We arrived at Narita airport around 6pm and the first thing we had to navigate was the new customs procedures and passport control. The new system involves the entry cards being pre filled out online and then this produces a QR code to scan. I don’t think this system made entry to Japan any easier or quicker as there was still long queues and in the end we still scanned our QR code and showed our passport at 3 different points. Once through customs we grabbed our luggage, some cash from the ATM, and our train tickets to get into Tokyo.

We stayed in Tokyo near Ueno Station for the first night at a little hotel called Mimaru, which turned out to be a good size for a family with a double bed, a set of bunks for the girls and a kitchenette.

The next morning we headed to Ueno Station nice and early to catch the Shinkansen to Nagano where we would pick up a car for the next few days. However after getting some food and making a toilet stop we almost missed the train. I got stuck with the big suitcase on a very long escalator and Amy and the girls were bolting off into the distance. I got down as fast as I could, sprinted down the next set of stairs across the platform and jumped through the train door just as it was about to leave. We then had to work out which car we were in and make our way through 6 carriages to find our seats. It turns out to be the correct train and we make it to Nagano.

At Nagano we had to walk to the car rental place whilst it was snowing, and of course google took us to the wrong one. We eventually found the correct place and crammed all our things into the super compact car.

Before heading to Hakuba where we would be skiing for 3 days we drove up to see the snow monkeys. This is a bit of a must do when heading out to this area to ski, but we had never seen them before. Turns out it was well worthwhile, a very pretty walk through the forest for about 30mins and you come to this hot spring with dozens of the famous snow monkeys bathing in it. There was also dozens of tourists trying to take photos.

Our accommodation in Hakuba turned out to be this nice little lodge, run by a weird group of people mostly from Australia, whom for the most part did not want to be there. The food was pretty good, it was close to the snow which was important and it did the job, once we had worked out the heating.

We skied for 2 days at Happo-One and for the third day we tried a mountain 15 mins away called Tsugaike, which turned out to be better than Happo. The only problem with both ski areas was the ice layer under the snow from a recent warm spell, which made conditions very challenging especially for Ella as she was learning to Snowboard. Any stacks were very painful, as the ground was rock hard. Each time you made a turn you weren’t sure if you would turn or just hit an ice patch and skid for another 5m. This was the case on all the runs including the red and black runs. We all finished our 3 days at Hakuba a little battered and bruised. The next morning we return the rental car and catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo.