OZE IWAKURA

The Mountain
Oze Iwakura is one of the best hidden powder gems in Gunma & on weekdays it is very uncrowded. White World Oze Iwakura is one of the snow resorts in Katashina Village in Gunma region. There are non-groomed courses in the resort. If you fill in an official registeration form at the resort information centre, you can enter the off-piste area at your own risk and enjoy backcountry skiing and boarding. There are other ski resorts in Katashina Village such as Marunuma Kogen or Oguna Hotaka. The snow quality is pretty good in these two resorts due to the higher altitude. It is best if you have a hire car. The resort may offer free transfers for the guests staying at Oze Iwakura if you are a large group and we can help with this.

The Location
Oze Iwakura os located in Gunma prefecture. The quickest way to get to Oze Iwakura is catch a bullet train from Tokyo to Jomo Kogen station (70 mins) and a shuttle bus (110 mins). But the shuttle bus is run only once a day. You have an option to cacth the public bus from either Jomo-Kogen station or Numata station to Kamata. Then your accommodation will be able to come to pick you up from Kamata bus stop.

Where to stay
The best place to stay is Ozeiwakura Resprt Hotel, which  is a ski in ski out hotel with Onsen. If you have limited budget, there is an cheaper option which is Iwakura House which is also ski in ski out. 

Oze Iwakura Resort Hotel

Mid Feb 2024

Big thanks to Yoshi (not sure of spelling…) with our stay at Oze Iwakura Resort. 
Really enjoyed the stay and the uncrowded terrain mid-week. Thanks also to Hisae for helping with transport logistics etc! 

Josh

Mid Feb 2024

This resort was great. Oze had no Aussies, allowed us to enjoy the Japanese experience and the slopes were varied and plentiful. The staff at the resort were very pleasant and the evening meal gave us the opportunity to eat true Japanese cuisine. 1 thing travellers should be made aware of, is the rare no ATM’s at the resort or village!  We had a great time!

Daryl 

 

 

 

Early February 2020

 

The trip was awesome, shame the snow wasn’t that great.  But saying that it was still a hundred times better than NZ and  we managed some powder at Geto Kogen and Oze.

Oze Iwakura, I love this place and if I was on a short time line would just go here.  It is a bit off the beaten track getting there, but once there you don’t want to leave. The hotel is not modern and a bit dates, but the staff are awesome, and they really look after you.

 

This is my favourite mountain in all of Japan, even when there is not much snow. (we managed to get 2 powder days here at the end of the holiday) With the resort facing north and south there are so many options as to snow quality.

 

The little old café above the kids area is one of the best places to go when you have had a hard days skiing. The café at the top of the mountain are a bit expensive. 

Really loved your service and help making this a great holiday. 

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

Early Feb 2020

Oze was one of the best mountains that I have skied on in Japan. While the snow wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, the variety of terrain was enormous. I would definitely go back there again.

 

The accommodation was exceptional, staff super friendly and accommodating. Yoshihiro Toshiba was particularly helpful and looked after us so well. 

 

It wasn't easy to get there , but that made it special as we were virtually the only westerners staying in Oze so we really experienced traditional Japanese hospitality. 

 

Regards Steve

 

 

 

 

Early Feb 2019

Early Feb 2019

Early February 2019

Oze Iwakura was an amazing resort and has to rate as one of the best we have been.

The hotel was amazing with fabulous meals and very comfortable accommodation. Located right at the base of the ski slope it was very convenient. The staff were so accommodating and even organised for us to attend a local festival one night which was an sensational experience where we were able to join in the festivities and sample some of the local food and drink.

The mountain was fantastic and you definitely need quite a few days to explore all areas. The eateries on the mountain were exceptional. Weekends get very busy but during the week there will are no crowds. 

Will definitely return to this resort.

 

Sharon

 

 

 

 

 

Late Jan 2019

Many thanks  Hisae for organising a smooth and memorable stay at Oze. Also for organising my surprise birthday cake as well as ensuring ahead of our trip, that one of our group, a coeliac, was able to be catered for.

We had a really enjoyable week at Oze Iwakura especially given the amazing snow conditions.Our western twin room was spacious and comfortable and we really enjoyed the onsen after skiing. Above all though, was the staff's great service that is really worth mentioning. They were all extremely friendly and helpful. A special mention to Mami Hoshino who organised a special fun trip for a small group to the local fire festival. As well, she helped us deal with a serious dietary issue by ensuring that even lunch was carefully catered for. Also thank you to Toshiba Yoshihiro who seemed to be everywhere. He not only recognised us on the slopes and advised us on the best runs, but organised our takkyubin and wrote a detailed travel plan and timetable to our next destination, that was to the say the least, a bit tricky. 

Whilst there were plenty of restaurants and cafes for lunch options, evening meals at the hotel became very repetitive. We were unable to explore outside dining options, but feel the need to mention this to other long stayers. 

Overall, a great stay.  

Janne

 

 

 

Late Jan 2019

 

Our stay at Oze Iwakura Resort was fantastic, the snow was amazing. There seems to be a focus on groomed runs which were impeccable however there was still enough powder to satisfy and it wasn’t over run with powder hounds. We even spotted a few wild Nihon Kamoshika (Japanese Serow) on the slopes!

 

The staff at the resort were brilliant with a few who could speak very good english despite saying their english was poor (very traditional). The crew in the rental shop were great too, going “out the back” to give us better equipment at no extra cost, we even got a discount for staying at the resort.

 

With regards to my dietary requirements being allergic to Gluten: the restaurant bent over backwards to make sure I had a good experience and I never felt like I was missing out on meals, everything was delicious. They even arranged for lunch to be made for me at one of the kiosks. I took my own Gluten Free soy sauce from Australia and the staff looked after it for me between meals.

 

I think the gluten free card I sent you may be a little too serious though, it seems that staff in all restaurants are very aware of allergies, however, every allergy is treated as extremely serious as though it is a peanut or shellfish allergy. While it is always safe to eat somewhere that has read the Gluten free card, it is very hard to find a place that will say yes to being able to feed a coeliac. I believe this is due to the staff not wanting to cause harm to anyone and coeliac disease (and therefore knowledge of) not being widespread in Asian countries.

 

The service received from Japan Snow Accomodation made everything run smoothly on the trip, from communicating dietary requirements, to organising a Birthday Cake, having the resort aware of English speaking guests so the english speaking staff were there on arrival so we knew who they were and where to find them.

 

Thank you again for organising our stay at Oze Iwakura

 

Richard

Japanese room with toilet & washbasin, shared bathroom (2 - 4 guests)
Rates from 17,090 yen including breakfast & dinner

Western room with en-suite (2 guests)
Rates from 17,090 yen including breakfast & dinner

Combination room with en-suite (2 - 8 guests)
Rates from 17,090 yen including breakfast & dinner