Table of contents
Culture and History / Travel to Yuzawa, visa requirements / By train / Get around / Yuzawa attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Shopping, Yuzawa souvenirs / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Yuzawa nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Hotels, youth hostels, lodging / Get outYuzawa (湯沢) * [1] is in Niigata prefecture, in the central Chubu region of the main Japanese island Honshu.
Culture and History
The canonical backwoods hot spring and skiing resort, Nobel prize winner Yasunari Kawabata's classic novel Snow Country (雪国 Yukiguni, see box) takes place in Yuzawa. Or so the Yuzawans claim; to be quite strict, the novel never mentions the name of its setting, but Kawabata wrote the novel while staying in Yuzawa so perhaps it's not too big a leap to make.
Travel to Yuzawa - Visa Requirements
By train
Yuzawa is easily reached via the Echigo-Yuzawa (越後湯沢) station of the Joetsu Shinkansen line. Trains run 2-4 times per hour from Tokyo station, taking 75-90 minutes at a cost of ¥6490 (no cost with the Japan Rail Pass). Toki trains generally make fewer stops and continue on to Niigata, while Tanigawa trains terminate at Echigo-Yuzawa after stopping at all stations on the route.
In the wintertime, most Tanigawa trains continue on to the Gala Yuzawa ski resort (see Do).
Tours and Getting around Yuzawa
Yuzawa tourist attractions and sightseeing
Yuzawa city tours
- Gala Yuzawa (ガーラ湯沢), tel. 025-785-6543, [2]. Gala Yuwaza is a ski resort with 15 runs and nine lifts, but Gala's main attraction is convenience. Gala Yuwaza is also a Shinkansen stop 1 hour 35 minutes from Tokyo. In the station, you can buy a lift ticket and rent ski equipment. From there, take a gondola ride up to the ski area. Gala Yuwaza has a respectable dining area and a spa (Onsen & unisex swimming pool, so take your bathing suit) for soaking after skiing. One-day lift ticket, ¥4500 adults/¥2100 children; one-day ski and boot rental, ¥4500 adults/¥1500 children. JR East actively promotes Gala Yuzawa; look for packages which include round-trip Shinkansen from Tokyo, lift ticket and equipment rental discounts for about the price of the train ticket alone.
- Ishiuchi is a ski resort area adjacent to Echigo-Yuzawa, easily accessible by Shinkansen (Bullet Train) from Tokyo.
Yuzawa souvenirs and shopping
Yuzawa Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive
- There is a great food court at the base station of the central ski resort. Lunch at Yuzawa Gogen is one of the good choice. Taking the Ropeway at Yen 1200.
Yuzawa nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs
Yuzawa cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging
Japan's only fully foreign owned and operated Austrian-style ski lodge, STI Ski Lodge in Isiuchi
Get out
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