The Science Behind Japan’s Perfect Ski Conditions

Japan offers some of the world's best skiing and snowboarding for those looking to change up their routine, due to the reliability of its deep powder snow.

Where The Ski Areas Are

Japan's main islands are roughly bisected by mountains as tall as 12,000 feet from south to north.

Among the country's over 500 ski areas, the most popular are on the northern island of Hokkaido and in northern and central Honshu.

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Hakuba is a valley with 10 different resorts near the city of Nagano, which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics.

Niseko is another popular ski area about 35 miles west of Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics.

(MORE: Best Winter Jackets For The Extreme Cold)

Epic Snow

Quite simply, Japan's sea-effect snowbelts are among the snowiest places on Earth.

Sukayu, a resort location in far northern Honshu, averages an incredible 694.5 inches, or almost 58 feet, of snowfall each year, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The highest known 24-hour snowfall and snow depth measured on Earth appears to have been at Japan's Mt. Ibuki, climate scientist Yusuke Uemura told weather historian Christopher Burt.

At an elevation of 5,000 feet, Mt. Ibuki picked up 90.6 inches (about 7.5 feet) of snow on Feb. 14, 1927, leaving 465.4 inches of snow on the ground — almost the height of a four-story building.

If your travels take you to Japan in early spring, try driving the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route through the northern Japanese Alps for a mind-blowing look at how much snow accumulates in winter there.

This prolific snow can also hammer lower elevations on the Sea of Japan side of the mountains. One such siege of sea-effect snow in early February 2025 dumped almost 4 feet of snow in 12 hours on Hokkaido.

In his book, "Extreme Weather," Burt wrote that some homes in these snowy cities have longer eaves called gangis that overhang sidewalks to help keep them less snow-choked. Deep snow on roofs must be swept off into streets, where underground sprinklers can spray water to melt at least some of the snow.

Why So Much Snow?

While low-pressure systems with cold fronts can spawn significant winter storms in eastern Asia, as in other parts of the world, Japan benefits from a much larger, more powerful version of the U.S. Great Lakes' lake-effect snowfall.

First, Japan lies downstream from one of the coldest places on Earth, Siberia. In the middle of winter, temperatures in Siberia's "Pole of Cold" can plunge to minus 60 degrees or colder.

Secondly, the country is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, a large, deep sea, most of which remains unfrozen in winter.

When cold air from Siberia is dragged over the relatively warmer Sea of Japan, bands of heavy sea-effect snow form and are blown ashore into Japan, lifted and boosted by the Japanese Alps.

Sometimes, this weather pattern can lock for days, delivering an epic dumping of multiple feet of snow, the likes of which were mentioned above.

Not all of Japan is nearly this snowy, though.

Those same winds moving down the eastern slopes of Japan's mountains dry out by the time they reach cities such as Osaka and Tokyo. This, along with proximity to warmer Pacific Ocean water, is why Tokyo usually picks up light snowfall a few times a year, and it typically doesn't stick around long.

In this way, Japan has one of the most stunning snowfall contrasts anywhere on Earth.

Best Time Of Year

The pattern we described above usually sets up in the mid-winter months of January and February. So any trip to Honshu or Hokkaido that time of year should find plenty of deep, fresh powder on top of whatever snow had already piled up in December.

Just know that you may have some difficulty getting to the ski area if it's being pounded by those hefty sea-effect snowbands.

Winter Outlook 2025-26

The latest outlook from The Weather Company and Atmospheric G2 calls for somewhat milder than average winter temperatures in Hokkaido, but near average or colder in Honshu.

Winter may also be wetter than usual in Hokkaido, but near average or slightly drier in Honshu.

We wouldn't suggest placing too much emphasis on these long-range outlooks, however. The consistent supply of fluffy, powdery snow each winter makes any ski trip to Japan one to remember for a lifetime.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.