9th February 2023
Oze Iwakura
Thank you Hisae for organising another great ski trip and liaising with hotel staff to ensure our trip was trouble free.
This was our second trip to Oze as we really enjoy the skiing and find there is enough challenge and variety to occupy us for at least 3 or 4 days. We also like the fact that it is off the beaten track and mid week is uncrowded. However, it is very popular and busy with locals on weekends and especially public holidays as we discovered.
We stayed two nights each at both Iwakura House and the Resort Hotel due to a school camp that occupied the main resort hotel all week. (The school camp caused absolutely no issue to our skiing at Oze). Both types of accommodation offer easy ski in/ ski out access.
Iwakura House.
Iwakura house, is an older, basic style accommodation. We had a spacious, clean room with ensuite on the 4th floor overlooking the gondola. We had no problem with the room or facilities but the meals, although nicely presented were not quite up to the variety or standard of the resort hotel. Microwaves are provided for heating prepared meals and these seemed to be utilised by several Japanese guests. It is also worth noting that if you are bringing heavy luggage and skis with you, you will need to drag it by sled to and from the main hotel entrance. It's not too far but was unexpected and it might prove problematic for some.
On mountain restaurants
We favoured Alp for lunch as it had great food and hot chocolate. As we had dinner included in our package, we're unsure if there is anywhere else to have dinner in Oze.
Staff
The staff here are so helpful and obliging. A very special mention to Yoshihiro Toshiba, who helped us with local bus timetables to Jomo Kogen ensuring a seamless trip back to Tokyo and organising the Takkyubin to Haneda. He is a great asset to the hotel for foreign guests.
Access
Is a little tricky but with help from Hisae and Yoshihiro san, we had no problem. We caught the local bus from Numata station ( about 1 hour) and were picked up by Yoshida san at Kamata bus stop for the 15 min trip to Oze. The same in reverse except with another bus to Jomo Kogen Shinkansen station. It's worth mentioning that the local buses are quite small and can be crowded so it's best to send luggage via Takkyubin. There is also a bus to and from Takasaki station this year, but the departure time didn’t suit our travel plans.
All in all, Oze Iwakura is a great little resort that is well worth visiting.
Janne