Hakuba, Nagano

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Hakuba
白馬村
Village
Location of Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture
Location of Hakuba in Nagano Prefecture
Hakuba is located in Japan
Hakuba
Hakuba
Location in Japan
Coordinates: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Country Japan
Region Chūbu
Kōshin'etsu
Prefecture Nagano Prefecture
District Kitaazumi
Area
 • Total 182.34 km2 (70.40 sq mi)
Population (October 2014)
 • Total 8,912
 • Density 49/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Website www.vill.hakuba.nagano.jp

Hakuba (白馬村 Hakuba-mura?) is a village located in Kitaazumi District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It is located at the center of one of Japan's largest winter skiing and mountain recreation areas.

Town

As of October 2014, the village has an estimated population of 8,912.

Hakuba is an internationally renowned ski resort town in the northern Japan Alps. As the surrounding valley has an annual snow fall of over 11.1 meters, it is the central hub for 10 ski resorts with more than 200 runs. The village was the main event venue for 1998 Winter Olympics (Alpine, Ski Jump, Crosscountry).

Hakuba and surrounding municipalities were impacted by a reported 6.7 magnitude earthquake on 22 November 2014. The quake hit at 10:08pm at a depth of 5 km causing a number of residential properties to collapse and injuring at least 41 people.[1] Despite some localized road damage and a suspension of rail services on sections of the Ōito Line, there was however no major impact on hotels or ski tourism related infrastructure.[2][3]

Hakuba was once part of the route called the Salt Road used to bring salt and other marine products from the coast.[4]

Accessibility

Hakuba is located west of Tokyo, and north of Nagoya. The Nagano region can be accessed easily from Tokyo via the Nagano Shinkansen, the Chuo Main Line or express bus. In the winter ski season long-distance express busses are also available from Narita Airport. Hakuba is also easily reached via bus and rail from Nagoya.

The closest regional airport is Matsumoto Airport.

Weather

Climate data for Hakuba Village
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 1.4
(34.5)
2.2
(36)
6.3
(43.3)
14.5
(58.1)
20.3
(68.5)
23.4
(74.1)
26.7
(80.1)
28.6
(83.5)
23.4
(74.1)
17.5
(63.5)
11.2
(52.2)
4.8
(40.6)
15.0
(59)
Average low °C (°F) −7.5
(18.5)
−7.5
(18.5)
−4
(25)
1.7
(35.1)
7.5
(45.5)
12.9
(55.2)
17.3
(63.1)
18.4
(65.1)
14.2
(57.6)
6.8
(44.2)
0.6
(33.1)
−4.3
(24.3)
4.7
(40.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 144.9
(5.705)
134.9
(5.311)
143.5
(5.65)
118.3
(4.657)
144.6
(5.693)
214.9
(8.461)
289.4
(11.394)
170.0
(6.693)
184.3
(7.256)
121.5
(4.783)
109.8
(4.323)
128.7
(5.067)
1,904.7
(74.988)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 220
(86.6)
180
(70.9)
111
(43.7)
8
(3.1)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
1
(0.4)
21
(8.3)
132
(52)
668
(263)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 79.7 102.1 142.0 178.1 178.4 137.7 138.0 165.1 113.7 127.0 110.8 84.6 1,554.9
Source: 気象庁[5]

Snowfall

Hakuba receives approximately 10m of snowfall annually, with most snowfall occurring in the months of February and March.[6]

Resort

Hakuba consists of seven main ski areas. At the southern end of the Hakuba Valley are the resorts of Hakuba 47, Goryu, and the Olympic ski resort Happo-One (pronounced O-ney). To the north are Iwatake, Tsugaike, Norikura, and Cortina resorts.

Due to Japan's geographic location, the town is a popular vacation destination for Australian tourists looking to Ski and Snowboard.[citation needed]

Surrounded by the Japan Sea (northward), Nagano City (eastward) and the Tateyama Kurobe Dam area (southward), Hakuba is also a popular summer vacation area which offers a variety of outdoor activities at an altitude of 700–800 metres, e.g. hiking, rafting/shower climbing, paragliding, mountain bike, bird sighting etc.

Sister towns

In popular culture

The ski resorts and village of Hakuba were the setting for the 2008 Japanese film "Gin Iro No Shiizun" (銀色のシーズン).

Hakuba is shown in episodes 21 and 22 of the anime Great Teacher Onizuka.

References

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  4. Hakuba Homepage. Tourism Commission of Hakuba. Accessed November 1, 2007.
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  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

  • Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons