Japan

Food and Drink · Japan · Updated 2026 · 8 min read Nozawa Onsen is a small mountain village in Nagano, better known for its snow and hot springs than its coffee. That is changing fast. A wave of Australian and New Zealand skiers has brought a serious cafe culture to the village over the

Updated 2026 · Nozawa Onsen, Japan · Estimated read: 13 min Every winter, a wave of young travellers arrives in the mountains of Nagano to work. They pour beers, teach skiing, run lifts, and clean lodges. In return they get a season on one of Japan’s best mountains. Working a ski season in Nozawa Onsen

Updated 2026 · Nozawa Onsen, Japan · Estimated read: 18 min For most people who make the trip, Nozawa Onsen skiing is the whole reason to come. The hot spring village at its feet is one of the finest in Japan, but the mountain is what fills the flights. It is one of the country’s

Where to Stay · Nagano, Japan · Updated 2026 · 13 min read Nozawa Onsen is not a ski resort with a village attached. It is a village that happens to have a mountain rising out of the back of it. That difference shapes everything, including where you sleep. Working out where to stay in

Updated 2026 · Nozawa Onsen, Japan · Estimated read: 16 min Some places are built for visitors. Nozawa Onsen was not. It is a working hot spring village in the mountains of northern Nagano, more than a thousand years old, where the baths are cleaned in rotation by the households of each neighbourhood and the