Forget Niseko! Aomori Spring Is Japan’s Coolest Ski Resort 🇯🇵
Planning a Japan ski trip? In this video we travel to Aomori Spring & Rockwood Hotel, one of the most underrated ski resorts in Japan — and maybe the best alternative to Niseko. 🇯🇵
Located in northern Japan near Aomori, this hidden powder paradise offers deep snow, almost no crowds, authentic Japanese culture, incredible onsens, and a completely different experience from the busy international ski resorts most tourists visit.
We stayed at Rockwood Hotel inside Aomori Spring Resort and experienced:
❄️ Deep Japanese powder snow
♨️ Traditional Japanese onsen culture
🍣 Massive Japanese breakfast & dinner buffets
🎿 Ski-in ski-out access
🏔 Stunning views of Mt. Iwaki and the Sea of Japan
🇯🇵 A more authentic side of Japanese skiing
If you’re searching for:
best ski resorts in Japan
Niseko alternatives
Japan powder skiing
hidden ski resorts in Japan
Aomori Spring review
Rockwood Hotel review
authentic Japan travel experiences
…this video is for you.
9 Comments
If you fly from Tokyo it’s half the price of the train. The taxi to the resort costs more than the airfare. It’s quicker than the train also.
Japanese gelatin is made from seaweed. Most places will look at you like you are from Mars if you ask for vegetarian food so it is nice that they accommodated you. I live in Sapporo but thirty five years ago I used to commute to Hirosaki to work on oceanography projects at the university there. When I looked out at Iwakizan I told everyone I wanted to climb and ski it. They were aghast and said no, that is impossible. Anyway, Hirosaki is one of the most beautiful places on earth and they have amazing music there. Tsugaru shamisen is like free form improvisational jazz and really mind blowing. There is a family of musicians who own a famous bar there that all the American Jazz greats have been to and signed the walls and the family consists of generations of virtuoso shamisen players. After all these years I have not been back and I missed this ski season with back surgery. But my friend who is a Japanese mountain guide just took a group of clients there and I told him next year I want to go. A group of Canadian friends who skied with me in Hokkaido last year went to Aomori Springs this winter and said it was their favorite place in Japan so far.
good info, thanks!
so glad to see regular people doing vlogs about their trips, so fed up with those effusive influencers.
The gelatinous dish we had for dinner is called chawanmushi. It’s made from eggs and dashi broth. It’s a classic Japanese dish that is most commonly eaten during the winter season.
Nice. My apartment in Kurobe has a ski field behind it…..luckily only the locals know! Too many places in Japan…..Hakuba, Niseko are way too crowded and very expensive, so finding a quiet place to enjoy JaPOW is priceless!
日本旅行を楽しんでもらえて良かったです！日本🇯🇵から
Many Americans are mistaken, but in Japan, people don't put their hands together when greeting each other. That custom is more common in devout Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia.
Great review, thanks! Ps there is no downside to a helmet in the trees
I ski'd Aomori Spring this January. My 3rd trip there. I've ski'd 29 resorts in Japan. This is my favourite , for a number of reasons. Number one reason being … it's the opposite of overhyped , overcrowded Niseko and Hakuba. I Stay in Hirosaki and drive to Aomori and other resorts nearby. Glad you liked it , but sad you are telling people about it.