About us
Skiing amazing pow, but not stopping there
Operating in Japan since 2007, Japan Guides Group began as the only English-oriented guiding operator on Mt. Fuji. One thing led to another and JGG opened up it's newest venture of Japan Ski Tours in 2014 to an overwhelmingly positive response. Run by a group of bilingual guides who grew up in Japan, Japan Ski Tours began with one single philosophy; that skiers who come to Japan should have more options to easily experience Japanese culture as well as it's world famous Pow.
It all started on the Niseko Annupuri Gondola. "The problem", said an old time Japanese skier, "is that all these foreigners come to Japan and only eat burgers and fries. They eat so much of it that the restaurants stopped serving Tonjiru! Can you believe it!?" he shook his head with surprising sadness at the loss of his Tonjiru. "I don't understand why they come all the way here only to stay in their own country". |
And its true. If you look around Niseko you'd be hard pressed to find an area that has less than 80% foreigners. At certain bases it seems to easily reach 100%. If you happen to have a Japanese friend with you, it can be difficult to find a menu in Japanese.
That's when we had the thought. What if we made a ski trip that didn't hold skiing and sightseeing as mutually exclusive? What if we could seamlessly integrate the two so that skiers who wanted to experience Japan had an easy and approachable option to do so? If you think about it, you can find a good powder day anywhere, but ancient temples, maid cafe's, and Samurai battlefields don't just fall from the sky. So as long as people are coming from across the world, wouldn't it make sense to integrate these into ski trip itineraries? It made a lot of sense to us, so much so that we decided to go for it. So in an industry first, we're drawing on our language ability, cultural understanding and guiding experience to create trips that emphasize immersion in Japanese food, culture, and of course powder--all in one neat bundle. |
Japan Ski Tours has guided 800+ guests on epic ski road-trips since the 2014-15 winter season.
All of our guided trips are aimed at strong intermediate to advanced skiers/riders. With a 1:4 guided ratio and a maximum group size of 8, our guides will take you to the best powder stashes available. While we take lifts up, we're rarely in-bounds; spending about 80% of our time off-piste and the other 20% of the time riding groomers to access in and out of the sweet spots.
Want to ski Japan but don't feel like you need a guide every day? Japan Ski Tours has developed 8-day and 10-day Tohoku ski packages with Indy Pass holders in mind. We've arranged all your on the ground logistics so that you can focus on what matters--skiing Japan's Independent side.
Whether you're looking for a one week powder fix in the most famous powder region of Japan or looking to get off the beaten path and explore the hidden gems of Japow, Japan Ski Tours is just the ticket for you.
What are past guests of Japan Ski Tours saying about us?
We work really hard to make sure our guests have the safest, most enjoyable, and worry-free tour experience possible. We're proud to show you comments from previous tours on our reviews page, that tell us we're doing a great job.
For our most recent reviews, check out our Facebook Reviews Page here. |