Kichi

Myoko Kogen · Niigata

Kichi Myoko

A five-bedroom house for ten in a quiet village below the Myoko ski areas. Five minutes' drive from Myoko-Kogen Station, ten from the Akakura, Ikenotaira and Suginohara lifts, in some of the deepest, most reliable snow in Japan. One whole house, one lease, a month of skiing.

StatusAvailable now to 7 Jan 2027
SizeAbout 185 m²
Sleeps10 · 5 bedrooms
From¥2,400,000 / month, ski season
Minimum lease30 days
The upstairs living room at Kichi Myoko, cream sofas around a low wooden table and a large TV by the window
Kichi Myoko in deep January snow, a dark blue two-storey house among snow-covered trees under a clear sky The ground-floor dining room at Kichi Myoko, a long single-slab timber table with floor cushions and paper screens behind

Kichi Myoko, photographed by the previous owner across the seasons. The snow pictures are January and February; the lifts typically run from mid-December into April.

The house

A big 1987 timber house on two floors, known locally as the Cubby House, in a quiet mountain village a short way below the Myoko ski areas. Downstairs is for eating: a dining room with a long single-slab table and floor cushions for the whole group, a kitchen with a gas range, a breakfast bar and open shelving, a tatami room, a sunroom, the bathroom with its deep tub, a separate toilet and the laundry. Upstairs are four bedrooms, a second bathroom, a balcony looking out to the mountains and a second living room with sofas, a TV and a workspace, so there is somewhere to be loud and somewhere to be quiet.

Every bedroom has two single beds on low timber frames, which join as king beds on request. Five bedrooms, ten beds, ten guests: a family and friends, two families, or a crew of skiers who want a house rather than a hotel corridor. It comes fully furnished and set up, and the monthly price is all in, so you arrive, put the kettle on and wax the skis.

  • 1987 timber house, about 185 m² over two floors
  • 5 bedrooms · 10 single beds, joinable as kings · 2 bathrooms
  • Dining room, kitchen with gas range, upstairs living room with TV
  • Wi-Fi, workspace, washing machine, balcony, parking at the house
  • Ten minutes' drive to Akakura, Ikenotaira and Suginohara
  • Utilities, heating and Wi-Fi included

The mountain

Myoko Kogen sits on the Niigata side of the Nagano border, and it gets snow the way few places anywhere do: metres of it, from December through March, with the resorts strung along the slopes of Mount Myoko above the villages. Akakura Onsen is the lively one, with hot-spring baths, restaurants and bars at the base of the lifts. Akakura Kanko, Ikenotaira and Suginohara, with its long top-to-bottom run, are all about ten minutes from the door by car. Madarao and Tangram are twenty. A 4WD or chains are part of life here in winter, and the house has parking.

Between ski days there is the village itself, a convenience store ten minutes' walk away and a supermarket twenty, onsen in every direction, and Nagano City about an hour down the line for a day in town. From Tokyo it is around three hours by Shinkansen and local train, so a group arriving from overseas can be in the house the same day they land. In the green season the same house trades skis for hiking boots, with Lake Nojiri and the national park on the doorstep and a fire pit out the back.

Good to know

  • A 30-day lease, not a 30-day stay. Every Kichi is booked as a fixed-term lease of at least 30 days, a firm booking condition on every house. Stay all of it or part of it: the term and the rent cover the full 30 days either way, and leaving early never shortens the lease or refunds the difference. A two-week ski trip books the month and keeps the house for the rest of it.
  • The maths for a group. Shared between ten, the ski-season month is ¥240,000 each, with the whole house to come home to rather than a hotel room and a hotel breakfast.
  • Availability. One 30-day lease is available between now and 7 January 2027. Later dates in the season on request.
  • A real lease. This is a partner-owned house, so your fixed-term residential lease is prepared and executed by a licensed Japanese real-estate agent, including the statutory explanation required by law, with plain-English support throughout.
  • One payment. You pay once, securely, by Wise before move-in: your own bank account, your own currency, the mid-market rate.
  • Your house, not a hotel. No daily housekeeping and no front desk. Optional paid cleaning and linen changes can be arranged if you would like them.
  • Winter driving. This is a heavy-snow area. Bring a 4WD or carry chains, and allow for snow on the roads between the house and the lifts.
  • Three weeks' notice. Please enquire at least three weeks before your move-in date; the house is set up fresh for every lease.
The one rule: a 30-day lease, not a 30-day stay.

Every booking of Kichi Myoko is a genuine fixed-term residential lease of at least 30 days, under Japanese tenancy law. Not a hotel, minpaku or lodging arrangement. You don't have to be here for all 30 days; if you're coming for two or three weeks of skiing, you book the month and use what you need. The lease itself cannot be made or shortened below 30 days, before or after signing, and leaving early never shortens the term or refunds rent below the 30-day floor. Read the terms of stay.