Hello Reddit! I'm traveling to Japan with my brother and my best friend in March. It's my friend's and my 4th trip to Japan, and my brother's first one. Both of them have never played in snow so we were planning on going to Yuzawa (we were planning on buying a 3-day JR pass for it too). But the accommodations we're seeing are either too expensive for us or booked. So instead we're looking at staying around Tokamachi City (Which is a big bonus for me because I'm a big fan of the Library Wars series and the movie was set in that library!).
There are more affordable accommodation options for us in Tokamachi but we're just not sure if there are any snow parks in that area. Google Maps don't show a lot and the ones that do pop out are farther away. We're not planning on driving/renting a car so everything will have to be accessible by bus or train.
We probably won't ski either, just need a place where 3 adults can rent snow wear and play around in the snow. lol.
Here's what the 3-day itinerary looks like now:
Day 1:
NRT –> Tokyo Sta–> shinkansen to Echigo Yuzawa –>Tokamachi City
Day 2:
Explore Tokamachi City or Yuzawa
Day 3:
Sake Tasting and Brewery tour in Yuzawa
Echigo Yuzawa –> Jomokogen to go through the (hopefully more scenic Joetsu Line)
Please let me know if you have tips and information you can give me. We're open to staying somewhere outside Yuzawa if you have any information. Thank you!
PS. Is the Joetsu line to reach Jomokogen (not the Shinkansen line) more scenic than the Shinkansen line? Is it worth the longer trip? or should we just pass up on that?
by Ecstatic_Cat754