Oketocho Minamigaoka is a ski area in Hokkaido, Japan, on slopes between roughly 223 and 315 m. Its mapped area is about 0.5 km across.
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 162 cm of snowfall a season, 302nd of the 397 ski areas we measure in Japan. It swings a lot from year to year: the biggest winter, 2014/15 (276 cm), brought more than twice as much as the leanest, 2018/19 (111 cm). December brings as much snow as January here (43 and 43 cm on average). Snowfall days average −4.9 °C at mid-mountain, and its snow-quality score ranks 218th of 397 in Japan.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rubeshibe-cho Happodai | 10 km | 166 cm | 1457 |
| Wakamatsu Shimin Ski Area | 27 km | 149 cm | 1677 |
| Northern Arc Resort | 34 km | 148 cm | 1686 |
| Engaru Rock Valley | 39 km | 186 cm | 1270 |
| Saroma Choei | 39 km | 171 cm | 1407 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in December. March brings 95% of January’s snowfall. That is a gentler fall than the median for ski areas in Japan (52%). In amount, March brings 41 cm, about the same as the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 162 cm, and 6 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2018/19 with 111 cm; the biggest was 2014/15 with 276 cm (2.5 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 marked runs and lifts on the map, within 2.5 km of the centre of the ski area. These are not the resort’s own published figures.
Lift types
- Chairlift1
Source: OpenStreetMap (ODbL 1.0). How finely ski areas are drawn varies by region, so treat the counts as indicative. Difficulty uses the European grades, which do not map onto North American green / blue / black.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Roadside station Onneyuonsen道の駅おんねゆ温泉 | Hot spring town | 11.7 km |
| Yama no Aquarium山の水族館 | Museum | 11.8 km |
| Onneyu Onsen温根湯温泉 | Hot spring town | 11.8 km |
| Kitakitsune Farm北きつね牧場 | Museum | 12 km |
| Kanoko Dam鹿ノ子ダム | Nature | 18.7 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
1 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| おどるクジャク《Ｏｋｈｏｔｓｋ ｒｅｎｔａｌ ｈｏｕｓｅ》／民泊 | ¥7,239 | — | 1.0 km | 安国駅より車で30分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
More places to look
Guides covering Hokkaido
- 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%.
- Which Famous Ski Resorts Actually Get the Most Snow? 24 Names, Measured Niseko is 526th in the world for snowfall. Zermatt is 554th, Jackson Hole 924th, Aspen 1,201st. Measured identically across 3,069 ski areas, the names everyone books and the places it actually snows turn out to be two different lists.
- Australia Just Had Its Worst Season in Twenty Years. Here Is What Japan's 12-Winter Record Says About Booking It Instead. Snow depth at Spencers Creek peaked at 94.5 cm, the third lowest since 1954, and resorts closed in August. Our own measure — snowfall, not depth — puts Australia at 50% of its 12-year average. The gap between those two numbers is the story: it was the warmth, not only the lack of snow. New Zealand, meanwhile, finished at 108% of normal.
Updated: 8 Oct 2026, 00:52