On skiing in Japan - http://www.skijapanguide.com/

They have some "For Families" reviews in their recommendations sections.

Zaos big indoor ski dome (rhymes with Taos, New Mexico, USA, also known as a ski area)

Located on the Keiyo Line our of Tokyo Station (actually closer to the International Forum building and same line as the one you take to Disneyland) at Minami Funabashi Station. It takes about 35 minutes from Tokyo Station. The express train stops there, and then it is a few minutes walk. You can rent equipment, including ski wear.

Just so happens there is a real mountain called Zaos (or Zao-zan) a bit west of the city of Sendai in Miyagi. If you can manage it, the ski resorts around Sendai are pretty darn good.
ie. Miyagi Zao Eboshi Ski Resort (pop this into Google.com and you'll find out more)
Mt. Zao happens to peak in Yamagata prefecture but has a foot in Miyage prefecture.

Here is someone's ski diary and with pictures:
http://utopia8.hp.infoseek.co.jp/skidaiary2001.html

From writer of Utopia ski-diary writer (in response to my email):

Actually we can access skiing ground information around Sendai only written in Japanese. We have two big ski resorts in Miyagi prefacture. One is Eboshi that is about one hour from Sendai (by car). Eboshi is located by hotspring town Togatta. There are a lot of small inn and pension house.
Tel: 0224-34-4001
http://www.eboshi.co.jp/

Another one is Onikoube which is about three or four hour to go from Sendai. Onikoube is really resort place and there are nothing other than skiing ground. But good and quiet place.
Tel: 0229-86-2111
http://www.resortpark-onikoube.com/

The indoor ski dome is called SAWS for Summer Autumn Winter Spring, but I heard they were closing down in September.

Gosh, I wonder how I got Zaos out of SAWS ! Actually must have been that accent !
I only found one thing about SAWS when I did a search (in English)

Nathalie, Have you got a phone number for them so I can find out when they are closing down exactly? I mean, are they already closed?
_________________
ski club "canned peace" welcomes new members!
As an affiliation with Ski Association of Tokyo, CANNED PEACE , with registered membership of thirty, is enjoying skiing in every kind of style, such as to improve your basic skill of alpine skiing, to challenge in slalom & GSL races, and of course, to just enjoy skiing with Onsen or hot spring.

Our authorized instructors lead you, from beginners to experts, to the most contemporary carving-ski skills.
CANNED PEACE never quits skiing in seasons other than winter. April and May are the best time for spring skiing in Niigata, Nagano area. June and July? No problem, Mt.Gassan in Yamagata-pref. offers you a fun of full-scaled mountain skiing with a 1000-meter chair lift. What to do next ? OK, it's time for SAWS indoor skiground in Chiba-pref.
Come and join the most freaky ski club, CANNED PEACE.
check 2002-2003 schedule here: http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~skifreak/contents7.html (Japanese and English)
Admission fee Y5000
Annual Membership Dues Y5000
Club information would be delivered by E-mail .
For further information and inquiry, feel free to contact thomas@mtd.biglobe.ne.jp

I've just checked their website :
http://www.ssaws.com/
Looks like they closed on September 30th.

Beltop Travel Service tel: 03-3211-6555 fax: 03-3211-3775
email - ski@beltop.com
http://www.beltop.com
does ski packages to Sapporo from Haneda airport. They have staff that speaks English, Japanese, French and Dutch.

Right now for example a mid week departure one night and 2 days is as low as Y19,800 staying at a downtown Sapporo hotel such as: Keio Plaza, Sapporo Grand or Sapporo Renaissance. But that package does not include transport to the ski resort or lift tickets. two nights/3 days can be as low as Y22,000. (This could be a great way to visit Sapporo even if you are not interested in skiing!)

There are variations (with meals, with transport and lift tickets and so on) as well as weekend packages, and of course price depends on single or double occupancy.

It's only a 90 minute flight from Haneda!

There's a new indoor ski slope somehow connected to Seibu Department Store which apparently opened on 25 October this year. Does anyone know about it or can find out?

The old Saws slope building is going to be an IKEA store. That should be interesting!

What is spring skiing (early April)like in the resorts near Nagano/Nigata in terms of snow quality (slushy? icy?) and weather (rain? snow/)

note from Admin: varies from year to year, but "Spring" by definition is more dangerous skiing (more injuries)

Going for a ski trip in Naeba:
I am planning to go for a ski trip with my 5 year old and 2.9 year old boys in Japan. This is first time, i am planning ski trip. I have some questions.

1. What are the items i should buy in Tokyo itself ?
2. What are the items best rented at the ski resort.

Plus any another advice you might think necessary! Thanks in advance,

Boots and skis are best rented at the resort. There's no point buying them unless you are skiing regularly, and even then, children grow out of expensive equipment so fast... The only problem is crowds of people at the rental desk wanting to get equipment first thing in the morning, but if you are staying in the hotel itself, you may be able to keep the same equipment for several days and avoid the wait.

Ski clothes can often but not always be rented at the resort - you should check in advance if you think you want to rent. My view is that you are usually better off buying or borrowing ski clothes if you are going to be skiing for more than two or three days, because the amount they charge for rental can easily add up to the cost of a cheap ski suit over a few days. Sometimes you can get a better deal on ski wear rental as part of a package with lift pass/skis/boots or accommodation, but you will need to check with the resort.

This time of year if you look around in second-hand/recycle shops or flea markets you can often get children's ski wear for a good price, or for discount new stuff, try the sports shops around the Jinbocho/Ochanomizu area in Tokyo, or discount chain stores like Olympic or Daiei. Even better if you can borrow ski wear from friends.

You will definitely need to take your own hats, gloves and goggles or sunglasses, as these are not included in ski wear rental. Don't forget sun screen too.

About Naeba - it's a big resort, the hotel is a bit of a maze with very poor signposting, but it has a good choice of restaurants and so on. There is a great snow play area for kids (toboggan carousel, escalator for a toboggan run, play houses etc). Your five-year-old will be old enough for children's ski school, but the two year old will not - they usually start at age 4. Of course if you are confident enough to teach them yourself, you can start at any age. Naeba does have a childcare room, which we used once last year, and it seemed fine. We went back late in the season when the childcare room had stopped operating, and my daughter got very upset that she couldn't go and play there, so I guess she must have enjoyed it the first time. You need to book childcare in advance. I doubt that they speak much English.

Here's the web site for Seibu Recreational stuff (all in Japanese) and it has the info on the indoor ski slope they opened in 2003. http://www.seibu-group.co.jp/rec/

Specifically Sayama Ski and Snowboard at http://www.seibu-group.co.jp/rec/sayama/index.html

The best site is
http://www.snowjapan.com/e/index.php
If you can't find the answers there you probably won't find them anywhere.

Teine Olympia
Easy day trip from Sapporo.
Read more here: http://www.kouiki.chuo.sapporo.jp/foreign-language/
english/004_experience/012/fr_r_exp_012.html
Official site (in Japanese) has great pictures: http://www.sapporo-teine.com/snow/index.html

"Try the cheaper and more convenient alternative from the clever folks at Japan Railway: the combination Skip Ticket ("Ski" plus "trip" -- get it?). This includes the train from JR Sapporo Station to JR Teine Station, the bus onward to the resort, and lift passes. Skip Tickets are 2,660 yen (1,860 yen for kids) for four hours of daytime skiing and 2,450 yen (1,950 yen for kids) for night skiing. Teine Olympia's day-skiing hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and national holidays, and 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on all other days. Night skiing goes from 4 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and from 4 to 9 p.m. on all other days.
To get there, take the Otaru-bound train from JR Sapporo Station (260 yen), transfer at JR Teine Station for JR Bus #70 from Gate 3 (360 yen), and get off at Teine Olympia Mae. If you miss this stop, you'll end up at Teine Highland, so listen carefully or ask a fellow passenger to cue you. Skip Tickets, available at JR Sapporo Station, follow the same itinerary. The trip takes less than forty-five minutes."

Other English language sites:
www.snowbedstravel.com/home (Hakuba, west of Nagano, 350kms from Tokyo. 14 ski areas interconnected)
www.welovesnow.com (train to: Echigoyuzawa and Galayuzawa area with about 20 resorts, some are interconnected. About an hour by shinkansen from Tokyo)

Gala Yuzawa resort is owned by JR, and gets ridiculously crowded on weekends. Good gentle beginner slopes. Tow hour group ski lessons at 10:00 and at 13:00 (in Japanese only). Day trip very easy. But not so cheap. Try one of the other 19 resorts. Lower prices, less croweded. i.e. Kandatsu has a nicer onsen, cheaper food options, etc.

There is plenty of snow at Yuzawa town and area this year. I predict there will be skiing into May.

Hi we live in Tokyo and would like to take the kids (2&3years) up to see the snow, looking for one of the closest ski fields to Tokyo. Would it be better to take the kids in the car or on a train? If we went for the weekend any toddler friendly hotels or ski hostels you can recommend.