The northern island of Japan is home to the most famous resort area in Japan, Niseko. Being the furthest north, the winter season starts the earliest in Japan, and is home to famous resorts like Rusutsu, Furano and Asahidake.

The region consists of Aomori, Akita, Yamagata, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures. Aomori City is known as the snowiest city in the world and reachable to the storied Hakkoda mountains. Tohoku is known for the cold winters and lots of snow, notable areas include Zao Onsen, Bandai, Appi Kogen and Hakkoda.

This region covers Nagano, Niigata, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures. Resorts here are primarily accessible from Tokyo and surrounding areas. Nagano and Niigata are famous for huge amounts of snowfall with some resorts getting more than 10m of snow in a season.

Notable areas here are the Hakuba mountains, Nozawa Onsen, Myoko Kogen, Shiga Kogen and Yuzawa Kogen.

Covering prefectures from Gifu, Fukui, Shiga, Hyogo, Tottorii and further south with Kyushu and Shikoku. These areas are accessible from the major cities like Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe.

Even though these areas seem further south, they still receive a lot of snow and popular with Japanese skiers and riders. Notable resorts include Takasu, Skijam, Hyperbowl, Hachi Kogen and Okubuki.