Kiroro

The praise is for snow above all: Kiroro piles up one of Hokkaido's biggest seasonal totals, and reviewers agree there is more dry powder than anyone can ski. The tree runs are singled out as some of the best in Japan, and the touring terrain reachable straight from the lifts is reason enough for a trip. Lift infrastructure is called modern and the lines short, since Kiroro sits in the shadow of Niseko and Rusutsu.

Criticism lands on size: the pisted terrain runs out after four or five days. There is no real village and evenings are quiet. Costs come up repeatedly, with on-mountain food and rentals noticeably steeper than at smaller Japanese areas. Storms bring wind holds that shut the gondola and the upper chairs, so a tree-skiing fallback is worth planning. And as slopeside beds multiply, lift-served powder gets tracked out within hours on weekends.