Kagura (Mitsumata / Tashiro / Kagura)かぐらスキー場

Kagura is three linked areas — Mitsumata, Tashiro and Kagura proper — climbing the flank of the great Mt Naeba massif, and its trump card is altitude. High enough to open in November and hold snow into May, it runs one of the longest lift-served seasons in the country, with wide, open upper snowfields that catch light Echigo powder.

It has become a spiritual home for Japan's backcountry scene. Above the top lifts, managed gates open onto genuine off-piste and touring terrain, and on a good day the ridgelines fill with split-boards and touring skis heading for untracked snow. Down low, the pistes are gentle and the trees are friendly — Kagura works for everyone, in both directions.

It's also the quiet back door to Naeba: ride the Dragondola, Japan's longest gondola at over five kilometres, and you cross the mountain to Naeba on one ticket. There's no onsen town at the base, just mountain stations and lodges — this is a resort you come to for the snow and the season, not the scene. Chase the long winter here.