Nozawa Onsen

Snow heads the praise: the seasonal average tops ten metres, and going off-piste is allowed - nobody takes your pass away for it. The terrain earns credit for mixing pitch, tree lines and wave-shaped gullies, while gentle greens lower down suit families and beginners. The village itself, with its working public onsens, is the other prize. Regulars share a tactic: at exactly noon the Japanese go in to eat and the runs clear for about an hour.

Crowding draws complaints: Nagano and other cities are close and weekends fill up. Prices are among the highest in the country, and advanced skiers say there is not enough for them. The lifts take the heaviest criticism: 1970s double chairs, slow, sometimes without safety bars, several no longer running, none with hoods or heating. In thirty years the only real investment was the Nagasaka gondola, whose morning queue reaches a quarter of an hour.