Doshojidaira Ski Area is a ski area in Yamagata, Japan, on slopes between roughly 271 and 401 m. Its mapped area is about 0.5 km across, with 6 marked runs and 3 lifts (about 1.2 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 273 cm of snowfall a season, 168th of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2014/15 (495 cm), brought more than 3 times as much as the leanest, 2019/20 (158 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 101 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 3.6 km away measured 460 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 270 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −1.4 °C at mid-mountain, close to freezing, so the snow is often heavy, and its snow-quality score ranks 303rd of 397 in Japan.
Below are links to 2 official live cameras.
Snow depth and the seven-day outlook appear here once snow starts to fall. Until then, the long-run record comes first.
Elevation range is estimated by sampling points across the ski area.
How much snow it gets
Measured by us across 3,069 ski areas by one identical method. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
The tick marks the median across every Japanese ski area we measure. All four bars run the same way — longer is better.
The quality score deliberately excludes how much snow falls — it uses temperature, frequency, rain and wind. Snowing a lot and snowing well are different things.
Compared with what is nearby
Within 50 km straight line. Measured the same way, so the ranks compare directly. Ski areas a few kilometres apart share a weather grid cell and can return the same figure.
| Ski area | Distance | Seasonal snowfall | World rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenoko Ski Area | 9.3 km | 312 cm | 439 |
| Yokone | 22 km | 446 cm | 114 |
| Asahi Shizenkan Snow Park | 25 km | 419 cm | 149 |
| Onogawa Onsen | 25 km | 314 cm | 430 |
| Yonezawa Snow World | 34 km | 253 cm | 704 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 34% of January’s snowfall. That is a steeper fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%): the snow here is concentrated early in the season. In amount, March brings 34 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 273 cm, and 7 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2019/20 with 158 cm; the biggest was 2014/15 with 495 cm (3.1 times as much).
Snowfall each winter (December–March total). The dashed line is the average; the numbers mark the leanest and the biggest winter.
Runs and lifts
Counted from the runs and lifts drawn on OpenStreetMap, within the boundary of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Run map
The shape of the mountain
Which way the slopes face
65% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. Those slopes get the least sun, so the snow lasts longer.
By difficulty
Lift types
- Rope tow3
Source: OpenSkiMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Vertical is the difference between the highest and lowest points of the mapped runs and lifts.
Live Cameras
This ski area does not put a camera on its own slopes. The nearest live view is the road below.
Road conditions decide whether you can get there at all. Check before you leave.
Footage remains the copyright of each operator. JAPANSNOWLINE neither stores nor redistributes it.
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 長井 weather station — 3.6 km from this ski area, 126 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 460 cm |
| 2023/24 | 308 cm |
| 2024/25 | 629 cm |
| 2025/26 | 444 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 270 cm.
A weather station is not a ski slope. We picked one at a similar elevation, but it stands in a valley or a village. More snow falls on the mountain above it. We have not tried to guess how much more.
Source: Japan Meteorological Agency historical records
Worth seeing nearby
Places within 20 km of this ski area, for a day off the slopes or an evening. Chosen from those most read about on Wikipedia, favouring places with an English Wikipedia article, and listed nearest first.
| Place | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Nagai Ayame Park長井あやめ公園 | Park | 5.5 km |
| Kikusui Craft Museum掬粋巧芸館 | Museum | 10.7 km |
| Kumano Shrine熊野神社 (南陽市) | Shrine | 14 km |
| Shirakawa Dam白川ダム (山形県) | Nature | 14 km |
| Tohoku University Botanical Gardens東北大学学術資源研究公開センター植物園 | Museum | 15.9 km |
| Akayu Onsen赤湯温泉 (山形県) | Hot spring town | 17.4 km |
Based on the Japanese Wikipedia lists of sights in each prefecture, as compiled in travel-log-data (CC BY-SA 4.0). English names from Wikidata (CC0). The content of this section is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map
Where it sits relative to nearby resorts. For a piste map, see the official site.
Places to stay nearby
6 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ながいピオニーの森キャンプ場 ＾ | ¥2,800 | — | 3.4 km | あやめ公園駅から車で約８分 |
| ホテルスロービレッジ 飯豊 | ¥4,295 | 4.54 134 reviews | 3.4 km | お車にて 長井市より10分 南陽市赤湯より25分 米沢市より35分 |
| ホテル ウィークリー的場 | ¥4,950 | 3.08 83 reviews | 4.9 km | フラワ－長井線南長井駅より徒歩5分 |
| 割烹旅館 とらや | ¥5,500 | 4.22 61 reviews | 5.5 km | 山形新幹線（赤湯駅）→フラワー長井線（長井駅）より徒歩５～１０分 |
| タスパークホテル長井 | ¥6,380 | 4.06 280 reviews | 5.8 km | 山形鉄道フラワー長井線 長井駅よりタクシーで5分／山形道山形蔵王ICより60分／東北道福島飯坂ICより90分 |
| ビジネスホテル シンシア | — | — | 5.1 km | 山形鉄道フラワー長井線・南長井駅より徒歩10分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
12 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
Nearest: 3.4 km
Nearest first
- ビジネスホテル シンシア Hotel 5.2 km
- ビジネスホテル 長井屋 Hotel 5.5 km
- 割烹旅館とらや Hotel 5.6 km
- 旅館佐々木屋 Hotel 5.6 km
- 土田旅館 Hotel 5.7 km
- 旅館 最上荘 Hotel 5.7 km
Accommodation data: OpenStreetMap
More places to look
Guides covering Yamagata
- A Historic El Niño Is Forecast. Here Is What the Last Big One Did to Japan's Snow. NOAA gives a very strong El Niño better than a 90% chance this winter. We measured every Japanese ski area across the last 12 winters: El Niño winters ran 88% of normal, and the strongest of the twelve left Japan at 63%. But Hakuba held 92% of its average that winter while Niseko fell to 57%.
- When Is There Snow at Japan's Hot Spring Towns? If you want to sit in an outdoor bath with snow on the ground, the question is when, not just where. We measured the snow depth at 14 Japanese hot spring towns across three winters — arrival, departure, and how many days it is actually deep.
- When Is the Best Time to Ski in Japan? January, measured over twelve winters at 397 ski areas. Last season was not typical — its January ran high and its March ran less than half of normal — so here is the average alongside it, month by month.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52