Oyasu Onsen
An Akita hot-spring ski area that drew just 1,302 visitors in 2016 and closed in 2018; its lifts have gone and the base is now a year-round campsite.
- Region
- Akita Prefecture
- Country
- Japan
- Status
- closed
- Year opened
- 1983
- Year closed
- 2018
- Reason for closure
- Collapsing visitor numbers - only 1,302 people used the area in 2016 - which led to an announcement of permanent closure.
History
Oyasu Onsen (小安温泉スキー場), also known as Tokotonyama Oyasu Onsen Ski Area, opened in 1983 beside Route 398 in Yuzawa City in southern Akita Prefecture, attached to a hot-spring resort. It had five courses on 169 m of vertical between a 342 m base and a 501 m top, with a longest run of 1,200 m and a steepest pitch of 36 degrees, served by a 490 m pair lift and a rope tow. The number that ended it is unusually concrete: 1,302 people used the ski area in 2016. Permanent closure followed in 2018 and both lifts have since been removed, though the buildings around the base survive - the site now runs year-round as the Tokotonyama Camp Area. Course names are not compiled in accessible sources; the coordinates mark Yuzawa City and should be treated as approximate, as the area lay in the south of the municipality near the Oyasu gorge.
Lifts
| Name | Type | Manufacturer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unnamed lift | Chairlift - Double | 490 m; removed after closure | |
| Unnamed lift | Surface lift | A rope tow; removed after closure |
Sources and further reading
More in Japan
Location
39.1643, 140.4957