Grasshopper’s Weekly Japan Forecast, Dec 15 – Continuous Storm Cycles as Japan the Sleeping Giant Wakes

By Bart Last updated March 23, 2026

Stefan Boers hooking into the Hokkaido powder earlier this week. Photo: @austinpowder

Mountainwatch | The Grasshopper

Valid Thursday 15^thDecember to Thursday 22^ndDecember

Kon’nichiwa my fine, fellow powder pundits, and welcome to the first Weekly Japanese forecast of the 2022-2023 season, where I’ll be providing you with all the highlights and snowlights of the coming week.

And what better timing to rip into it than in the middle of one of Japan’s veritable snow storms, which will see Japan stack on a good 10-20cm of supper fluffy stuff on Hokkaido and 30-50cm or more on Honshu, depending on which of the 500 or so resorts you look at. After low early-season snowfall, it’s very much welcome, the sigh of relief almost audible as the prospect of a repeat of that all-time worst season of 2019-2022 diminishes.

Heavy snow to base levels in Hakuba yesterday. Photo: Hakuba Ski Concierge

We’ll see a brief interlude during Saturday, with calmer conditions and possibly even some sunshine, before the next Japowder storm gets underway late in the day, bringing heavy snowfall through Sunday into Monday, then abating later on Monday.

Snow totals for the week will reach up to around the 1.5m mark, most likely in the Echigo and Hida Ranges of central Honshu, according to our ECMWF 7-day snow accumulation chart, indicating that this sleeping snow giant has finally woken.

ECMWF model 7-day snow accumulations (1inch roughly = 2.5cm). Note, snow depths are calculated using a ratio of 1mm of rain = 1cm of snow, but here in Japan where the snow can be super fluffy we can see ratios of 1mm of rain = 2cm of snow. Source: WeatherBELL

Thursday Dec 15 – Friday Dec 16

Strong, cold winds from the westerly quarter will continue to pump powder along and west of the spine of Japan over these two days.

Consistent light falls on Hokkaido of the lightest, fluffiest snowflakes should provide excellent conditions there, however winds may be an issue, and you’ll need to wrap up warm.

Snowfall will gradually ramp up on Honshu today for some rather heavy falls for those resorts exposed to westerly snowfall, while others may receive little due to sheltering. Things will ease up tonight, and even clear over central parts, before a wobble in the isobars bring a fresh wave of freezing W-NW winds and heavy snowfall Friday morning, then abate later in the day.

Saturday Dec 17th – Tuesday Dec 20th

Any remaining snowfall will peter out early Saturday as a low develops in the south of the Sea of Japan, causing winds over Honshu to turn southwards.

The low will zip through the Tsugaru Strait, between Hokkaido and Honshu, late in the day ushering in an intense and frigid wind flow off the frozen continent, which will bring heavy snowfall to Japan during Sunday and Monday, before gradually abating during Tuesday as a ridge of high pressure builds, providing exceptionally ripable conditions.

Wednesday Dec 21st & beyond

It’s likely another low-pressure system will build in the Sea of Japan during Wednesday and/or next Thursday, possibly bringing a period of warm southerlies accompanied by heavy rainfall, most likely aimed at central Honshu.

The low will eventually spin off to the north later next Thursday or next Friday, causing air to once again flow off the continent and kicking the Japow machine into top gear, with snow likely to fall over Japan through into next weekend.

Well, that’s all from me this week guys, see you next Thursday.

nicky sullivan

Lizzie was so helpful, gave us some options and advice to help us pinpoint where we wanted to go. And once we had booked provided some really helpful travel advice and answering questions we had. Easy to deal with, everything was smooth and we had a great time.

Shelly Drewitz

Calum was awesome at helping us every step of the way with our trip. We got a great deal on the accommodation and ski lift, and we will definitely come back to Mountainwatch next time based on his excellent service.

Mark K Grant

I booked my Japan ski holiday through Mountainwatch. Very professional and when we arrived in Japan all was laid out for us. The accommodation was even nicer than expected. KIrsty was very good to work with and made things very easy!!!! will book again next season.

Jess

Great experience booking through this company, our contact Anna was brilliant, and organised a fantastic ski trip for us. The travel was all clearly laid out, the accommodation was lovely, the ski field was fantastic, great range of local dining options and bars.

Brett A

Mountain Watch are great, well organised and excellent advice on locations and accommodation. Highly recommended!

darren martin

Thanks Kirsty for helping arrange our family trip to Myoko for Xmas 2025, we had an amazing time

Jan Kelly

Thanks Kirsty, once again your arrangements for us in Japan worked very well. We’ll have no hesitation about touching base with you before we make another booking….. not sure if we’ll be organised by June, but we’ll see. Have a great season yourself and keep up the good work at MountainWatch. Regards Jan and Tom

Samantha Farr

Our trip to Hakuba and Tokyo was so smooth and easy thanks to the help of Justine. Hotel was great and in a perfect location and it was very smooth having all our extras like lessons and rentals booked and sorted before we arrived. Would 100% book through Mountainwatch Travel again!

John Durham

This is the second year that Kristy has organized travel arrangements for a skiing holiday to Furano in Japan, for us. It is the second time that those arrangements have been fulfilled seamlessly. No hassles, as planned and on time. Perfect, and will use Mountainwatchj Travel again. John Durham

Simone B

We booked through Anna O’Malley for our stay in Nozawa onsen Village in Japan. Seamless service, prompt, and pricing reasonable. The Shimataya View Hotel, was a lovely stay. Room size was large, great views, and Amazing service from Staff. Momoi and Eloisa couldn’t help enough- from dinner reservations to organising luggage to Tokyo. Property is older, though clean, well maintained. 10 min walk to slopes, 5 min walk to village centre. I recommend Mountain Watch, and this property. Photos are the view from our room.

Verified by Trustindex

Trustindex verified badge is the Universal Symbol of Trust. Only the greatest companies can get the verified badge who has a review score above 4.5, based on customer reviews over the past 12 months. Read more

Grasshopper’s Weekly Japan Forecast, Dec 15 – Continuous Storm Cycles as Japan the Sleeping Giant Wakes

Featured Posts

Snow Machine Festival adds Hilltop Hoods and a stack more to Queenstown 2026 line up

The Grasshopper’s Japan 2025-2026 Seasonal Outlook – La Niña Set to Deliver Above Average Snowfall

Snow Machine Returns to Hakuba Valley in 2026 – With a Monster Lineup Locked In

From Hokkaido to Honshu: Japan’s 2024/25 Season in Review

Japan Hits 7 Metres (23 Feet) of Snow—One of the Deepest Bases in Years!

Top 10 Do’s And Dont’s When In Japan