Happo-One is a ski resort found on the slopes of Mount Katamatsu in the Hida Mountains. The mountains are in the northern part of Nagano province on Japan’s Honshu island. It hosted the alpine skiing races of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
The three peaks of Hakuba form the horizon to the resort summit. Closer are the mountain ranges of Myoko, Togakushi, Asama volcano and Yatsugatake, making for a stunning place to ski.
Happo-One features a good mix of pistes with a vertical drop of more than 1,100m. The off-piste terrain is popular with free-skiers because of its complex system of ridges, plateaux and valleys, there is some very challenging skiing.
Happo-One is one of the best ski resorts for…
Skiing in Happo-One.
Getting There.
Your destination is Hakuba, a village near Nagano city in a province with the same name on the northern side of Japan, opposite Tokyo.
By Plane. Nearest Airports.
International visitors should aim to fly into either:
- Central Japan; Nagoya (NKM): 260km.
- Tokyo; Haneda (HND): 295km.
- Tokyo; Narita (NRT): 350km.
- Osaka; Kansai (ITM): 440km.
Domestic flights can be found to Matsumato (MMJ): 70km.
By Train. Nearest Railway Stations.
Japan’s famous bullet train can get you as close as Nagano (45km to resort) from Tokyo.
You can get closer on slower trains. Hakuba is on the JR Oito line running from Matsumoto, north to to Itoigawa.
By Road. Bus, Driving and Transfers.
From Hakuba it is a 5 minute shuttle bus to the resort.
There are express buses from Toyko directly to resort taking about 4 hours. There are coaches from Matsumoto and Nagono to Hakuba.
Private and shared taxi services are available from the airports and some offer hotel pick-ups. Car hire is also available.
There is free parking for over 1,000 cars in Happo One. Once in resort free shuttle buses can get you where you need to go, so you will not need a car. Those driving should factor in extra journey time as the roads are often busy and conditions can be snowy and icy.
