the resort is effectively wrapped around the hotel, with equipment rental, kids’ areas, ticketing and lifts all fanning out from a single, animated base.  This “ski-in city-hotel” feeling is distinctly Japanese—efficient, vertical and neon at night—yet softened by forested slopes and stormy peaks that hint at the drier powder and wilder terrain just over the ridge at Kagura.

The Naeba village which is a few minutes walk from the Prince Hotel complex is a fascinating exposure to what happened when the Japanese ski bubble popped with the slowing of the economy in the late 1980’s and early 90’s.   There are numerous tall apartment buildings and hotels, many look abandoned and a few attempt to compete with the massive Prince complex.

EAT >

Food is one of Naeba’s quiet superpowers, with a warren of in-house restaurants at the Naeba Prince Hotel plus small local eateries scattered near the base.  Inside the hotel you can move from French at Beaux Sejours to western grills, buffets, Chinese restaurants like Naeba Hanten, ramen and casual food courts without ever going outside, many of them framed by floor-to-ceiling windows facing the slopes.

For quicker bites between laps, the food court and cafés offer Japanese curry rice, katsu, soba and grab-and-go snacks that suit families darting back to ski school or those chasing the next gondola.  Beyond the hotel complex, a handful of independent spots like Whistler Café and small izakaya-style joints serve pizza, simple set meals and après snacks and can be a welcome change from the hotel’s all-inclusive bubble.

A stroll up to the village and you can find a few other reasonably priced options amongst the hotels and pensions.

DRINK >

Après at Naeba is more about cosy warmth than wild dancing, but there is a distinct drinks culture anchored by the hotel bars and night-ski views.  Windsor Main Bar, tucked into the Prince, is the classic choice: upholstered, low-lit and framed by big windows that look straight onto the illuminated slopes, it pours Japanese whisky, cocktails and wine in a relaxed, grown-up atmosphere.

Elsewhere in the complex, cafés double as casual après venues with beer, highballs and hot drinks, while some of the buffet and à la carte restaurants lean into sake and local Niigata rice brews.  Off-property, small bars and izakaya along the main road offer more local color—think draft beer, simple skewers and the friendly chaos of families and boarders ducking in from the cold.

STAY >

The Naeba experience is dominated by the Naeba Prince Hotel, a sprawling 1,200-plus room property that runs almost the full length of the base and functions as both accommodation and village.  Rooms range from basic, efficiently laid out twins through to more spacious ski-view options and family configurations, most prioritising practicality and proximity to the lifts over boutique charm.

Described by others as something “akin to getting on a massive cruise ship where you need to queue for everything”, the sheer scale of the Prince is somewhat over whelming for those used to other Japanese ski resorts and is definitely better suited for those who are happy to shuffle from place to place in an icy sea of people.

What the hotel lacks in intimacy it makes up for in ski convenience: rentals, lockers, kids’ areas, shops, restaurants, bars and onsen are all under one roof, so multi-generational groups can operate independently but still convene easily.  

For those seeking quieter nights or a more traditional ryokan feel, smaller pensions, lodges and hotels are scattered along the valley and in nearby Mikuni and Tashiro, often offering shuttle connections back to the lifts. There are also hotels in Mitsumata but these are small and older style pension/B&B accomodation.

ONSEN >

Hot springs are baked into the Naeba routine, and soaking feels almost mandatory after a day of laps or a Dragondola mission.  The Naeba Prince Hotel offers its own onsen facilities, allowing guests to slide straight from boot room to bath; views are typically across to the slopes or valley, with indoor pools, rotenburo-style outdoor tubs in some wings, and the soothing mineral-rich waters Niigata is known for. But with 1200 rooms and somewhere between 2-4,000 guests this is not necessarily the relaxed onsen experience you might have in mind.

Beyond the hotel, the greater Yuzawa–Naeba region is famous enough for hot springs that Yasunari Kawabata’s novel “Snow Country” was set around its baths, and day-trip onsens in Echigo-Yuzawa town or neighbouring resorts are easily folded into a rest day.  A late-afternoon soak as the night lights flick on above the valley adds a distinctly Japanese cadence to a ski holiday here—unhurried, communal and quietly restorative.

For those choosing to stay in Yuzawa or other accomodation there are onsen at the Mitsumata Station (Kaldo no Yu, which is closed on Tuesday) and at the Tashiro Ropeway station (Shukubano Yu, which is closed on Thursday).

PLAY >

On-snow, Naeba is set up for every kind of snowy play: dedicated kids’ parks with sleds and toboggans, gentle family zones by the hotel, terrain parks for budding freestylers and more serious lines for race and mogul skiers.  English-language ski and snowboard schools operate here, making it attractive for international families and first-timers who want instruction without the language barrier.

Off the slopes, the resort leans into its “entertainment snow resort” tagline with seasonal events, fireworks, illumination displays and, in some winters, music or cultural happenings that spill out around the base.  In summer the mountain retools for hiking, alpine activities and, historically, major outdoor music festivals, but in the heart of winter the main diversions remain simple and satisfying: arcade games, karaoke, souvenir shopping, onsen-hopping and wandering the endless corridors of the Prince.

The skiing is not very challenging but the runs are reasonably long and its not hard to lap 15-20kms without pushing too hard, if only it wasnt for the long lift queues.  Early in the season the snow leans towards icy and packed so plan accordingly.

TERRAIN >

Naeba sits between 900 m and 1,789 m, offering roughly 24 runs across about 134 hectares, with a vertical drop close to 890 m and an excellent mix of beginner-friendly pistes, flowing intermediate lines and a few steeper race and mogul courses for experts.  Classic laps include the long A-course “Large Trail – General Trail” from the summit, gentle green carpets around the hotel front for first turns, and the World Cup mogul and slalom slopes that have hosted FIS races and Japan’s Alpine Skiing World Cup events.

The convenient location to Tokyo make this resort extremely popular as the hotel and day carpark fill you realise you are far from alone on the slopes and a challenge of the piste can be dodging the mass of skiers of varying abilities.

A modern lift network of gondolas and high-speed chairs keeps queues manageable, while night skiing on the front face extends the ski day under a cinematic glow that reflects off the Prince Hotel’s façade.  But this may be one place in Japan where you will regularly queue for a lift, especially on weekends when the crowds swell and lift lines can last for more than half an hour!

When legs and weather allow, the 5.5 km Dragondola—the longest gondola in Japan—links Naeba to Kagura, Mitsumata and Tashiro to form the broader Mt Naeba area, opening up higher, snowier, and often quieter terrain with a 1,225 m vertical and a longest run of around 6 km.  With this addition Naeba goes from fair to quite extensive with 170 hectares and 30 additional pistes and trails.

Terrain snapshot

Aspect	Naeba	Kagura (Mt Naeba link)
Elevation range	900–1,789 m	620–1,845 m
Vertical drop	889 m	1,225 m
Number of courses	About 24	32
Longest run	2.3 km A-course approx.	6 km
Typical mix	Strong beginner / intermediate focus with race steeps	37% beginner, 44% intermediate, 19% advanced with more off-piste

CONCLUSION >

Naeba is a study in contrasts: a retro mega-hotel pinned to the mountain, yet minutes from long gondola-accessed backcountry-style descents; a family playground that still sports World Cup race heritage and steeper pitches for confident skiers.  Easy access from Tokyo, reliable snowfall thanks to the Sea of Japan storms, night skiing and the gateway it opens to Kagura and the wider Mt Naeba area make it a smart first stop — or repeat favourite—for those wanting a Japanese snow experience without complex logistics.

Frankly for many people the skiing at Kagura is ideal and the skiing at Naeba is variable but together it a very good option for somewhere that is a little off the usual JAPOW haunts. And as long as you are ready to queue up for just about everything (from checking in, to entering a lift) the Prince Hotel does offer plenty of convenience.

For ALMANAK readers, this is not the most polished or chi-chi resort in Japan, but its slightly chaotic energy, endless indoor options and honest, stormy mountainscape deliver something arguably more compelling: a winter micro-city where you can ski from dawn to floodlights (8.30am to 8.30pm), eat well, soak deeply and feel, unmistakably, that you are in snow country.

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Images Credit: ALMANAK & Prince Resorts