Japan Snow Report, Jan 22nd 2026

Hi, Reg Ailes in Hakuba with the Mountain Watch Snow Report for Thursday, Jan 22nd, with thanks to XTM Performance. Well, it's great to be back here in Japan. Timed it well. We saw snow come through last night here in Hakuba, 10 centimetres down the base, 20 centimetres up high. Now, this storm that did come through hit Hokkaido earlier in the week. We see massive totals up at Nisako with 83 centimetres over four days, and you can see how good it looks from that footage, courtesy of the Sea and Summit Collective. We saw snow on Tuesday in Miyoko. Massive dump there last night when the storm hit, with 30 to 40 centimetres down low, more up high. Now, if you've read the grasshopper's forecast today, you'll know this snow is going to continue over the next three or four days. Could see it ramping up across central Honshu on the weekend. This stage of models showing around about 40 to 50 centimetres, and possibly up to one metre in some areas. We'll see consistent snowfalls again up in Nisako and also central Hokkaido. Won't see those totals, but no doubt it'll be very healthy. Of course, been up and down season. We saw not a lot of snow in December, but the base down low here in Hakuba is building and we do need it. Plenty of snow up high. Got an average base of around about a metre and a half, and that's the story across most resorts in central Honshu. Now, this snowstorm is going to turn things around. I will definitely see the snow levels hit above average, and the good news is it looks like another storm coming through on Tuesday into Wednesday, which will set things up nicely. But overall, well, it's been pretty good here in Japan, and it's only going to get better. This has been Reggie Ellis in Hakuba for XTM Performance.