Nozawa Onsen (a Hot Springs and Skiing Village)
Nozawa Onsen, after a fall of fresh snow, is picture postcard perfect. We’ve left our Ryokan accommodation and are wending our way uphill to the ski fields above the village. The locals are out with snow shovels prising snow from rooftops and clearing walkways. The snow is soft and dry, softly mounded on tree branches, telegraph poles and beside the cleared roads crisscrossing the village.
We have left behind the thirty degree plus temperatures of Victoria and exchanged it for zero degrees in the district of Nagano in Japan. The journey to get here was long. It involved car, planes, a bullet train and a bus and took over 48 hours from leaving Yackandandah. Skiing at Falls Creek seemed like a much easier option until we experienced the magic of Nozawa Onsen on our first evening.
Nakajimaya Ryokan, provides Japanese style accommodation: futons for for sleeping, traditional breakfast and a private onsen. For those in our small group who are skiing, the ski slopes are a ten minute walk up the hill. Nozawa Onsen promotes itself as both a hot springs and ski resort. There are thirteen bath houses in this village using 100% hot-spring water. One of the oldest onsens, Ogama, is reserved exclusively for the people of the village. It has water hot enough to boil an egg and that’s what the locals use it for.
Nozawa Onsen’s hot springs were, as legend tells it, discovered in the 8th century by the monk Gyoki. In 1870, there were 24 inns in the area, with 24,863 visitors for hot-spring cures. The tourists still come for the onsens but in winter they’re here for the powder snow and skiing. That’s why we’re here although I’m not a downhill skier so, on this trip, I’m a snow tourist. On our first day Chris, Peter and Sam sorted out their hired gear and I trailed along to see what I was missing out on. The slopes looked daunting to me but fresh snow fell before our arrival – 75 centimetres – and the prospect of great skiing in powder had them very excited.
A walking tour of Nozawa Onsen
On our second day, while the others skied, I walked the village streets, first in lightly falling snow then, towards midday, the snow stopped and the sun came out. Mushroom caps of snow were mounded on everything, soft and fluffy on cars, rooftops, trees and any flat surface. The layout of the village is a maze but as the streets go either up or down I often wound up back where I’d started passing small shops, houses, traditional onsens and, higher up, shrines tucked into the snow and a stand of magnificent Japanese cedars.
Dining Out
By my second day of wandering I felt I was mastering the layout of the streets, however, I kept coming out of laneways in surprising places. We have eaten each night in different restaurants and, because places look different at night it’s been interesting to come across them in daylight. Bland facades have opened up into warm and welcoming interiors serving delicious food. The meals haven’t all been Japanese; kebabs, tapas, pizza and pancakes have alternated with okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake), gyoza, dumplings, tempura, grills, soba noodles and sukiyaki. Some of these appeared as part of a banquet served in our ryokan. The village also has many bars; it is a ski village after all and Australians form a significant part of the winter population. We’ve particularly enjoyed the gin and tonics, locally brewed beers and sake.
Further afield – Zenkoji Temple (Nagano)
Our host, Yukiko, recommended a visit to Zenkoji Temple at Nagano. This involved a bus from Nozawa Onsen, ten minutes on the Shinkansen and a local bus from Nagano to the temple. Buying the correct ticket and being on the right platform was the most challenging part of the day. I did manage to get myself there and back. I met a young woman on the bus who spoke no English but was keen to take my photo and have me take one of her in front of the temple gate. Gesturing is a universal language. My presence is recorded standing at the Sanmon Gate which dates back to 1750.
The temple is 1400 years old. It was founded in the 7th century and houses the first Buddhist statue to be brought into Japan when Buddhism was first introduced in the 6th century. Nagano, the town, grew up around the temple. Nagano now has a population of about 400,000.
After looking inside the main temple, I spent an hour wandering through the gardens and array of small shrines topped with mushroom caps of snow. Splashes of colour were provided by a red camellias and red Nandina berries nestled amongst their russet leaves. Peaceful and perfect.
Further afield – Excursion to the snow monkeys
This was an afternoon activity for the four of us – a break from skiing. We went by a small bus to Jigokudani Yarn Koen, a park where monkeys can be observed in their natural habitat. The wild monkeys enjoy bathing in the hot springs in winter just like we do and because the area is covered in snow, they are called snow monkeys. It was an hour by bus followed by a walk through a forest of tall straight cedar trees along a wide but icy path for another thirty minutes. The monkeys are oblivious to the humans crowding around their hot spring pool. They were very entertaining and photogenic. In another area by the river the younger monkeys spent their time scampering about, play fighting and annoying their mothers.
Snowshoeing
I enjoyed the company of Taka (guide) and two young Japanese women on an afternoon snowshoeing tour. Taka was very knowledgeable and patient, guiding us through the soft snow around a hotel complex and then around Hokuryu Lake, a heart shaped lake not far from Nozawa Onsen. It was a sunny afternoon: the snow sparkled, the distant mountains were clear and the cedar trees shed a fine rain as the sun melted their snow load.
Part of our tour around the lake was crossing to a small island on a snow covered bridge. The island is home to shichifukujin statues. In English the Seven Lucky Gods or Seven Gods of Fortune. We stopped near the statues for hot chocolate and a snack. It was a beautiful setting with the lake a smooth expanse of ice dusted with snow and bearing the delicate tracks of small animals. Anything heavier would break the ice. The lake was surrounded by forest, mostly Japanese Cedar, with beech higher up.
Museums and a day in Iiyama
Nozawa Onsen has three museums. One was dedicated to a Professor of Literature and song writer, another to the history of skiing and a smaller one to ceramics. I visited them all. On our last day I caught the bus to Iiyama, 25 minutes away, where there was a doll museum and a paper making workshop. The photos tell the story.
Finally
We left Nozawa Onsen after ten days of great telemarking, skiing and snowboarding (for the boys – 75, 59 & 18) and village tourism for me. We were sad to say goodbye to Yukiko, our host, who had been a snowboard champion in her younger days and was extremely helpful and friendly during our stay. It was also goodbye to our onsen, slippers lined up in the foyer and easy access to a beautiful village.
The end of the first part of our trip to Japan – February 2023
Beverley Lello 