Onogawa Onsen is a ski area in Yamagata, Japan, on slopes between roughly 337 and 471 m. Its mapped area is about 0.6 km across, with 1 marked run and 1 lift (about 0.4 km of piste in all).
Over the last twelve winters the ERA5 weather model gives it 314 cm of snowfall a season, 144th 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 (164 cm). January is usually the snowiest month, with about 116 cm. Weather models read low in the mountains: a Japan Meteorological Agency station 8.1 km away measured 515 cm a winter over the last three seasons, against 345 cm from the model. Snowfall days average −0.9 °C at mid-mountain, close to freezing, so the snow is often heavy, and its snow-quality score ranks 291st of 397 in Japan.
The nearest city of any size is Fukushima, about 39 km away. Below are links to 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tengendai Kogen | 14 km | 379 cm | 206 |
| Yonezawa Snow World | 16 km | 253 cm | 704 |
| Tenoko Ski Area | 16 km | 312 cm | 439 |
| Kuriko International Ski & Resort | 18 km | 333 cm | 333 |
| Grandeco Snow Resort | 20 km | 379 cm | 206 |
When it falls, and how winters differ
Month by month
Month by month, the most snow falls in January. March brings 30% 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 35 cm, less than the median of 46 cm.
Winter by winter
Across the 12 winters measured, the average is 314 cm, and 8 of them fell short of it. The leanest was 2019/20 with 164 cm; the biggest was 2014/15 with 495 cm (3.0 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
Only 0% of the vertical on the runs descends to the north or east. More of the terrain faces the sun.
By difficulty
Lift types
- Chairlift1
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.
Yonezawa and Tengendai webcams & snow report — all 4 ski areas →
What was actually measured nearby
Total snowfall from December to March recorded at the 米沢 weather station — 8.1 km from this ski area, 159 m below its mid-slope.
| Three-season average | 515 cm |
| 2023/24 | 347 cm |
| 2024/25 | 706 cm |
| 2025/26 | 492 cm |
The figure calculated on this page is 345 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
Hot springs nearby, as analysed
3 hot spring sources with published analyses lie within 5 km of this ski area, nearest first (the hottest is 76.9 °C).
| Source | Distance | Temperature | pH | Type | Analysed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 小野川協組3号 | 0.5 km | 76.9℃ hot | 6.8 neutral | — | — |
| 岡原岡原1号 | 2.6 km | 32.5℃ lukewarm | 8.5 alkaline | — | — |
| 米沢鉱泉仁科 | 3.5 km | 13℃ cold | — | sulphur | — |
These are analyses of hot spring sources, not a list of baths you can visit. They date from 1910 to 2005, many from decades ago, so today’s temperature and chemistry may differ. Names are as recorded in Japanese. Temperature and pH bands follow Japan’s standard for analysing hot springs.
Source: processed from the hot spring analysis data in the Geothermal Information Database (GRES-DB), Geological Survey of Japan, AIST
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Onogawa Onsen小野川温泉 | Hot spring town | 0.6 km |
| Yonezawa Uesugi clan cemetery上杉家廟所 | Historic site | 4.9 km |
| Uesugi Shrine上杉神社 | Shrine | 5.1 km |
| Yonezawa Castle米沢城 | Historic site | 5.2 km |
| Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum米沢市上杉博物館 | Museum | 5.2 km |
| Shirakawa Dam白川ダム (山形県) | Nature | 16 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.
Official piste map ↗Places to stay nearby
15 properties on Rakuten Travel lie within 3 km of this ski area, listed cheapest first.
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 美湯美食の離れ宿 小野川温泉 河鹿荘 | ¥6,320 | 4.45 544 reviews | 0.6 km | 東北中央道米沢中央ＩＣから20分・東京駅から山形新幹線で2時間9分！送迎バスの運行はございません |
| 小野川温泉 やな川屋旅館 | ¥6,600 | 4.00 84 reviews | 0.6 km | ＪＲ米沢駅よりバスで30分／福島飯坂ＩＣ⇒Ｒ13号、Ｒ121号⇒小野川温泉／会津若松ＩＣ⇒Ｒ121号⇒小野川温泉へ |
| 米沢みさわ小学校｜とここと | ¥7,000 | — | 1.5 km | ◆東京駅→米沢駅 約2時間 米沢駅からバスで「松の下」or「小野川温泉」にて下車→バス停より徒歩20分 |
| 小町の湯 やまぼうし | ¥7,225 | 4.17 156 reviews | 1.3 km | 米沢駅より小野川温泉行きバス乗車 |
| 小野川温泉 宝寿の湯 | ¥8,000 | 4.44 111 reviews | 0.8 km | 米沢駅からお車で２５分 |
| 小野川温泉 湯杜 匠味庵 山川 ｙｕｍｏｒｉ－ｓｈｏｍｉａｎ ＹＡＭＡＫＡＷＡ | ¥8,250 | 4.19 957 reviews | 0.6 km | 【山形新幹線】米沢駅より市内バスで小野川温泉へ約２５分【東北中央自動車道】米沢中央ICよりR１２１で約２０分 |
| 小野川温泉 うめや旅館＜山形県＞ | ¥8,960 | 4.33 107 reviews | 0.6 km | 米沢駅よりお車にて２０分 |
| 小野川温泉 鈴の宿 登府屋旅館 | ¥9,300 | 4.53 239 reviews | 0.7 km | 山形新幹線 米沢駅より路線バスで26分。東北自動車道 飯坂ICより60分 小野川温泉の中心に位置する宿です。 |
| 小野川温泉 扇屋旅館 | ¥10,000 | 4.39 149 reviews | 0.6 km | ＪＲ米沢駅より白布温泉行バスで３０分（小野川温泉降車） 東北中央自動車道米沢中央ICより車で２０分 |
| 小野川温泉 五つの心の宿 高砂屋 | ¥10,800 | 4.54 315 reviews | 0.5 km | JR米沢駅よりタクシー15分・バス40分 |
| 小野川温泉 名湯の宿 吾妻荘 | ¥13,500 | 4.65 614 reviews | 0.5 km | 東北自動車道、福島JCTより東北中央道へ 米沢中央ＩＣより20分。 |
| 小野川温泉 亀屋万年閣 | ¥23,100 | 4.82 113 reviews | 0.6 km | 【山形新幹線】「米沢駅」から路線バスまたはタクシー２５分 【東北中央自動車道】米沢中央ICより約２０分。 |
Show the other 3
| Property | From | Rating | Distance | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 小野川温泉 小野川保養センター | — | 4.14 71 reviews | 0.4 km | ＪＲ米沢駅よりバスで３０分 |
| 旭屋旅館 ＜山形県＞ | — | — | 0.6 km | 米沢駅よりバスで小野川温泉行きバス停まで２５分。バス停から徒歩１分 |
| 米沢みさわ小学校｜とここと ＾ | — | — | 1.5 km | 西米沢駅から車で約１０分 |
Contains advertising · Property data by Rakuten Travel (Supported by Rakuten Developers)
Stay nearby
53 places within 12 km of the slopes. Most of them do not take online bookings — open the map for contact details.
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