13 Best Things to Do in Hakuba When You’re Not Skiing

by David McElhinney | TRAVEL

© Tsugaike Kogen Ski Resort, Tsugaike Nature Park

Host of the 1998 Winter Olympics, Hakuba is one of the most popular ski resorts in Japan and a major tourist destination for domestic and foreign travelers in the winter months. That said, beyond the fresh powder and pisted slopes there are many other reasons to travel to this diverse region of Nagano Prefecture.

From pristine golf clubs and innovative museums to wildlife sanctuaries and local breweries, here are 13 things to do in Hakuba when you’re not skiing.

You can also check out 10 Essential Tips to Plan Your Japan Ski Trip for more helpful advice before you arrive; and if you’re considering including the northern resort town of Niseko, then take a look at the Best Things to Do in Niseko Off the Slopes!

Half-Day Activities

1. Oide Park

Oide Park is the posterchild of nature in Hakuba. Brooded over by the Northern Alps, the park runs alongside the Hime River and is populated by groves of cherry trees, thatched-roof houses and an imposing suspension bridge that culminates in a small village. The landscape shifts with the seasons, with spring being a popular time of year to settle under a weeping cherry blossom and tuck into a lunch of green tea, onigiri (rice balls) and okashi (Japanese sweets).

2. Tanimura Art Museum

An hour drive from Hakuba, you’ll find the Tanimura Art Museum on Niigata Prefecture’s Jade Coast. Built in the style of an old stone fortification, designer Murano Togo was inspired by the motifs of the silk road deserts. Inside you’ll find works by Japan’s greatest wood sculptor, Sawada Seiko, and cavernous spaces that emphasize the museum’s sense of isolation and solitude. Gyokusuien, a Japanese style landscape garden that opened in 1981, rubs shoulders with the museum – you can admire this from the museum’s glass-walled viewing rooms.

3. Myoko Kogen Golf Club

Sitting in view of Mt. Myoko’s snow-dusted summit and framed by dense forests, Myoko Kogen Golf Club is a great course to crack out 18 holes when the snow thaws. Golf cart rental is included in the price of a round, while wide open fairways accommodate miscues off the tee box – both USPs for novices. The clubhouse also offers lunch and a space for post-round tipples, and if you want to stay nearby, most accommodations feature onsen for resting weary muscles in soothing spring water.

4. Taiko Drumming in Otari

The thumping sound of taiko drums symbolizes one of Japan’s great musical traditions. In the small highland village of Otari on the ancient Salt Road trading route, the Otari Daiko Performers troupe puts on frequent live drumming shows, with opportunities for guests to get involved in the action. Taiko hits peak intensity during the three-day Salt Road Festival in spring, where you can dress up in Edo-period attire while parades of dancers and percussionists enliven the mountain valley passes.

5. Snowpeak Landstation

© Tourism Commission of Hakuba Village, Snow Peak Land Station

Designed by Japan’s master of wooden architectural facades, Kengo Kuma, the Snow Peak Land Station in Hakuba is a go-to spot for an afternoon of R&R. Grab a coffee and take a seat under the interlocking wooden eaves – whose design was inspired by snowflakes – or picnic under canopies while taking in the vast Northern Alps. The outdoor space hosts various events throughout the year, from cooking classes and markets to the Hakbua Jazz Festival.

6. Onsen at Hakuba Highland Hotel

The Hakuba Highland Hotel may look prosaic from the outside, but its isolated location within a bowl of alpine peaks sets the stage for scenic onsen bathing. The rotenburo (outdoor baths) are positioned in view of Mt. Goryu to the south and Tsugaike Kogen ski slopes to the north, with a landscape that shifts drastically as the snow melts and the highland flowers and spring verdure start to bloom.

7. Tsugaike Nature Garden

Tsugaike Nature Park, a protected nature reserve spanning 100 hectares of sub-alpine terrain, is another great place to experience the Nagano outdoors. Trudge through snowy wilderness in the winter, listen to the sounds of new life chirruping in the forests each spring, go flower watching in the verdant summer (keep an eye out for the orange daylilies and purple irises), or admire the autumnal hues rolling across the hillsides in fall. With 6 kilometers of designated walking trails, there’s plenty to occupy you during a half-day of exploration.

Full-Day Activities:

8. Take a Day Trip to Nagano City

The prefectural capital, Nagano City, is an hour’s drive from Hakuba and has plenty of diversions to keep travelers occupied on a day of sightseeing. Part of the Mistuboshi Kadio, or Three-Star Road, which connects five Michelin three-star sites from the Japan Green Guide, Nagano is perhaps best known as the home of Zenko-ji Temple. Surmounting a hill at the top of the city, this grand 7th century Buddhist temple, connected to the city by flagstone streets and a grand daimon (main gate), is one of the most important religious monuments in Japan. At nearby restaurant Fuchonobo you can sample shojin ryori (vegan monk cuisine), before learning about the ninja tradition at Ninpo Museum, experiencing the prefecture’s artistic prowess at the Shinano Art Museum, and visiting various sites commemorating the 1998 Winter Olympics.

9. Cycle Around Azumino Town

An hour south of Hakuba, you’ll find Azumino, a town best known for its sprawling wasabi farms that also lends itself to a day on two wheels. Shinano-an bike shop offers day rentals near the main station; grab a bicycle and explore the quiet valley environs at your own pace. Daio Wasabi Farm is open to visitors and serves ice cream flavored with fresh wasabi root. Hotaka Shrine, presided over by spiritual cedar trees and home to wild chickens, merits a visit too. There’s also a footbath in Azumino’s upper reaches which offers great views of the town below – the perfect relaxation spot to punctuate your visit. If you’d prefer to travel on foot, you can hike the 933-meter Mt. Nagamine, a favorite spot of one of Japan’s greatest novelists and aesthetes, Yasunari Kawabata.

10. Azumino Art Line

© Qurren / Creative Commons, Takahashi Setsuro Art Museum

Another way to explore Azumino and its surouding areas is via the Azumino Art Line, a series of 18 museums spread across the foot of the Northern Alps. To explore all 18 in their entirety could take days and trying to complete the course in 24 hours would be doing both yourself and the museums a disservice. Instead opt for a trio of the Art Line’s highlights: the Takahashi Setsuro Art Museum, dedicated to the eponymous lacquerware artisan; the Rokuzan Art Museum, featuring stone sculptures displayed in a dilapidated church building; and the Northern Alps Viewing Museum of Art, which houses vibrant landscape paintings to pair with scintillating views from the museum’s gardens.

11. Indulge in Hakuba’s Craft Beer Scene

Partly influenced by its growing foreign population, Hakuba has become a heartland of Japan’s vibrant craft beer scene. If your liver is up to the task, you could easily spend a full day sampling brewhouses throughout the resort, including the rotating craft menu at Hakuba Brew Pub, the Hakuba Panorama Hotel’s Baird Beer Taproom, or local beers from Hakuba Brewing Company. The brewing company’s roster is inspired by Hakuba’s abundant nature and features a Hakuba Pale, Hakuba Black, Hakuba IPA, Hakuba Amber and Hakuba Session IPA, catering to beer drinkers of various inclinations.

12. See the Snow Monkeys at Jigokudani

© Azkin / Creative Commons, Enjoying the Hot Springs

Featured on critically acclaimed nature documentaries, including 2022’s Frozen Planet II, the snow monkeys who bathe in the hot springs of Jigokudani, translated as “Hell’s Valley”, are one of the main draws to Nagano Prefecture. Take a day trip to here from Hakuba (approximately 90 minutes by car each way) and get up close to the incredibly human-like, red-faced monkeys who lounge in the onsen like salarymen after a hard day’s work. The monkeys do appear year-round, though winter is the prime time to catch them in great numbers.

13. Explore Matsumoto

Perhaps one of Japan’s most underrated cities, Matsumoto is encircled by toothy peaks, hosts one of the country’s most impressive castles, and is home to the living legend that is Yayoi Kusama. 17th-century Matsumoto Castle should be your first port of call, where the architecture simultaneously symbolizes Japan’s feudal eras of war and peace. Its stone fortifications, surrounding moat and archers perches were constructed to withstand siege, while its moon viewing room was added later for the local lord and his retinues to appreciate Matsumoto’s natural surroundings. Make sure to check out the Matsumoto City Museum of Art while you’re here, an ode to local pop art trailblazer Kusama and her psychedelic creations.

How to get to Hakuba

© Petra Bensted / Creative Commons, Hakuba

Hakuba is located deep in the mountains (take a look on Google Maps), so the best way to get there is probably by train. The bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano takes about 90 minutes. Then you’ll need to change to a local train to Hakuba station for a further 70 minutes.

Do you have any suggestions of things to do in and around Hakuba? Let us know in the comments below!