Apologies if this is all wrong - but in my defence, I AM an australian in japan - and let's face it, japan is an awsome place to ski for australians.

So - I noticed an old thread on here talking about snowkiting in japan, and perhaps I can re-vitalise it, and extend it also to kiteboarding suggestions too.

I'm not gun at kiteboarding, indeed, I still have significant problems with a water re-launch, but I'm hoping that somone - anyone, might be able to suggest places to visit to try out a bit of snow kiting - or even, kite surfing.

I live in central japan, so reccommendations to locations in okinawa, although welcome, are probably not entirely useful!

Can anyone suggest any likeley places?
Is there anyone else in Japan? (or can recommend a japanese/english kiteboarding site that I have missed...!)

Hi.

I've been snowboarding twice in Japan (Niseko, where all the aussies go) and i've also snowkited in New Zealand.

Niseko would, in my opinion, be practically un-kiteable due to the fact that there are trees everywhere (except where they have been bulldozed to make a ski run). If you explore, you may find a bare patch somewhere but in my opinion the terrain is a bit too rough. There are some open fields down in the valleys, but the wind is probably **** and you'd get bored in about 10 minutes also being confined to a square paddock.

Niseko is however awesome for snowboarding or skiing, so forget the kites and just have a blast. Best mountain ever.

I'm not sure what the other ski areas in Japan are like, but it's completely different to any of the aussie or NZ snow areas.