Any Japanese Snow Experts Here? Family Holiday with Childcare Most Likely Hakuba

morse on 10/09/2023 - 16:41

Hi All! Family of 3. Two adults one 4yo with flights booked to Tokyo for 2 weeks in Japan in Feb. hubby snowboards, I mostly ski. 4yo has only tried skiing and still likes to hold on to someone despite lessons (private and group). He did well being left in childcare in NZ. Ideally English speaking with snow play.

We’re thinking Hakuba to avoid the extra flight up to Hokkaido/Niseko.

We’ve previously skied pre child in Niseko, Moiwa and Rusutsu. As well as Europe and US.

Hoping not to move accommodation too much or need a car.

We’ve made some enquires but so far are still a bit lost.

Ideally apartment style accommodation with some self catering. Close to childcare, lifts, ski school food. So far we’ve seen there’s lots of options, so hoping someone who has been before has some more specific recommendations.

I’d also like to do some alpine skiing and see the snow monkeys.

Thanks in advance!

Travel

Comments

  • sonicentropy on 10/09/2023 - 17:54
    +2

    We took our daughter to hakuba when she was 6 we had the same issue. We managed to get her into Hakuba 47 kids program this gave us 2 hours of freedom every day. By the end of the week she was snowboarding as well as me. We went back this year and she was doing full runs. (9 now). 4 might be too young you will have to contact them. You might have to take turns.

    • morse on 10/09/2023 - 18:36

      Thank you! Your experience checks out with what I’ve found online. Your daughter sounds like she’s a great snowboarder now! 🏂

  • raytriplej on 11/09/2023 - 00:52
    +1

    Hi,
    We went to Hakuba Jan this year, 2 parents / 4 kids (18/16/10/6). Us parents normally blue skiiers/boarders.
    2 teenage (fearless) kids returning to snowboarding and two brand new under ten skiiers/boarders.
    Hakuba is pretty spread out and without a car you need to utilise the bus system to get about. We used the
    bus and while slightly annoying we would do it this way again.
    We had an AirBNB at the top of Echoland (in between 47 and Goryu) and luckily we were essentially the first or second
    pickup on the bus route. They are not big busses and the skis/boards go inside. So there were
    many times in the morning where our bus went past people waiting at their stop and just said "sorry we are full,
    wait for the next bus". Sometimes to get to your desired mountain you need to swap busses, this
    mostly is smooth, but we did get caught out once and needed a taxi to get to our destination (was
    a lunchtime change of mind and most transfers align with morning or evening) - this was about $50 so not crazy.
    Not many busses seem to go to the two supermarkets in town. Our AirBNB host drove us to the supermarket
    every 3 days or so.
    Lift passes were cheap, like $70ish/day
    Goyru and 47 had English speaking ski schools - we went with Goryu (NZ run ski school) - Hakuba Snow sports.
    47 probably has most of the village/accomodation/shops but we had enough in
    Echoland.
    We tried booking the littlest one in a Tsugaike ski school but it was Japanese speaking only.
    The ski schools want the Under 7 to stick with Skis rather than snowboard.
    I was glad we got the multi mountain pass. And also very good to find ski hire with shopfronts at the base
    of multiple mountains in case you need to swap boots/boards/skis etc.
    Food on the mountain was a lot cheaper than other places we have skiied. We also bought lots of pre-packaged
    meals at the supermarket to eat at home. These do sell out though so stock up when you can. Google translate on the
    phone helped a lot with shopping/trains etc.
    We did bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano and then bus up to Hakuba. It was very easy.
    We spent a few days in Tokyo as well doing the tourist stuff so happy to talk abou that as well if you like.
    We didn't do daycare I'm sorry so cannot help there.
    More than happy if you want to contact me direct for any further info.
    We didn't get to all of the mountains in Hakuba. Probably spent most of our time between 47 and Goryu. Iwatake was probably the
    most picturesque skiing in my opinion.

  • Nic9 on 11/09/2023 - 09:00
    +1

    We stayed a couple of times at Morino Lodge a couple of times, though a long time ago. Lots of accommodation options and they should be able to advise on your 4yo. They are (or were) run by a couple of Westerners).
    https://www.morinolodge.com/

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join