Maruken Sanso - Nozawa Onsen

NOZAWA ONSEN
Nagano 

The Mountain
Nozawa Onsen is a natural hot spring village located in the Nagano region. Nozawa Onsen was a traditional Japanese Village first and a snow resort second, so it is a Japanese residential village as well as a historic Onsen town. At the same time you enjoy skiing and snowboarding, you can see the real Japanese culture and life. The resort consists of 24 courses with two gondolas and 17 chairlifts. English ski and snowboard lessons are available.

The Location
It is about 80 minutes by Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Iiyama station. There is the shuttle bus from Iiyama station to Nozawa Onsen which takes only 25 minutes. After booking your accommodation with us we will send you all travel information to make transit from the airport an easy and enjoyable experience.

Where to stay
While most of the accommodation is traditional Japanese there have been significant renovations made to many of the properties to make your stay very comfortable.

22 February 2025

I would like to thank you for helping with my accommodation in Nozawa Onsen.  Maruken Sanso was a very beautiful and friendly place to stay. So thanks very much! and we had amazing snow for two weeks . Perfect.

Thanks
Adrian 

09 February, 2025

My nephew and I had the best time in Japan. We loved our accommodation at Maruken Sanso in Nozawa Onsen. The owners were lovely and very helpful, even picked us up in there little van at Nozawa Bus terminal which was fantastic.

The location of Maruken Sanso is fantastic. It’s around a 5 minute walk up the hill to Nagasaka Gondola and about the same to get down to Main Street where lots of bars and restaurant are located and even found a little cafe that does wonderful coffee (Haus St. Anton)

Our room was located on the top floor and had wonderful views of the town, that’s to say when we could see it. It just kept pumping down with snow the week we were there ( Feb 9-16, 2025).

We love Maruken Sanso and the town & ski resort of Nozawa Onsen. Such an amazing and beautiful place to ski!!!

This is our second stay at Maruken Sanso and we’ll be back again.

Please find a few photos and a video from our room.

Thanks again Hisae
Steven Newall

25 January 2025

Was great Hisae. Really great position. The rooms were nice and the gear room and drying room were a great size.

We loved the guys working there, very helpful and friendly. The breakfast was OK, kids not really loving it but only because it was very Japanese, my wife loved it though.

We were unlucky while there with the snow, as we had no new snow and the days were a little warm, but to be honest that’s what our kids love best – nice sunny blue bird days without cold winds.

Paul

Feb 2024

Once again your sorting of accommodation for us was excellent and we were not disappointed with our stay at Maruken Sanso. 

As we were arriving on the late night bus from Narita – the owners organised everything for us to get into our rooms when we arrived. 

Breakfast was very traditional on the first morning and then became a bit more traditional / western for the other days and there was always plenty of cereal and toast as well.  The breakfast was delicious. 

Very close to the gondola and an easy walk up the hill to the ski shop where we left our gear each night. 

The onsen has very limited hours however in the mornings they were more than happy for us just to use the showers in the onsen area. 

Such a beautiful family that own this accommodation and there daughter is a ski jump champion – she left to compete in world titles while we were staying. 

Thank you for a great stay. 
Regards
Greg

Mid Jan 2024

It is always a great place to stay Nozawa.

Maruken was a nice little hotel on a great location.

The only things he should think about and maybe be open to is the Onsen hours, 

There was a bit of frustration with the (I think these are the times)4pm to 9pm, don’t quote me on the times, but we were sometimes left without an Onsen because it didn’t fit our times(we didn’t have any toilet or bathroom in our rooms) and 1 night when we were right on the closing time we were rushed out 5 mins after the closing time. Fair enough if the onsen bath itself is closed certain hours, but to not be able to have a shower at anytime of the day is not ideal.

The only other advice would be ask the guests preferences for breakfast as not many of our crew were keen on deep fried fish, onion rings and French fries ect for breakfast, we tried to convey that to the family as we felt bad returning the 6 course breakfasts back hardly touched!

I would definitely recommend the accommodation as for the price it was awesome,

Kind Regards
Darren Bradstreet

Mid January 2024

We had a great time in Japan - my first visit in 25 years (lived in Shiga-ken for 6years in the nineties), and my son's first visit ever. A lot has changed, e.g. you can really see the effects of the ageing society now and labour shortages: I saw young guys from India and Sri Lanka working the counter in the convenience stores: unthinkable 20 years ago. 

We had a great experience with Japan Snow Accommodation. Making a very late decision to go skiing in January in Nozawa Onsen, we soon discovered that everything was booked out on the major online sites. A recommendation from an acquaintance led me to Japan Snow Accommodation and doors magically opened. Hisae Cameron was able to use her extensive experience and vast range of contacts with locals in Nozawa to quickly offer a range of options. Being a native Japanese speaker and expert user of English ensured she was the perfect intermediary. Nothing was lost in translation. We were quickly able to secure a room at Maruken Sanso, a family run lodge, and it turned out to be a fortuitious choice. Only 2 minutes walk from the Nagasaka Gondola, very close to to the centre of town, and with a cute in-house onsen,  Maruken is a small, clean and personable lodge. Mamoru and his family are incredibly friendly and attentive hosts - they even do pickups from the bus station - and provide amazingly healthy and filling breakfasts. They also offered discounted lift tickets and ski rentals. We couldn't have been happier.

And thank you to Hisae for securing such lovely accommodation, very late in the piece, and organising everything clearly and efficiently. 

David

Late Feb 2020

Had the best time in Japan. Loved nozawa onsen but unfortunately not enough days of snow with temperatures being quite warm.

 

Loved being at maruken Sanso as it is so close to the gondola so only a short walk in the morning especially carrying all your gear. Mamoru ( sorry probably spelt that wrong) was the loveliest guy and his 82 year old mother do a great job of running the place. He did so much to help us and organised the black cat luggage people to take our ski bags to the airport.

 

The restaurants were great and met some fabulous owners who dished out tasty food. Loved the onsens and went to spa arena which is an outdoor tourist onsen which was different.

 

Would go there again and stay at maruken Sanso cos my back got quite used to the sleeping on the futons on the floor. Plus breakfast was perfect and kept us going nearly all day. 

 

Thanks Hisae for organising such a great holiday. Next time more snow please!!

 

Judy Cotterell

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Late January 2020

Overall

The trip was fantastic, due to many of the comments below.

Your service

Your service was excellent, as I have said in an email before we left. You are so well organised and helpful that everything was easy. I also appreciated your willingness to contact both of our accommodation places when our flight was delayed and the late opening of the Japan Rail Pass Office meant we had to catch a later train. I have already recommended you to other people and we will definitely use you again.

Japan Rail Pass

This was excellent, but I only found out about it quite late and had to get it delivered to Maruken Sanso. I think it would be good for you to mention it to your customers as something to consider. We treated ourselves to a “Green Car” pass. It was about 30% more expensive, but the seating was like business or first class.

Cash

Japan seems to operate much more on cash compared to Australia’s use of credit cards. It would be helpful to advise customers of that beforehand and even to know where there are International ATMs in the various resorts. For example, there is one in Nozawa Onsen near the Chou Bus Terminal.

Time of year

We chose our dates when we were free, but it worked out very well. The Australian school holidays had just ended, so the crowds were much less. We hardly had to wait for any lifts. If I can, I will always choose to go in February.

Nozawa Onsen

This is a beautiful town and a great resort. There are plenty of runs to suit all abilities. I would like to go back there when my wife can get holidays and join us too.

Maruken Sanso

This was excellent. To me it seemed to be a great example of a genuine small family guest house. Mamoru is a lovely gentle man and was always very friendly and helpful. He uses a voice translator to get between Japanese and English when there are any communication difficulties and we didn’t have any problems. The breakfasts were very traditional Japanese food and were excellent. We had dinner one night, which was also excellent and well-priced. The location is perfect – a short walk uphill to the gondola and a slightly longer walk downhill to the town centre.

Lift Tickets

There was some confusion with Mamoru and he didn’t realise or understand that our lift tickets were pre-purchased. He indicated that he gets a special price for the lift tickets and that we should buy them from him rather than the resort ticket office. (Someone else told us that his family has lived in the area for a long time and that Mamoru is friends with many other locals including the owner of the resort.) He seemed maybe a bit offended that we didn’t buy our tickets from him. Maybe it would be better to avoid any of this confusion in future and either make sure he knows about the pre-purchase or tell customers to buy them from him.

Ski Hire

We used “Mount Dock”, which is next to the place you recommended “Sports Thanx”. Mount Dock was a bit more expensive, but we had the option to switch to Telemark skis if my son wanted to try that. I have and took my own Telemark skis. The “Mount Dock” hire equipment was excellent.

 

Paull

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Mid January 2020

We had a great trip.  You made it very easy and relaxed to get our accommodation booked.

 

We really loved Maruken Sanso.  It had a great friendly feel to it and the breakfasts were really good.  The location was also great and easy to get to everywhere.  Enjoyed staying in the tatami rooms a lot and would not hesitate to do so again.  It was a little tighter for room than Chalet Shiga but had more of an X factor in terms of atmosphere.

 

Really glad that we were able to stay for the night of the fire festival it was a fantastic experience.  One of the weirdest cultural experiences ever!

 

The onsens around town were fabulous - managed to visit quite a few of those.  Having the vibrant town as part of the experience made it quite different to Shiga Kogen.  

 

The skiing again was nothing the locals were raving about - but it was still great for us.  As a pure skiing experience, I'd rate Shiga  Kogen as a better place to go simply because of the wide variety, but I would definitely come back to Nozawa Onsen as well, and I'd definitely stay at Maruken Sanso again.

 

Thanks again,

Alex and family 

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Early January 2020

 

Mid Jan 2019

We had a great time 

Photos Breakfast on the way & a special dinner in lodge. Friendly host pick up service and drop off. 

Thank you. 
Elissa Raptis 

 

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Mid Feb 2017

What a great trip. Fantastic snow. All 3 places we stayed at are amazing. Your organizational skills are to be applauded. Maruken Sanso with Mamoru was a great location with service second to none. Bus transfers to each location was very simple. Chuo Taxis are the way to go – amazing service – on time – every time. Cannot wait to book again for next year. Keep up the great work.

Regards Andrew Bolte

Mid January 2017 

Yes we had a wonderful stay at Maruken Sanso. The staff were friendly and as helpful and hospitable as can be. The breakfasts were delicious and the company in the lodge was excellent. The onsen was a great place to go at the end of a day's skiing, and the village had a lovely atmosphere, with so many interesting places to eat.  Your service was faultless and friendly. Thanks so much. 

Ben Underwood

Mid January 2017

We had an amazing snow trip!  Thanks for organizing the accommodation.  Marukan San was in a fabulous location, close to the gondala and the main street of Nowzawa Onsen.  The accommodation was clean and comfortable.  The host was extremely courteous and helpful, going out of his way to get ski tickets organized for us every morning.  I loved the Japanese breakfast which were plentiful and filling. One of the best part of the accommodation was the in-house hot bath – fantastic after a day on the slope!  We had public onsens all around us, all ‘free’ to use.  It would be great if there were instructions in the onsens in English so that we could respectfully comply with local traditions.  We will definitely be going back to Nowzawa Onsen and hope to stay at the same accommodation!

Warm Regards,
Perri Lim 

Early January 2016

Thank-you for giving me the opportunity to review on our recent holiday to Japan. We really did book at the last minute, and we're very happy to find such great accomodation. 'Maruken Sanso' proved to be the perfect cultural introduction & our hosts could not do enough to make us feel welcome. The meals were fantastic & the in-house onsen was most welcome after a day on the slopes ! The actual resort & village was very quant. We found the skiing & lift coverage most suitable to our level of expertise. Also, all of the mountain staff were really friendly, most speaking some English. Maruken Sanso was only a 5 minute walk to the gondola. I also would like to thank-you personally, @ 'japansnowaccomodation.com', for assisting us in booking our holiday. Hisae, you returned both my emails & phone calls. Great customer service I have already passed on your contact details to work colleagues & have no hesitation in recommending both your service & Maruken Sanso . All up, a great holiday.

THANK-YOU !
Kate

Late December 2015

We have been travelling mainly on and sometimes off to Japan since 2003. We travelled to Honshu, Nagano area, since we had a brilliant trip the year before skiing Nozawa Onsen and Madarao. We have used Hisae and the team at Japan snow accommodations, which takes a lot of the hard work out of planning the trip. Also we have asked for alternatives and there was a quick answer and good information at all times. The snow conditions weren’t as good as usual but, but this was put down to the El Nino effect in the Pacific area. We stayed at the Maruken Sanso in Nozawa Onsen; we had been there the year before. The family were just as accommodating as the year before and made everyone in the small lodge welcome. This is a very short walk to the main gondola and is good for an early start on a powder morning, not too much walking. They have an onsen bath for the guests and that takes care of the sore muscles. One of the ancient 14 onsen is just down the road, for the old world onsen charm. They have ski storage, hot room for the boots and a workshop for running r repairs. Another cleaver trick is the houses, hotels and accommodations pump the onsen water on the road, the road is never to Icey to walk on.

Rober Hall

Standard  Tatami room: futon beds, shared bathroom accommodating up to 4 guests
￥8,525 per person per night with breakfast included twin share

Deluxe Tatami room : toilet & basin attached, shared bathroom accommodating 1 - 2 guests
￥11,605 per person per night with breakfast included twin share

Super Deluxe twin bedroom with a tatami living room, toilet & basin attached, shared bathroom accommodating 2 - 4 guests
￥15,290 per person per night with breakfast included twin share

Additional child (4-12) 25 % disc off per person per night rate
Single use surcharge - please ask
Saturdays & public holidays ￥1,100 per person