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WINTER IN JAPAN
You’ve seen the skyline. Now see where it leads
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Winter is when Japan slows down and reveals its calm heart. Mountains turn white, hot springs billow with steam, and the rhythm of travel shifts from rush to ritual. In the north, powder snow falls so fine it squeaks beneath your boots; in the cities, light festivals glow against the dark.
The same Zen gardens, but emptied of tourists and dusted with snow — Kyoto at its purest. But beyond the tourist hot spots there's a vast winter wonderland to dsicover.
It’s the best season for onsen, sinking into mineral-rich pools as snow drifts past, and for food that comforts from within: crab, nabe hotpots, and the first sweet strawberries. Whether you’re skiing in Hokkaido, wandering Kyoto’s frost-dusted temples, or soaking in a cedar bath under a cold moon, Japan in winter feels distilled: beauty, peace, and warmth, all in balance.
See Nikko’s shrines dusted with snow
Gold leaf and white pine, a temple complex transformed
Follow the winter lights in Nabana no Sato
Millions of LEDs shimmer across fields and tunnels of light. Japan’s grandest illumination, glowing against the frost
Ride the Tadami Line through snow country
A slow train gliding through white valleys and frozen rivers
Sleep in a frozen suite carved from ice at Tomamu, Hokkaido
drink whisky from ice glasses, and wake to steam rising over a white forest
Toast the fire gods with warm sake in Nozawa Onsen
sip hot atsukan brewed from mountain meltwater as torches blaze
Chase powder in Japan's frozen north
Japan’s famous Japow lives up to the legend — waist-deep, soft, and waiting just beyond the torii gates
Feast on Matsuba snow crab nabe in Kinosaki Onsen
A steaming hotpot of winter sweetness, a delicay from the Sea of Japan, best shared in yukata after a day wandering the canals
Stay at Taiyōji Temple in the mountains of Saitama
Reachable only by forest path, this remote Zen temple offers a true winter retreat of meditation, vegetarian meals, and the silence of falling snow
Meet the snow monsters of Zao Onsen
Ski or snowshoe between frozen trees transformed into ghostly white giants
Taste winter’s purity at Hakushu’s forest distillery
Hike through silent pines, then sip whisky made from the snowmelt of the mountains
Dine in a kamakura snow dome, Niigata Prefecture
Step inside a glowing igloo where sake is poured from icicle flasks as the hot pot simmers
Walk the winter marshes of Tsurui at dawn
where red-crowned cranes perform their aerial courtship, Japan’s most poetic wild spectacle
If you want to travel Japan the way winter travellers do, I can guide you from powder slopes and snowbound temples to steaming mountain onsen
Book a 30-minute consultation and let’s beginSubscribe to our newsletter
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