Winter in Japan Day 2: Hakuba in the Japanese Alps

Hello!

Welcome to our first full day in Japan, which was mostly a travel day.

We got up early to catch a limited express train from Shinjuku station in Tokyo to Hakuba station up in the mountains near Nagano.

The reason why we chose to come to Japan in the middle of winter was because Jimmy has been dreaming of doing some snowboarding here for a while now. Jordan agreed to come along so he had mountain buddy, meanwhile I’ve planned some activities that don’t require me to fly down mountains on a wooden board.

The most famous snowboarding area in Japan is arguably Hokkaido, but it’s very far north and it was going to be a struggle to fit that into the rest of our trip, so we chose a couple of areas in the Nagano region instead. A special express train runs once a day in winter directly from Tokyo, so we got up early to catch it. Honestly, we are so jet lagged that we ended up getting up way earlier than we actually needed to, except for Jordan who seemed to sleep like a baby until his alarm.

The hotel we stayed at in Shinjuku was really great, but their breakfast was expensive, so we wandered across the street to the Family Mart for some breakfast we could take on the train.

Japanese convenience stores are famous for their creative and usually quite tasty snacks, so it was fun to raid the aisles on our first morning.

Before I get to the train ride, a quick note on convenience in Japan: it’s a big thing. Everywhere you go things are optimized to feel easy and seamless, and I love noticing all of the little details.

My favorite convenience at our hotel (aside from the amazing toilet which you will find everywhere in Japan) was the heated mirror in the bathroom. I emerged from my shower to find a totally fogged up mirror with the exception of a perfect rectangle which is the perfect size for doing makeup. Love it.

We had no problem catching our train, and were able to settle into our seats and begin enjoying breakfast.

Another quick revelation I had this morning: I forgot to bring contact lenses. I rarely wear glasses, especially in winter because I hate it when they fog up, but I wear them on the plane so I don’t have to mess with contacts there. For the first time ever on a trip, I forgot to pack them.

So this is a unique experience for me to wear my glasses full time. So exciting

As I’ve been preparing for trip, social media has blasted me with ideas for enjoying the fried chicken (called Famichiki) at Family Mart. It’s like a whole cult situation going on with this fried chicken. The one most interesting to me was mixing it with these premade to go pancakes

These pancakes come as a pancake sandwich with butter and maple syrup in the middle. Picture McDonald’s pancakes without the mess.

Then take the famichiki, and put it in the middle. I know I’m spending a lot of time describing this, but it’s brilliant, I thought it was delicious and want to spread the word to loved ones.

seriously, no regrets on this one.

Here’s our crew on the train with a random stranger on the end:

Jordan with another famous Japanese convenience store find: the onigiri

It’s rice shaped into a triangle with filling inside and wrapped in seaweed. Also delightful.

Normally I try to take pics of the scenery on train trips, but those pics almost never come out, so this train journey I just sat back with a book on tape and enjoyed the scenery. The Azusa train takes you direct from Tokyo to Hakuba, which means you don’t have any transfers and just get to relax.

One thing we did notice about the train: it was us, a couple of Europeans, and a TON of Australians. I don’t think there was anyone local to Japan on it. That became a theme in the ski resort we went to. Australians seem to out number everyone else 10 to 1.

It’s summer in Australia now, so a lot people come to Japan to work the winter ski season there. I wondered if it was also a school break because there were a ton of families.

As we got further into the mountains the snow started to appear, and by the time we arrived at Hakuba station, it was really coming down.

We cued up for a taxi, but after waiting for awhile none ended up coming.

This is us waiting at the station with all of our stuff.

Luckily for us, Uber was operating in Hakuba, so we were able to get a ride to our hotel that way. Before we left on the trip I had emailed our hotel asking about a shuttle service and was told there wasn’t one, however when we arrived at the hotel we were informed a shuttle goes every 30 minutes. Good times.

The hotel did let us check in early, so we were able to get settled before heading out to find lunch.

Our hotel wasn’t in the main section of the villages, but it did have one street with restaurants and coffee shops. We found a cute and casual place that did Japanese curry which was so nice and hearty. Rice and miso soup was self service, but they charged you if you took more than you ate.

Wandering down the lane we found a cute hello kitty snow sculpture

And what I think is a Jizō ready to hit the slopes. Although someone tell me if I’m wrong.

The street was Bavarian themed, so there were interesting buildings that Japanese architecture elements with Swiss chalet vibes.

We also found a crepe truck

We headed back to the hotel to relax, and also to use the hotel’s onsite Onsen. Japanese onsens are like big hot tubs with mineral water that you sit in. It’s basically a communal bath, and in most you are required to be nude. On our last trip we were too chicken to do them, but they are a big deal in Japan and I’m more comfortable now, so I was excited to try it. Traditionally you use a spigot to soap yourself down, rinse off, then hop in the tub. Most of them (including this one) are separated by gender, and tattoos have traditionally carried negative connotations culturally in Japan, so some onsens won’t allow you in if you have tattoos. Jimmy has a tattoo on his back, but I thought we’d be safe at the Marriott since it’s a western chain. I was wrong. No tattoos allowed in their Onsen, so Jimmy relaxed in the room.

Here’s the room with the traditional Japanese eating area and view of the snow. We did have western style beds, although even western style beds are extremely firm in Japan by our standards.

It feels like it should be obvious but no cameras allowed in the Onsen, so no pics available for that. The Marriott had two pools in the women’s section, one indoors and one outdoors. The outdoor one was nice because you could see the snow and the trees, and it was very relaxing. I was the only one in there for most of the time I was there so it was a good place to get comfortable with it. They also had very clear instructions in English on proper etiquette which was nice for my first time. It had spouts with warm water for showering, and a nice area with hair dryers. This one was a bit fancier, which you can keep in mind for the public bathhouse experience that happens later in the trip.

After our onsen time, the sun had set and we decided to head out and get some dinner. We didn’t want to wait too long since we had an early start the next day.

As we left the hotel we were offered umbrellas… because of snow? Jordan decided to accept one.

The snow was for real though.

We found a place that was run by a family with two people cooking and one person at the front. The kitchen was open so it was fun to watch the chefs cooking away in giant woks and chop sticks. It was us and a room full of Australian families, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the show Bluey when people watching the family next to us as the kids and parents interacted. I got a piping hot bowl of Udon noodles and a craft cola. I included the cola description in a pic because it was made in house, delicious, and I’m trying to remember what was in it so I can try to recreate it.