Six prefectures of snow country. What is different about each.
The snow country is not one region — it's six, each with a different climate, depopulation curve, municipal program, and foreign-buyer track record. We cover them one chapter at a time.
Quarterly updated
The northernmost island. ¥100 houses, foreign-investment zones, and three hundred and fifty centimetres of annual snowfall.
Mountains, ski resorts, and the densest set of municipal akiya banks in the country. Ninety minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen.
Onsen towns, samurai districts, and the slowest depopulation curve in Tohoku. The houses are cheap because nobody is competing.
Sake, rice, and the Sea of Japan coastline. Echigo-Yuzawa is two hours from Tokyo. The countryside, half that.
Cherries, hot springs, and Ginzan Onsen. Quietest prefecture in the index. Buying here means meaning it.
Takayama, Shirakawago, the Hida valley. Machiya in the old quarters, kominka in the foothills. Foreign-buyer-friendly municipal offices.