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Kagura resort snow
Lat Long: 36.88° N 138.78° E
Ski Japan - Niigata

Kagura Resort Reviews

Weather Forecast for Kagura at 1416m altitude

Issued: 8 am 21 Apr 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Next snow in Kagura: 1.2cm on Tue 21st  (after 9 AM)

Visitor reviews for Kagura Ski Resort

Kagura Ratings

Overall: 3.6. Based on 7 votes and 4 reviews.

Snowsure: 4.9

  • Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing
  • Is often closed due to a lack of snow
  • Occasionally suffers from a lack of snow
  • Rarely suffers from a lack of snow
  • Kagura is snowsure even in the poorest seasons

Variety of pistes: 4.6

  • The ski runs are featureless and unvaried
  • The ski runs are varied but not extensive enough for a week
  • Kagura has diverse and interesting pistes including forests and high alpine terrain

Off-piste: 4.4

  • No off-piste worth mentioning
  • Off piste is out-of-bounds
  • Some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days
  • A vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days

Scenery: 4.0

  • An ugly resort in a bland setting
  • Average mountain views and resort
  • A spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town

Access: 4.2

  • At least one overnight stop
  • Requires a whole day
  • Requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns
  • Arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon
  • There is a main airport within an hour of Kagura

Public Transport: 4.4

  • There are no buses or taxis to Kagura
  • There are slow or infrequent buses / trains available
  • Getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections

Accommodation: 3.9

  • No places to stay in/near Kagura
  • A few places to stay in the resort
  • A wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets

Cheap Rooms: 3.9

  • No budget accommodation available
  • Just one or two hostels so book ahead
  • Several cheap hostels and pensions available

Luxury Hotels: 3.3

  • No luxury accommodation available
  • Just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead
  • Several up-market hotels in Kagura

Ski in/Ski out: 3.7

  • The ski area is located far from any accommodation
  • A free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip
  • Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available

Childcare: 1.9

  • There are no child care facilities at Kagura
  • The resort has limited child-care facilities
  • the resort has excellent child-care facilities including at least one reasonably priced creche

Snowmaking: 3.1

  • Kagura relies entirely on natural snow
  • There are just a few snow cannons
  • There are snowmaking facilities on all pistes

Snow Grooming: 4.1

  • There are no snow groomers at Kagura
  • Occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state
  • All the runs at Kagura are groomed daily

Shelter: 3.4

  • There is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut
  • There are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close
  • Kagura is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close

Nearby options: 3.8

  • If snow conditions are poor at Kagura, it will be poor everywhere nearby
  • There are good alternatives within an hours drive
  • Other locations on the same lift pass provide a rich variety of snowsure ski conditions

Regional rating: 5.0

  • Kagura usually has poor snow conditions compared to other resorts in region
  • Has average conditions for the region
  • Usually has the best snow conditions in the region

Lift Staff: 4.5

  • The staff at Kagura are rude or unhelpful
  • Lift staff at Kagura are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help

Crowds/Queues: 3.6

  • The resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues
  • It is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays
  • It is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare

Ski Schools: 3.6

  • No ski schools available
  • One or two ski schools but local language only
  • A few ski schools but book early for multi-lingual instructors
  • Plenty of ski schools and multi-lingual instructors available
  • Excellent ski schools with friendly multi-lingual ski instructors

Hire and Repairs: 4.5

  • Nothing can be sourced, not even ski-wax or ptex
  • There are some ski shops but rentals need to be booked in advance
  • Good quality ski equipment can be purchased or hired and overnight repairs are possible

Beginners: 4.0

  • Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard
  • A few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week
  • Vast areas of gentle terrain

Intermediates: 4.4

  • No intermediate terrain at Kagura
  • Intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days
  • Vast areas of cruising runs

Advanced: 4.3

  • Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders
  • Enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste
  • Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week

Snow Park: 3.0

  • Not even a kicker at Kagura
  • Average sized park quite well looked after
  • Huge park area and expertly crafted pipes, jumps and boardercross trails

Cross-country: 2.0

  • There is nowhere to go for cross-country skiing around Kagura
  • There are some cross country trails available
  • The area features many spectacular and well maintained cross-country trails

Luge/Toboggan: 1.6

  • No designated luge or toboggan runs
  • There are toboggan runs that open quite often
  • Kagura has long and well maintained luge / toboggan facilities suitable for all ages

Mountain Dining: 3.7

  • Nowhere to buy food by the pistes
  • Some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive
  • There is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets

Eating: 3.4

  • Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop
  • There are a few places to eat in the resort but nothing special
  • A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants

Apres-Ski: 2.0

  • Nothing to do, not even a bar
  • There are a few bars in the resort but nothing special
  • Clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere

Other Sports: 1.5

  • No sports facilities at all apart from ski lifts
  • Resort has just a small public swimming pool
  • Resort has all kinds of sports facilities, including a full-size swimming pool

Entertainment: 2.7

  • Besides the snow and walking there is nothing to do here
  • The non-skier will find things to do for few days but may become bored after a week
  • The resort area is a fascinating place to visit, regardless of winter sports

Winter Walks: 2.6

  • Very limited walking and no snowshoe trails
  • A couple of designated scenic walking/snowshoe trails
  • Extensive and diverse winter walking trails for all abilities

Ski Pass Value: 4.3

  • A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available
  • The ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts
  • Ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area

Value (National): 4.3

  • Overall, Kagura is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the country and not worth the money
  • Overall represents average value for money
  • Overall offers the best value resort in the country

Value (Global): 4.4

  • Overall, Kagura is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world
  • Overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries
  • Internationally the resort offers excellent value for money

Show all 35 ratings

January 29, 2026
Stephane from Ski Japan - Nagano Japan - Nagano
Kagura is one of the best kept secret in the Japanese ski world. It offers a wide variety of terrain and its huge annual snow fall makes it one of the safest bets when it comes to finding powder. If it hasn't snowed for a few days, you can easily venture into the side country to find the hidden patches. While it is not a super steep hill, the variety of terrain makes up for it as you never get bored exploring its vast directly accessible or hikable area. It's connection to Tashiro and Naeba, via one of the longest gondola in the world, broadens the possibilities even further. It's really hard to get bored at Kagura.
February 23, 2022
Gabriel from Ski Japan - Nagano Japan - Nagano
Sprawling resort known for 1 long season (mid November to mid may), 2 plentiful side-country and backcountry off-piste pow action, 3 easy access from Tokyo. Not much for super beginners but if you can stop and turn there a lots of easy long runs too. Great place for pow and tree fiends. Relatively low avalanche risk (people die every year but usually they get lost or fall in a tree hole).
November 08, 2008
Daz from Ski Japan - Nagano Japan - Nagano
Kagura is an excellent ski field. Combined with the slopes of Tashiro and Mitsumata, this resort is big. At the very top, some 1800 metres above sea level, the snow is some of the best around. There is accessible BC to suffice the more adventurous rider and plenty of pisted action for everyone else. This is one of the most easily accessed resorts from Tokyo and as a result can be crowded, especially in early and late season when everywhere else is closed, but if you utilise the Tashiro area you can find your powder stashes fairly easily. This area is also connected to the Naeba resort by a giant gondola, you have to pay extra to use the Naeba resort but when taken into account this gives one of the widest range of terrain available. If you are living in Tokyo it's cheap and easy to get to and has the powder and trees to make sure that you won't regret going