skiing

7 ways people in Japan deal with heavy snow, including the use of special ponds called “tane”

Locals teach us how to live comfortably in areas that experience heavy snowfall.

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Kimono snowboarder captivates Internet with awesome Coming of Age Day video【Video】

Kyoto college student shows us how awesome furisode look on the ski slopes.

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Pokémon Oasis break room coming to Japanese ski resort this winter【Photos】

When you need to get in out of the cold, Pikachu and his pals are waiting for you with tabletop trick art opportunities.

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A visit to Japan’s 220-meter-long water slide【Photos】

Indoor ski slope shows it doesn’t need snow to be awesome.

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This hotel in the mountains of Japan has an awesome hi-tech ski/snowboard simulator【Videos】

Family-run Nagano inn that’s been in business for more than 50 years has a very modern, very cool amenity.

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Foreigner and skiing pals get lost in Japan, call cops for help, ignore them when they call back

Lost off-piste skier says answering his phone was too much of an inconvenience.

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Japanese blood donation mascot loses her head at the ski ramp 【Video】

The snowboarding mascot had everyone in stitches after this tumble on the weekend.

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Snowboard and ski in Japan for FREE with new offer exclusively for foreign tourists

This incredible promotion lets you ski all day for free, in a powder snow paradise just a few hours away from Tokyo Station.

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Skiing samurai shreds the slopes with katana ski pole

Every ski season in Japan brings with it an army of skiers and snowboarders keen to make tracks in fresh, world-class powder snow. But how can you make your mark when you’re surrounded by hundreds of people decked out in ordinary ski jackets and snow goggles?

One keen warrior-loving skier found a solution to this problem by donning some heavy samurai armour on the slopes. And just to make sure he had everyone’s attention, he decided to forgo the ski poles for a long, single-edged sword known as a katana.

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$2.34!? Cheapest bullet-train ride in Japan lasts 3 minutes, but memories are forever【Photos】

Ask anyone in Japan if they love the shinkansen, and they’ll probably say yes. Commonly known as the bullet train, it’s convenient, handsomely designed, and the train’s aerodynamic nose is surprisingly an artisanal masterpiece, carefully formed by hand out of numerous metal plates in order to achieve the perfect curves.

Becoming a conductor of one is a typical kindergarten dream, and while a lot of kids grow out of that phase, some emerge as bona fide train fanatics who go by many monikers: tetsu-ota, tetchan, tetsu-kichi (as in “crazy”), you name it. Unfortunately, travel by shinkansen may be fast and luxurious, but it’s generally not cheap—for example, a three-hour one-way ride from Tokyo to Ōsaka can cost around 14,300 yen (US $140).

So what’s this about a 240-yen ticket in Nīgata Prefecture that has train enthusiasts all abuzz? A seasonal train station that’s actually part of a ski resort? A place called “Cowabunga” 125 miles north of Tokyo? Let comedian and self-declared train otaku, Ayako Suzukawa, be your guide today!

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