Shiga Highlands

Shiga Highlands (志賀高原, Shiga-kōgen) is a ski resort and hiking spot, located in the Jōshin'etsu-kōgen National Park in the highlands of Yamanouchi, Nagano, Japan. In 1980, an area of 13,000 ha was designated a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve.

Ski resort

At 4.25 square kilometres (1.64 sq mi), Shiga-kōgen is one of the largest ski resorts in Japan and the world. The resort is made up of many smaller, interconnected resorts, with 71 lifts in total. A few areas were restricted to skiers only (the Okushigakogen and Yokoteyama resorts), but starting in winter 2015-16 all of Shiga-kōgen will be open to skiers and snowboarders. There will still be a couple of lifts at Yokoteyam that will only be for skiers.

The resort was the site of several events in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. There are more than 100 hotels in the area, with both Japanese style or washitsu (和室), Western style or semi-Japanese style rooms.

Ski season

Shiga-kōgen has one of the longest ski seasons in Japan with the official ski season commencing from mid-to-late November and continuing throughout April and until the first week of May (Golden Week (Japan)).