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When Japan's Ski Resorts Open for 2026/27, and Whether There Will Be Snow When They Do
Japan's 2026/27 season opens on 20 November at Sapporo Kokusai, 21 November at Sapporo Teine and 28 November at Niseko, Rusutsu, Kiroro and Furano. Dates checked on each resort's own site, set beside what December actually delivers: in Hokkaido about as much snow as January, in Nagano and Niigata about four-fifths.
If you are booking an early-season trip to Japan, two questions matter: when does the resort open, and will there be enough snow when it does? We checked the first on each resort’s own website, between 15 September and 4 October 2026. For the second, we used the snowfall we measure month by month at every ski area on this site.
Every opening date is a plan. Resorts open when there is enough snow, sometimes with only part of the mountain running. Check the resort’s own site before you book.
Opening dates
| Resort | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| Sapporo Kokusai | 20 Nov | not announced |
| Sapporo Teine | 21 Nov | not announced |
| Niseko United | 28 Nov | 5 May |
| Rusutsu | 28 Nov | 31 Mar |
| Kiroro | 28 Nov | 5 May |
| Furano | 28 Nov | 5 May (season pass period) |
| Sahoro | 1 Dec | 4 Apr |
| Tomamu | 1 Dec | 5 Apr |
| Hakuba Happo-One | 1 Dec | 5 May |
| Shiga Kogen | 5 Dec (Yakebitaiyama pre-opens 4 Dec) | 5 May |
| APPI | 6 Dec (season pass valid from) | 6 May |
| Ninox | 17 Dec | 22 Mar |
| Kandatsu Kogen | 11 Dec (pre-season to 18 Dec) | 28 Mar |
| Hodaigi | 12 Dec | not announced |
| Madarao | 12 Dec | not announced |
| Itoigawa Seaside Valley | 18 Dec | not announced |
| Iwappara | 19 Dec | 28 Mar |
| Maiko | 19 Dec | not announced |
| Akakura Kanko | 19 Dec | 5 May |
| Myoko Suginohara | 19 Dec | 28 Mar |
| Kyukamura Myoko | 19 Dec (closed 23–26 Mar) | 28 Mar |
| Tangram | 19 Dec | not announced |
| Chateraise Ski Valley Nobeyama | 19 Dec | not announced |
| Nakatonbetsu Kotobuki | 19 Dec | not announced |
Hokkaido opens first. Sapporo Kokusai goes first on 20 November and Sapporo Teine, half an hour from the city, the next day, and the big names — Niseko, Rusutsu, Kiroro and Furano — follow a week later on 28 November. Hakuba’s Happo-One opens on 1 December and Shiga Kogen on 5 December. Kandatsu, Hodaigi and Madarao open around 11–12 December, and most of Myoko and the resorts around Minamiuonuma in Niigata follow in the week before Christmas.
Not announced when we checked
On 4 October, these had not yet published their 2026/27 opening dates: the rest of Hakuba Valley, Nozawa Onsen, Kagura, Zao Onsen (its spring season runs to 5 May) and Gala Yuzawa.
Japan’s first slopes to open are usually at Snow Park Yeti, on the lower slopes of Mount Fuji. It opens in late October on machine-made snow, and did so again in 2025. For 2026 it announced late October again, “the first in Japan”.
Will there be snow when they open?
This is where Hokkaido and Honshu differ most. We compared how much snow falls in December with how much falls in January, at the same ski area:
| Region | December snowfall as a share of January’s (middle ski area) | Ski areas where December matches or beats January |
|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido | 98% | 42 of 87 |
| Tohoku | 83% | 2 of 89 |
| Nagano and Niigata | 79% | 0 of 112 |
| Elsewhere | 73% | 0 of 109 |
In Hokkaido, December is already about as snowy as January. At Furano, Tomamu and Sahoro it is snowier. In Nagano and Niigata, December brings about four-fifths of January’s snow, and not one of the 112 ski areas there gets more in December than in January. The base is still building through December.
For the resorts on the list above:
| Resort | December as a share of January | December’s share of the December–March total |
|---|---|---|
| Furano | 121% | 32% |
| Tomamu | 113% | 27% |
| Sahoro | 106% | 27% |
| APPI | 100% | 29% |
| Niseko Grand Hirafu | 98% | 29% |
| Hakuba Happo-One | 91% | 30% |
| Kiroro | 90% | 26% |
| Sapporo Kokusai | 90% | 26% |
| Rusutsu | 88% | 25% |
| Akakura Kanko | 82% | 28% |
| Shiga Kogen | 80% | 25% |
| Sapporo Teine | 79% | 23% |
| Ninox | 74% | 27% |
| Maiko | 71% | 26% |
For a trip in the first half of December, Hokkaido and APPI are the safer bet. In Nagano and Niigata, a trip from late December onward gives the snow more time to build. More on the whole season is in when to ski in Japan.
How this was checked
Opening and closing dates come from each resort’s own website, checked between 15 September and 4 October 2026. For APPI and for Furano’s closing date, the dates are those the season pass is valid for; neither resort has published the day itself. Resorts with a spring or “final” season list it as part of the season, and not every lift or area stays open to the last day.
Monthly snowfall is the average for each month from December to March over the last twelve winters, from the ERA5 reanalysis, measured the same way at every ski area on this site. December counts the whole month, so the first week of December is thinner than the monthly figure suggests. The model understates mountain snowfall, and understates Hokkaido’s more than Honshu’s (details), so this page compares months at the same ski area rather than centimetres between regions.
Lift ticket prices for the same resorts are in our 2026/27 lift ticket guide.
Sources: Open-Meteo historical weather data, based on the ERA5 reanalysis (Copernicus Climate Change Service).
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