Hop on the Gozaisho Ropeway and visit Mie’s only one Ski Resort!

Hop on the Gozaisho Ropeway and visit Mie’s only one Ski Resort!

“Mount Gozaisho” is a 1,212 meters tall mountain situated on the border of Mie and Shiga Prefectures, it is one of the areas that experience the heaviest snowfall in Mie. While being a spot from where Mt. Fuji and Lake Biwa can be seen, the mountain also has an atmospheric onsen town of ‘Yunoyama Onsen’ at its foot.

Mie’s only one ‘Ski Resort’ is located on the summit of Mt. Gozaisho, a popular spot for tourists to enjoy various winter sports like skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing. You can reach Mt. Gozaisho’s summit by “Gozaisho Ropeway”, which takes about 12 minutes for a one-way ride.

Today, we will take everyone to admire the beautiful scenery of snowy mountains on Gozaisho Ropeway, then enjoy doing many fun activities at Gozaisho Ski Resort!

Index

1. How to get to the Gozaisho Ropeway

2. Have a splendid winter at the Gozaisho Ski Resort!

3. Don’t like winter sports? Take the sightseeing lift instead!

4. Enjoy walking in the snow at the peak of Mt. Gozaisho!

5. Try some local delicacies while enjoying the view at Nature!

1. How to get to the Gozaisho Ropeway

Gozaisho is accessible from both Kintetsu-Nagoya Station in Aichi Prefecture or Kintetsu-Yokkaichi Station in Mie Prefecture, but this time, we will explain how to reach the mountain from Kintetsu-Yokkaichi Station.

At Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station, there are coin lockers where you can store your luggage and personal belongings.

Make sure to check the timetable as the train runs on different schedules on weekdays and weekends.

Take the local train that bounds for Yunoyama Onsen from platform number five or six.

Once you get on the train, wait until you reach Kintetsu Yunoyama-Onsen Station, where you should get off.

After that, take the Mie Kotsu Bus to Sanko Yunoyama-Onsen and walk for about 10 minutes to the ropeway.

Once you arrive at the ropeway, purchase your ropeway ticket from the designated counter.

The roundtrip fees for the ropeway are as follows:

• 0-3 years old : free
• Children (4 – 11 years old) : 1,220 yen
• Adults (12 years old & above) : 2,450 yen

To get on the ropeway, you have to scan the barcode on your ticket.

Gozaisho Ropeway’s gondola is named Lumiere Gondola, and each of them can accommodate up to 10 passengers at once.

Before you get on the gondola, make sure to check the weather at the summit, which is usually updated every few hours.

The ropeway ride takes about 12 minutes, giving you some time to admire the surrounding nature of Mt. Gozaisho.

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2. Have a splendid winter at the Gozaisho Ski Resort!

Gozaisho Ski Resort is Mie’s only ski resort and it is a popular spot for Japanese and foreigners to enjoy winter sports like skiing, sledding, and snowshoeing. Inside the resort, there are two ski slopes (beginner and advanced), two areas for sledding, and one trail for snowshoeing.

There are also ski lifts and a rental shop where you can rent ski equipment. Please check this page for rental rates.

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3. Don’t like winter sports? Take the sightseeing lift instead!

There are sightseeing lifts that you can take to explore Gozaisho Ski Resort.

Before taking the lift, we strongly recommend storing your luggage in a coin locker.

Renting snow boots is also a good idea since you’ll be walking in the snow. The snow boots are available for free, and we recommend wearing these to prevent injuries.

The fare for the sightseeing lift are as follows:

• One day : 2,000 yen
• Coupon (for 6 times) : 1,000 yen
• One time : 300 yen

It takes around 8 minutes to reach the peak of Mt. Gozaisho Dake.

You can purchase the sightseeing lift ticket from the designated vending machine located near the lift terminal.

The first lift that goes up towards the peak of Mt. Gozaisho Dake departs at 9:30, and the last lift that goes up towards the peak of Mt. Gozaisho Dake departs at 15:30. Make sure you check the schedule first so you don’t have to walk too far in the snow.

Once you get on the lift, you’ll see that Mt. Gozaisho is covered by snow.

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4. Enjoy walking in the snow at the peak of Mt. Gozaisho!

Arriving at the peak, there is a trail you can walk on to explore the area.

The trail is covered in snow, so it was a little bit hard for us to walk on it, but luckily, since we rented the snow boots, it was not as hard as what we imagined.

There are two observatory decks here, Boukoudai (lake view) and Fujimi-iwa. From the Boukoudai Observatory, visitors can enjoy a view of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan.

On the other hand, you can see Mt. Fuji from Fujimi-iwa, and this is why the observatory is named “Fujimi”, which literally means “seeing Mt. Fuji”. Mt. Fuji is only 210 km away from Mt. Gozaisho, so  you can only see Mt. Fuji when the weather is favorable.

On our way back to the lift terminal, we found these cute handbuilt snow figurines!

This one looks like Anpan-man, a famous Japanese cartoon character.

Someone even built a Totoro snow figurine! Isn’t it cute?

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5. Try some local delicacies while enjoying the view at Nature!

Before taking the lift that bounds to the ropeway, how about taking a break at Nature?

Nature is a restaurant in Gozaisho Ski Resort that has a viewing deck where you can enjoy the view of the surrounding area from the summit, and you can try some of Gozaisho’s most famous local treats such as Gozaisho Curry Udon.

In addition to the curry udon, the restaurant also offers sweet treats like seasonal soft-serves that come in several flavors. We ordered vanilla soft-serve that comes with a cute cookie on it.

Now that you know how great Gozaisho is, how about visiting it when you’re in Mie next time?

Gozaisho Ski Resort

Address

• Yunoyama Onsen, Komono-cho, Mie-gun, Mie

Business hours

• 9:00 – 17:00
• Open throughout the year

Official website

• http://www.gozaisho.co.jp/

Google Map

Read other article from Kintetsu Railway

• Nabana no Sato, a must-visit large-scale garden in Mie, Japan!
• Visit Yoshino with Blue Symphony, a vintage touristic train by Kintetsu Railway
• 1-day trip in Mie with Kintetsu Rail Pass 5 day

 

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