NAEBA & KAGURA-NAEBA SKI-NAEBA SKI RESORT

NAEBA and KAGURA

Naeba and Kagura are two connected ski areas which together form Japan’s 3rd largest Ski Resort. The two combine to form the wider Mt. Naeba area, with travel made possible by Japan’s longest (and previously the World’s longest) ‘Dragondola’ Gondola, which stretches an amazing 5481m between the resorts.

NAEBA

Why Naeba?

The Naeba Ski area, accompanied with the superb ski-in ski-out Naeba Prince Hotel offer guests a thrilling holiday whilst providing pure comfort and relaxation. Naeba Ski Resort dominates most of the Mt. Naeba area, with a vertical drop of 889m, 19 courses of long groomed runs for all skill levels, a family snow park and powder fields for the powder hounds. Lessons, gear rental and child facilities cater for visitors no matter what age or skill level. They also offer First Track tickets, so get in quick to get the most of the amazing powder. Naeba is connected with Kagura Ski resort which forms the wider Mt. Naeba area.
The Naeba Prince Hotel is the heart of the resort and is the main and accommodation for the area, enabling ski lovers’ convenient ski-in ski-out accommodation with a hub of restaurants, stores and plenty of activities. The hotel includes 1,299 rooms, over 20 restaurants and bars, Onsen hot springs, beauty salons, event halls, a nightclub and game centres. Famous for its after-5 services you will never be bored. The nearby Naeba village also has a couple of restaurants, stores and onsen as well as a few alternative accommodation options.

Video – Naeba

Kagura

Why Kagura?

Kagura holds the highest vertical drop of any resort in Japan at 1225m, and is known for its powder skiing, tree runs and back country. Kagura is divided into 3 areas consisting of Tashiro, Kagura and Mitsumata and is accessible through the Dragondola which connects with Naeba ski resort. Kagura attracts many experienced skiers and snowboarders with its freedom and off-piste and backcountry options and long winter season continuing as far as early May. This is particularly so in the expert area at the highest point in the Kagura area. However it is important to note that depending on conditions the area may close early, so it may pay to get there early to make the most of the area and powder. Back Country tours are run by a pro skier, back country expert and personal friend of founder Hiro. Terrain parks, including those for beginners are also provided. Compared to Naeba, Kagura is relatively less crowded and so may mean you get more chances to catch some fresh powder.

Like Naeba, Kagura provides its own services and facilities, including a number of restaurants, rental stores, a ski and snowboard school lessons, most of which will have options available in English. Kagura does not have its own village, rather the most common option is to make base at Naeba, and then travel to Kagura.

Video – Kagura

Getting There

Naeba and Kagura are situated in Niigata Prefecture, around 180km northwest of Tokyo and are extremely close and accessible.

First take the Joetsu Shinkansen from Tokyo to Echigo-Yuzawa Station (approx. 90 minutes). From there, you can take a direct bus to the Naeba Prince Hotel which takes about 50 minutes. The shuttle is free to all guests staying at the Naeba Prince Hotel. Naeba town is a 10 minute walk from the Naeba Prince Hotel and ski resort.

Kagura is best accessed by the Dragondola which runs between the two resorts. There is a shuttle bus that runs from Naeba Prince Hotel to the Dragondola station. It is also possible to access Kagura by bus through Mitsumata Station or Tashiro Station.

Shuttle services are also available from Narita or Haneda airport to Yuzawa Town. It takes about 3.5 hours from Haneda or 4 hours from Narita.

Coach and Private Transfers

Transport from airports or alternative modes of transfer from Echigo-Yuzawa Station to the resort can be organised.

Transport between Prince Hotels

Bus services also work between Naeba Prince Hotel and the Shinagawa Prince Hotel in Tokyo. They travel upon request and the entire trip takes about 3 hours. This is the perfect option if you are looking to have a couple days stay in Tokyo.

Other nearby Ski Resorts

The Yuzawa area has a large number of ski resorts, all of which are accessible from Naeba and Yuzawa town.
Organised transport to and from these resorts can be organised at your convenience, so please contact us with your plans or queries.

Trail Map

Naeba Trail Map

Kagura Trail Map

Village Info

Naeba is such a ski resort that offers all the trimmings to its guests. All the amenities are available for skiing and snowboarding. If you have visited as a day tripper, then you are going to get well catered services. N plateau is present at one end of the hotel. This end incorporates World Cup Lodge and has a lot of facilities to offer to the day guests. These services include lockers, nursing rooms, information booth, food court, and kid’s room and so on. You can easily get a room on rent for a single day. The rooms have shower, TV, toilet, sofas and enough space for you to use for a perfect stay.

Facilities for Children

Neba ski resort has a lot to offer to the kiddies. The amenities that are offered to the kids are amazing.

There is a park named Pandaruman Adventure Park in Wing 4 of the hotel in its ski area. This park remains open from 9am to 8:30 pm. The admission costs for a day are ¥1,000 however, if you are visiting the park after 5 pm, then you will have to pay around ¥500. The kids are provided with an opportunity to learn skiing with their parents. They can enjoy music, tubing and sledding in the park as well.

The park has a Pandaruman House which works as a heaven for all the kids. It contains mat slopes for skiing, sleighing. The area for the kiddies is just amazing and costs around ¥500 on per person basis.

The best thing is that the kiddie’s room which is present in the World Cup Lodge is free to use. You can easily take your children in the room so they can have ultimate fun time playing with toys.

Besides the kids room, there is a child care service that is offered to the children at Naeba Prince Hotel. Heidi Nursery renders the services of child care to the kids up to the age of 6. It remains open from 9:3am to 5 pm. You need to make your reservation before you take your child to the nursery for attaining the services.

There is another option named as Miffy Ski Camp. This camp includes Kids Camp and Snow Kindergarten for kids. These two options have been incorporated in order to make the children learn while playing with the snow. The children are taught how to initiate their skiing experience. It offers both half and full day programs.

Naeba Ski Schools

A Naeba Ski Academy has been set up which offers skiing and snowboarding lessons to the adults and the kids in English language. Besides this, English lessons are also offered in a private format as well.

Canyons render snowboarding and ski lesson services in English at Naeba.

Equipment Rentals

There are a few stations for hiring ski and snowboarding equipments in the hotel building in Naeba. The rates of hiring are quite reasonable on the basis of the quality of products that are offered for hiring. They also offer pairs of fat skis too. For enhancing the safety of the people, they also provide helmets to the hotel guests for free. The hotel staff does not speak much English. Therefore, you cannot place your rental order if you are not good enough in Japanese language.

You can also avail the opportunity of cheap hiring of ski and snowboarding in Naeba town as well. There are a few shops that offer shaped ski whereas others offer straight skis too. All of these rental shops offer ski boots too. This shows that there is no contemporary equipment in the town. However, you may find reasonable and better quality equipments for hiring in Kinta Hotel.

Besides these services, waxing and tuning services are also rendered to the hotel guests at Wing 5 of the Prince Hotel.

Other Amenities

A medical centre has been installed in the Prince Hotel. This centre has physicians who are specialized in orthopaedic issues. These doctors are also able to provide medical consultation services on inquiry too.

Eating on the Mountains

Naeba has eight restaurants on the mountains. On the other hand, you can also choose to come down to Naeba Prince Hotel to eat at one of its restaurants. In addition, you can also go to the food court for eating inexpensive food like pasta, hot dogs, pizza, ramen, rice dishes, crepes and curries.

There is a Whistler Cafe at the base of the hotel. It is a perfect opportunity for marketing for Whistler Blackcomb. The people there are trying to serve the guests with Canadian cuisine; however, they are unable to do that. However, they serve excellent hot chocolates. You can also use computers offered by the cafe as well.

Internet and Banking Facilities

You are not going to have any trouble holding yens at Naeba. There are 11 ATM machines in the Wing 4 of hotel. In addition, there is a post office in the town of Naeba which also has an ATM and it also accepts credit cards too. The other option is a store named 7-Eleven store which is located near Echigo Yuzawa Station. It is present in the west exit, exactly 50 m to the right.

However, you are going to find your luck hard with the internet. It is only available in the Wing 4 lobby for you. You can sit in the ice cream cafe but the cafe is usually really cold.

Accommodation

Naeba Prince Hotel

Mt. Naeba is famous as one of the major resorts in Japan. You can enjoy a vast ski area on the scale of European resorts. Boasting a total of 1,242 guest rooms, with 22 restaurant to suit your mood, hot springs, shopping, indoor Children’s ski area, game centers, and many other attractions, Naeba Prince Hotel, directly linked to the ski slopes, is an large amusement hotel that anyone can enjoy.