(Yamanouchi Town, Nagano Prefecture)---Two great attractions of a snow resort--Snow and fantasy go well together. A panoramic
silvery scene entices people into the unreal. Maybe forthat reason, for skiers and non-skiers alike, the term “powder snow” has an appealing
ring to it. Although there are not so many powder-snow ski resorts in Japan, one of themost famous on the main island of Honshu is Shiga Highland in Yamanouchi Town,
Nagano Prefecture, which is also well known for having been a venue for alpine events
during the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. Hearing that this ideal ski resort has
tourist attractions enabling not only ski enthusiasts but everyone to enjoy a world offantasy, I set off to report on it, armed not with a pair of skis but with a drone.

Yokoteyama-Shibutoge ski ground as seen from above by a drone*Drone video of the Yokoteyama-Shibutoge ski ground: https://youtu.be/-RpELDimTtg

The highest full-fledged ski ground in JapanAt Shiga Highland, which boasts wonderful powder snow, the Yokoteyama-Shibutoge
ski ground is the highest in Japan with a permanent seated lift, its summit rising
2,307 meters above sea level. This ski ground is popular not only for its powder snow
but also for the dreamlike view from the top taking in the Japanese Alps, Mount Fuji,IHCSA Café

International Hospitality and Conference Service Association (IHCSA)

and even, on a clear day, as far
away as the Skytree tower inTokyo.
Since the lift can only be used for going upward in winter,a tour has been arranged to enable nonskiers to enjoy the breathtaking view aswell. Participants take the lift up to thesummit and then descend by snowmobile.
As a result, anyone can go up to the 2,307meter-high summit and enjoy the 360degree panorama.
*Drone video of Toshihiro Kaiwa, a former world cup skier: https://youtu.be/J1EjRpE7SXg“Snow monsters”“Snow monsters” near the summit of Yokoteyama
The splendid view from the summit is not the only tourist attraction on Yokoteyama.
Temperatures on the summit of the mountain in winter plunge to below –15 degrees
Celsius, which causes supercooled tiny drops of water in the air to cling to trees andfreeze, creating the wonderful phenomenon of frost trees. The towering trees lining theski slope are covered in pure white costumes, and their strange shapes make them lookjust like white monsters. Indeed, in recent years, befitting a ski resort that kindles
fantasy, people have come to describe them as just so---“snow monsters.”“Snow monsters” video: https://youtu.be/PiZ0cQo796s

IHCSA Café

International Hospitality and Conference Service Association (IHCSA)Hot springs amid the snowy scenery to soothe the body and soul
There are many hot-spring lodgings in Shiga Highland’s Yamanouchi Town to soothebodies aching from skiing. Many tourists also come here not for the skiing but to rest
themselves physically and spiritually from everyday stress by soaking in the hot springsin the area and strolling around the hot-spring town.
In this district, where the outside temperature plunges below –10 degrees Celsius, there
are also public hot-spring baths that the locals use every day and that visitors staying in
lodgings in the town can sometimes enter as well. It’s fun to go out of your ryokan orhotel to take a dip in a public bath and experience the ordinary life of the townspeople.

Rooftop outdoor hot spring at thePublic bath at Yudanaka Onsen

Biyunoyado ryokan in Yudanaka Onsen“Snow Monkeys”
In this area, it is not only human beings
who soothe their bodies in hot springs toescape the severe cold of winter. Deeper inthe mountains, away from the peopled
community of Yamanouchi Town, there isa facility called the Wild Snow Monkey Park where visitors can observe Japanesemacaques in almost natural conditions. The Japanese macaques that gather here live
amid the nature of the mountains, withina radius of a few kilometers. But they flockto this park to obtain the feed that thefacility distributes to them in a planned
manner. Since the park’s opening in 1964,
the Japanese macaques have been wellcared for, so they are not afraid of humans

IHCSA Café

International Hospitality and Conference Service Association (IHCSA)

at all. Accordingly, as long as visitors do not break the rules, such as by staring hard intoa monkey’s eyes, touching them, frightening them, or giving them food, the monkeys will
not be hostile. So every year not only researchers and photographers but also tourists
from around the world come in droves to this place where the fascinating ecology of wild
Japanese macaques can be observed at close hand.

Tourists wait for a good opportunity to photograph the snow monkeys in their hot spring.
*Video of snow monkeys: https://youtu.be/oXbvlkh1S2E

In winter especially, the monkeys, their heads covered in caps of snow, soak in thenatural hot-spring bath at the Wild Snow Monkey Park to get some respite from the cold.
It is a really cute and heart-warming sight, and many foreign tourists from around theworld come here to see it. When I saw the long line of foreign tourists heading toward
the park, a walk of about 30 minutes from the car park along a snowy road in freezing
conditions, I realized just how popular the “snow monkeys” soaking in the hot-spring
bath are.
Shiga Highland in Nagano
Prefecture is a ski resort withmarvelous powder snow. Inaddition, as introduced above,the district has two otherfantastic attractions befitting
a snowy region---the “snowmonsters” atop Yokoteyamamountainandthe“snowmonkeys” at the Wild Snow Monkey Park. Highly recommended not only for skiers but
also for people who just want to enjoy these snow fantasies and soak in a hot spring!

IHCSA Café

International Hospitality and Conference Service Association (IHCSA)

Editorial Cooperation:
Yokoteyama-Shibutoge Ski Ground7148-3 Hirao, Yamanouchi Town,
Shimotakai-gun, Nagano Prefecture 381-0401
Tel.: 0269-34-2600
URL: https://yokoteyama2307.com/

Issa no Komichi Biyunoyado
Yudanaka, Yamanouchi Town,
Shimotakai-gun, Nagano Prefecture 381-0401
Tel.: 0269-33-4126 / IP tel.: 050-3532-1579
URL: http://www.yudanakaview.co.jp/

Wild Snow Monkey Park
6845 Hirao, Yamanouchi Town,
Shimotakai-gun, Nagano Prefecture 381-0401
Tel.: 0269-33-4379
URL: http://en.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/

IHCSA Café

International Hospitality and Conference Service Association (IHCSA)