Hokkaido
Hokkaido is your best bet right now, full stop. Asahidake is doing what it always does in late April, which is quietly keeping the season alive while everywhere else packs up. Being a volcano, it holds snow longer than anything else on the island and this year's no different. If you're up there this weekend, expect firm groomers in the morning softening to nice spring corn by midday. Take the ropeway, lap what you can before noon, then call it. That's the play.
Furano is likely wrapping up operations any day now if it hasn't already. Worth checking their socials before you book anything. Niseko United is done for the 2025/26 season, as is Rusutsu and Kiroro. That's the reality of a mid-April Hokkaido trip, you're down to the diehards.
Kurodake in Daisetsuzan is another one to keep an eye on. It runs through to early May on a good year and the snowpack in the national park has been solid this season. If you're happy riding lifts through a quiet, no-frills alpine area with zero crowds, Kurodake is genuinely special right now.
Tohoku
Zao Onsen in Yamagata deserves a mention here because it consistently hangs on into late April and sometimes May. The upper mountain still has decent coverage and the onsen town at the base makes any trip there worthwhile even if the skiing goes patchy. Hakkoda is another one that earns its place in April, the backcountry access from the ropeway keeps the more adventurous skiers coming back well past when the groomers lose their shine.
Gassan is the one to circle for the coming weeks. It doesn't even open until late April and then runs through July. Yes, July. It's a spring skiing institution in Japan and if you haven't been, put it on the list for next season. Snow depths up there are still being assessed but early signs suggest a reasonable base for opening.
Nagano
Hakuba is closed. All of it. Happo-One, Goryu, 47, Cortina, the lot. The lifts stopped turning a few weeks back and the village is in that in-between phase where the snow's mostly gone from town but the peaks are still white. It looks great from a distance. Don't be fooled into thinking anything's operating.
Shiga Kogen has also wrapped. Same story. Nozawa Onsen called it a season in late March. If you're in the area, the onsens are still running obviously, but you're not skiing anywhere in Nagano this weekend.
That said, now is actually a decent time to start paying attention to what's changing at these resorts ahead of next season. Hakuba's been busy off-season with infrastructure work at a couple of the smaller areas. Keep an eye out for announcements in the coming months.
Niigata
Kagura and Mitsumata are worth checking. Kagura in particular has a reputation for staying open into May and sometimes June on the upper mountain, relying on snowpack rather than snowmaking. It's patchy and the lower runs are gone, but if you're chasing the very last turns of the season in Honshu, this is where you'd go. Spring corn skiing on a bluebird April day up there is genuinely good fun, just temper your expectations on terrain variety.
Gala Yuzawa, being Shinkansen-accessible and heavily groomed, is almost certainly done. It's a resort built for winter convenience and April corn skiing isn't really its thing. Naeba same deal.
What to Think About for Next Season
Look, most of Japan is in off-season mode now and that's fine. This is actually a useful time to sort out a few things. If you're planning a Japan trip for the 2026/27 season, the Japan Rail Pass situation has stabilised after last year's price changes, so start mapping out your transport now rather than scrambling in November. Hakuba accommodation books out fast, particularly for late January and February. Some places start taking bookings from May onwards.
Ski Japan Holidays and a few of the other Aussie-focused operators usually drop their early bird deals around May and June. Worth subscribing to their newsletters if you haven't already. Powder-chasing trips to Hokkaido especially fill up quickly once the deals go live.
One more thing. There's been a lot of chat lately about the Yen and whether it's going to stay favourable for Australian travellers. No one really knows, but if you can lock in accommodation early at current rates, it's probably worth doing. Japan's been great value for Australians over the past couple of seasons and that's made a real difference to how many of us have been able to get over there.
Back here next week with more off-season updates and anything worth flagging from the resort news cycle. Asahidake and Kurodake conditions will be the main watch points for the next few weekends.