Japan Ski Season 2026-27: 1-Day Lift Tickets From 7,000 Yen
The 10 ski areas sit in Hokkaido, Nagano and Niigata. Prices are adult window prices, tax included, unless a line says online. For snow depth, see our Japan ski report on the deepest snow by month and resort.
Japan ski season dates: when each resort opens
Of the 10 resorts with 2026-27 dates, 8 open for skiing by 5 December 2026. Naeba follows on 18 December, and GALA Yuzawa’s slopes on 19 December.
The last column counts every day from opening to closing, both ends included.
| Ski resort | Opens | Closes | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sapporo Kokusai | 20 Nov 2026 | 5 May 2027 | 167 |
| Niseko Annupuri | 28 Nov 2026 | 5 May 2027 | 159 |
| Niseko Grand Hirafu | 28 Nov 2026 | 5 May 2027 | 159 |
| Furano | 28 Nov 2026 | 5 May 2027 | 159 |
| Kiroro (scheduled) | 28 Nov 2026 | 5 May 2027 | 159 |
| Niseko Hanazono | 28 Nov 2026 | 11 Apr 2027 | 135 |
| Niseko Village | 28 Nov 2026 | 4 Apr 2027 | 128 |
| Shiga Kogen | 5 Dec 2026 | 5 May 2027 | 152 |
| Naeba | 18 Dec 2026 | 4 Apr 2027 | 108 |
| GALA Yuzawa (skiing) | 19 Dec 2026 | 5 May 2027 | 138 |
We checked these dates on each resort’s official page on 16 October 2026. Niseko United notes that opening days and hours can still change.
Sapporo Kokusai opens 8 days before Niseko United and Furano. It sits in Jozankei, inside Sapporo city. For a second city option, see our guide to Sapporo Teine Ski Resort passes for 2026-27.
The calendar above shows the opening order. Hokkaido goes first, Shiga Kogen in Nagano comes next, and the two Niigata resorts open last.
The 4 Niseko United resorts all open on 28 November, but they close on different days. Annupuri and Grand Hirafu run to 5 May 2027, Hanazono to 11 April and Niseko Village to 4 April.
GALA Yuzawa runs its gondola from 12 December for sightseeing only. From 12 to 18 December nobody can ski or snowboard there, whatever the snow. The resort also keeps its South Area closed all winter and runs only the Central and North areas.
The photo above shows the snowy slopes of Niseko Annupuri, one of the 4 Niseko United resorts that open on 28 November.
In January, Furano’s average high is −3.7°C, and Sapporo averages −0.4°C by day and −6.4°C at night (JMA, 1991–2020).
Our Hokkaido in January weather guide and Sapporo in January weather guide list each town. For the resorts on Honshu, read Nagano in January and Niigata in January. Our forecast of when it snows in Japan gives first-snow dates by city.
Lift ticket prices ranked: 7,000 to 16,700 yen
Rusutsu’s 16,700 yen adult 1-day ticket costs about 2.4 times Sapporo Kokusai’s 7,000 yen. Across the 11 tickets at the 10 ski areas we compared, the gap is 9,700 yen.
Naeba sells two different day tickets, so it has two rows. Each price is for the main 2026-27 season.
| Ticket | Adult 1-day | Online | Price period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rusutsu | 16,700 yen | 13,200 yen | 19 Dec to 14 Mar |
| Niseko United All Mountain (peak) | 13,500 yen | – | 24 Dec to 28 Feb |
| Naeba Mt.Naeba (with Kagura) | 11,800 yen | – | 18 Dec to 4 Apr |
| Hakuba Valley All-Mountain | 11,100 yen | Webshop from around November | 2026-27 season |
| Naeba area only | 9,800 yen | – | 18 Dec to 4 Apr |
| Shiga Kogen | 9,500 yen | – | Outside early season and spring |
| Kiroro (high season) | 9,200 yen | Up to 5% off | 12 Dec to 11 Apr |
| Furano (regular) | 9,000 yen | – | 5 Dec to 22 Mar |
| GALA Yuzawa | 8,000 yen | 7,500 yen | 19 Dec to 5 May |
| Nozawa Onsen | 7,800 yen | – | 19 Dec to 28 Mar |
| Sapporo Kokusai (regular) | 7,000 yen | 6,700 yen | 20 Nov to 31 Mar |
Happo-one’s own pages show two different adult 1-day prices for 2026-27, so it is not in this table.
| Item | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Rusutsu | 16,700 yen | |
| Niseko United (peak) | 13,500 yen | |
| Naeba Mt.Naeba | 11,800 yen | Naeba plus Kagura |
| Hakuba Valley | 11,100 yen | All-Mountain pass |
| Shiga Kogen | 9500 yen | |
| Kiroro (high season) | 9200 yen | |
| GALA Yuzawa | 8000 yen | |
| Sapporo Kokusai | 7000 yen |
The chart above lines up 8 of those tickets. Niseko United’s peak price of 13,500 yen is about 1.9 times Sapporo Kokusai’s.
The Naeba Ski Resort lift fees page lists both Naeba tickets. The Mt.Naeba ticket costs 11,800 yen and adds Kagura, Mitsumata and Tashiro. The Naeba-area ticket costs 9,800 yen, 2,000 yen less. Members of Seibu Prince Global Rewards, which is free to join, pay 10,800 yen for the Mt.Naeba ticket.
At Naeba, children up to elementary-school age ride free. Ask at the counter signed リフト券売り場 (rifuto-ken uriba, lift ticket counter) for their free ticket.
The Shiga Kogen 2026-27 lift ticket window prices page sets the adult 1-day price at 9,500 yen. One key ticket covers all 45 lifts and gondolas across 18 ski areas.
Three resorts add a 500 yen deposit for the IC card that holds your ticket. They are Nozawa Onsen, Kiroro and Sapporo Kokusai, and each refunds it when you return the card. The Nozawa Onsen Ski Resort lift prices page puts the adult 1-day ticket at 7,800 yen, valid on the day of purchase only.
The Rusutsu Resort winter lift ticket page sets the regular season from 19 December 2026 to 14 March 2027. In that period adults aged 19 to 64 pay 16,700 yen at the window or 13,200 yen online.
Night skiing at Rusutsu runs from 16:00 to 20:00, from mid-December to 30 March 2027. A night ticket costs 4,000 yen for adults.
| Place | Rusutsu Resort |
|---|---|
| Price | Adult 1-day 16,700 yen at the window, 13,200 yen online (19 Dec 2026 to 14 Mar 2027) |
| Hours | Night skiing 16:00 to 20:00 (last lift 19:45), mid-December to 30 March 2027 |
| Access | BIGRUNS bus from New Chitose Airport about 120 min, 5,000 yen booked online (planned 28 Nov to 30 Mar) |
| Official site | Rusutsu Resort winter lift ticket page |
The photo below shows a lift at Rusutsu, the highest-priced day ticket on our list.
Early-season and spring tickets: up to 37% less
Kiroro’s early and spring 1-day ticket costs 5,800 yen, 37% below its 9,200 yen high-season price. Four other resorts on our list also cut prices at the start or end of the season.
| Ski resort | Early or spring | Regular or peak | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiroro | 5,800 yen | 9,200 yen | 37% |
| Niseko United | 8,800 yen | 13,500 yen (peak) | 35% |
| Shiga Kogen | 7,500 yen | 9,500 yen | 21% |
| Furano | 7,500 yen | 9,000 yen | 17% |
| Sapporo Kokusai | 6,500 yen (spring) | 7,000 yen | 7% |
The table above compares the same adult 1-day ticket in two price periods. The saving runs from 37% at Kiroro down to 7% at Sapporo Kokusai.
The Kiroro Snow World lift and gondola prices page gives the dates. The lower price applies from 28 November to 11 December 2026 and from 12 April to 5 May 2027. High season runs from 12 December 2026 to 11 April 2027.
The Niseko United 2026-27 All Mountain Pass page splits the season into price periods. The 8,800 yen early price runs from 28 November to 11 December 2026 and returns from 23 March to 4 April 2027. The regular 12,600 yen price covers 12 to 23 December and 1 to 22 March.
Niseko’s peak price of 13,500 yen runs from 24 December 2026 to 28 February 2027. Early-season tickets are sold at the counter only. Night skiing runs from 12 December to 22 March, and a day ticket stays valid until night skiing ends.
Shiga Kogen charges 7,500 yen for 1 day in its early season, from 5 to 18 December 2026. The same price returns in spring, from 1 April to 5 May 2027. On 5 and 6 December, the Opening Festival pass costs 5,000 yen, 47% below the regular 9,500 yen.
Shiga Kogen also runs Kids’ Ski Day on the third Sunday of each month from December to April. On 20 December, 17 January, 21 February, 21 March and 18 April, children up to elementary-school age ski free on a 1-day ticket.
The Furano Ski Resort lift fees page sets a 7,500 yen first-ride price from 28 November to 4 December. Spring prices run from 23 March to 5 May. At the Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort price information page, spring tickets cost 6,500 yen from 1 April to 5 May 2027.
If price decides your month, aim for late November to mid-December, or for April. Niseko’s peak price covers all of January and February, New Year included. Our New Year 2026-27 holiday guide lists the dates when banks close, 31 December to 3 January.
GALA Yuzawa, in the photo below, takes another route to a lower price. It sells an early-bird ticket before the season, covered in the next section.
Early-bird and online deals on sale in October and November
GALA Yuzawa’s early-bird ticket costs 4,800 yen, 40% below the 8,000 yen window price. It is on sale from 15 October to 30 November 2026.
The GALA Yuzawa early-bird lift ticket notice gives the times: 10:00 on 15 October to 23:00 on 30 November. You buy it on Webket or JRE MALL, with no limit on numbers. An earlier super early-bird ticket at 4,300 yen sold out within 5 minutes.
The GALA Yuzawa hours and lift pricing page lists a regular web price of 7,500 yen. That is 500 yen, or 6%, below the window.
Of the online prices we found, Rusutsu’s saves the most: 13,200 yen, which is 3,500 yen or 21% below the window. Sapporo Kokusai’s web price of 6,700 yen saves 300 yen, or 4%. Three Seicomart stores also sell Sapporo Kokusai day passes in advance.
Kiroro’s Webstore saves up to 5% on regular daily lift passes.
Hakuba Happo-one sells an early-bird ticket only to holders of Japan’s My Number card. It is on sale online from 1 October to 30 November 2026, with no child or senior version. If weather stops the lifts on your chosen day, you get no refund.
The resorts’ own pages describe these steps for buying online:
- Open the resort’s official ticket page and pick your date.
- Buy before the cut-off. At Naeba, online sales close at 11:00 p.m. the day before.
- Pay by credit card. Naeba and Furano take Visa, Mastercard, JCB and their partner cards only.
- Show the barcode from your email on your phone, or print it.
- Pay the 500 yen IC card deposit where the resort asks for one.
At Naeba and Furano you cannot change, cancel or refund a ticket after you buy it. Pick the day with care.
The graphic below matches each trip length to a ticket type.
Season passes: when they pay off
A season pass wins from day 11 at Furano, day 12 at Kiroro and day 14 at Nozawa Onsen.
| Ski resort | Adult season pass | Adult 1-day | Cheaper from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Furano | 98,000 yen | 9,000 yen | Day 11 |
| Kiroro | 103,000 yen | 9,200 yen | Day 12 |
| Nozawa Onsen | 102,500 yen | 7,800 yen | Day 14 |
The table above divides each adult season pass by the same resort’s adult 1-day price. Furano’s 98,000 yen pass equals 10.9 day tickets at 9,000 yen.
Furano starts general sales of its 2026-27 pass on 14 November 2026. Buy it at the resort’s Furano Station ticket center between 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Only the named holder can use it.
| Place | Furano Ski Resort |
|---|---|
| Price | Adult 1-day 9,000 yen (5 Dec to 22 Mar), 7,500 yen early and spring; adult season pass 98,000 yen |
| Hours | 28 Nov 2026 to 5 May 2027; 1-day tickets from 8:30 a.m. to sunset or closing |
| Access | JR Sapporo to Furano Station about 183 min via Takikawa, then taxi about 12 min |
| Official site | Furano Ski Resort lift fees page |
Kiroro’s adult pass costs 103,000 yen for a season scheduled from 28 November 2026 to 5 May 2027. Nozawa Onsen’s costs 102,500 yen, or 103,000 yen with the IC deposit. The Nozawa pass includes night skiing, and you cannot change the name on it.
At Hakuba Happo-one, the season pass early-bird sale runs from 1 October to 15 November 2026. The Hakuba Happo-one season pass application page lists 95,000 yen for new buyers aged 40 and over. Repeat buyers in that age group pay 90,000 yen, and the regular price is 115,000 yen. You cannot cancel after you apply.
Niseko United warns that its season passes cannot be transferred.
Hakuba Valley: one pass for 10 resorts
The Hakuba Valley All-Mountain 1-day pass costs 11,100 yen for adults, and the 3-day pass costs 32,200 yen. It is valid for 6 days from the first day of use.
The Hakuba Valley lift ticket information page lists the 2026-27 prices. Children aged 6 to 12 pay 6,400 yen a day. The 3-day pass comes in 1,100 yen below three 1-day passes, which total 33,300 yen.
The graphic above sums up the three rules. The pass works at all 10 resorts, and you can ride at several of them on the same day.
On days you ski or snowboard, the Hakuba Valley Shuttle Bus is free. The pass does not cover night skiing or the night shuttle bus. Longer passes follow the same pattern: the 5-day pass costs 53,400 yen and lasts 10 days.
The 10 Hakuba Valley resorts differ a lot in size. Happo-one has the biggest vertical drop of the 10 at 1,071 m, from 1,831 m down to 760 m. Jigatake has the smallest at 260 m.
The photo above shows Happo-one in February, seen from a chairlift at Hakuba Iwatake. Our guide to Hakuba Happo-one Winter Resort and its January snow covers that mountain.
Getting there from Sapporo, New Chitose and Tokyo
From Sapporo, JR trains take about 122 minutes to Niseko: 32 to Otaru and 90 more to Niseko. Add the wait to change trains at Otaru.
The Niseko United access information page gives these times. From New Chitose Airport, the Rapid Airport train takes about 72 minutes to Otaru, so the ride totals about 162 minutes.
From Kutchan or Niseko Station, buses and taxis run to each resort. A valid lift pass for the day lets you ride the Niseko United Shuttle Bus.
| Place | Niseko United (Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Village, Annupuri) |
|---|---|
| Price | Adult 1-day: 8,800 yen early and spring, 12,600 yen regular, 13,500 yen peak (24 Dec to 28 Feb) |
| Hours | Annupuri and Grand Hirafu 28 Nov 2026 to 5 May 2027; night skiing 12 Dec to 22 Mar |
| Access | JR Sapporo to Otaru about 32 min, then Otaru to Niseko about 90 min; buses and taxis from the station |
| Official site | Niseko United 2026-27 All Mountain Pass page |
New Chitose Airport has its own JR station, and the Niseko United and Rusutsu access pages both give routes from it. The train into Sapporo takes 33 minutes and costs 1,230 yen; see our page on New Chitose Airport to Sapporo.
From Tokyo, flights from Haneda to New Chitose take 1 h 30 min, with 56 a day. See our Tokyo to Sapporo route page.
Rusutsu runs the BIGRUNS bus from New Chitose Airport, planned from 28 November 2026 to 30 March 2027. The Rusutsu Resort New Chitose Airport bus page gives a ride of about 120 minutes.
The fare is 5,000 yen one way when you book online and prepay by card, or 5,500 yen otherwise. Book online by 24:00, 7 days before you travel.
For Furano, the Furano Ski Resort access page gives about 183 minutes from JR Sapporo to Furano Station, with a change at Takikawa. A taxi then takes about 12 minutes. From JR Asahikawa, the train to Furano takes about 70 minutes.
The Sapporo-Furano Area Pass costs 11,000 yen for 4 days. It covers New Chitose Airport, Sapporo, Otaru, Furano and Asahikawa. For wider travel, compare the Hokkaido Rail Pass.
Sapporo Kokusai runs a ski bus, the Kokusai Ski Area Line. Reserve it on the web by 17:00 the day before you ride. A direct bus from ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel Sapporo takes 80 minutes non-stop, but the resort page still lists last season’s dates.
For Nagano, the Hokuriku Shinkansen runs from Tokyo Station to Nagano in 1 hour 19 minutes. See our Tokyo to Nagano route page. From Nagano Station, the Nagano-Hakuba express bus goes to Happo-one. Iiyama Station is the nearest station to Nozawa Onsen.
Naeba and GALA Yuzawa both sit in the town of Yuzawa in Niigata. Flying with your own gear? Read about skis and snowboards on the plane and our Japan packing list for winter. For another Hokkaido winter day out, see the Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival 2027.
FAQ
When does ski season start in Japan?
Of the 10 resorts in our 2026-27 date table, Sapporo Kokusai opens first, on 20 November. Niseko United and Furano follow on 28 November, and Shiga Kogen on 5 December. Naeba and GALA Yuzawa open on 18 and 19 December, and the 10 close between 4 April and 5 May 2027.
How much is a lift ticket in Japan?
At the 10 ski areas we compared, an adult 1-day window ticket for 2026-27 costs 7,000 to 16,700 yen. Sapporo Kokusai is at the low end and Rusutsu at the top. 7 of the 11 tickets cost between 8,000 and 11,800 yen.
Is it cheaper to buy lift tickets online in Japan?
At several resorts, yes. Rusutsu’s online price is 3,500 yen or 21% below the window, GALA Yuzawa’s is 6% below and Sapporo Kokusai’s is 4% below. Online tickets at Naeba and Furano cannot be changed or refunded.
Is the Hakuba Valley pass worth it?
It pays if you want to ski more than one resort or stay 3 days or more. The 3-day pass costs 32,200 yen, 1,100 yen less than three 1-day passes, and it stays valid for 6 days. It also gives free shuttle bus rides on ski days, but it does not cover night skiing.
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