When a small resort earns a spot in the Nagano7 powder pass – joining Shiga Kogen, Nozawa Onsen, Togakushi, Ryuoo, Madarao and Tangram – it is the perfect occasion to talk about it. This is the unheralded resort you have surely noticed when stepping off the shinkansen at Iiyama Station, sitting on a mountain with a fascinating history and some surprisingly serious terrain.
Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama, formerly known as Kijimadaira Ski Resort, sits on the northern slopes of Mt. Kosha, between the towns of Iiyama and Nakano. From the outside, it may look like a local ski hill (it is) compared with its famous neighbours. Look a little deeper, however, and the story becomes much more interesting.
Kijimadaira was part of a much larger vision for skiing on Mt. Kosha. Today, it is a standalone resort in Northern Nagano for skiers looking for steep terrain, uncrowded powder and something different from the better-known resorts.
A ski area that was once much bigger
The history of Kijimadaira is closely linked to the mountain where it sits, Mt. Kosha (1,351m), a mountain in between Mt. Ryuoo (1,930m) and Mt. Madarao (1,382m) that appears as a lonely standalone mountain in the valley. Four resorts operate on Mt. Kosha: Kijimadaira’s Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama, The Kijima Snow Park, and the combined resorts of X-Jam Takai Fuji and Yomase Onsen known as Mt. Kosha.
There was an attempt to combine all the mountain ski resorts into one huge ski area comparable in size to the neighbouring Nozawa Onsen. Under the denomination of Mt. Kosha, the plan was to connect all resorts included the ski resort of Yamabiko-no-Oka, into a major ski area only 3km away from the newly opened Iiyama Station in 2015 that provided a direct link with Tokyo.
Despite a common lift ticket sold as Mt. Kosha, neither the vision nor the resources ever fully materialised, and with Yamabiko-no-Oka stopping operations after the 2016–17 season, the connection between X-Jam and Kijimadaira disappeared.
Today, Yomase Onsen and X-JAM Takaifuji effectively operate as one ski area, The Kijima Snow Park occupies another section of the mountain, and Kijimadaira has been reborn as Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama.
From Kijimadaira Ski Resort to Romance no Kamisama
Kijimadaira Ski Resort was operated by Kijimadaira Kanko, a company effectively controlled by Kijimadaira Village. By 2022, however, the business was in serious financial difficulty. The village decided that continuing to support the resort indefinitely was no longer sustainable and in 2023, the ski resort and related tourism facilities were transferred to Shonan Beauty Clinic (SBC) group, a private operator. The resort reopened for the 2023–24 season under the new name Snow Resort Romance no Kamisama.
The unusual name comes from the famous Japanese pop song Romance no Kamisama by singer Kohmi Hirose, a song that was used by snow sports retailer “Alpen Sports” TV CM, and that reached massive popularity during the ski boom of the 90’s.
The new operator, in an unusual move away from its regular beauty clinic business, has been investing in the resort and giving it a new identity, including some quirky discounts for beauty treatments and Kohmi Hirose live concerts, while retaining some of the features that made the former Kijimadaira Ski Resort special.
The north-facing side of Mt. Kosha
Romance no Kamisama occupies the north-facing slopes of Mt. Kosha, which means good snow quality.
The current resort has ten main courses, while the upper mountain contains some genuinely serious skiing, the lower mountain has several wide, gentle runs that are well suited to learning and building confidence for beginners and intermediate skiers. The resort is generally quieter than neighbouring Nozawa Onsen or Shiga Kogen, making it easier to enjoy the slopes without spending your day in lift queues.
What really put Kijimadaira on the map is the top course known as “The Pioneer” – around 800 metres of vertical drop with a maximum pitch of 46 degrees, making it the steepest run at any ski resort in Japan. Just to put it in context, the famous “Harakiri” run, the steepest ski course in Austria at the Mayrhofen ski area, is “only” 38 degrees.
The Pioneer Course: 46 degrees of steep powder
The Pioneer Course is the signature run at Romance no Kamisama.
At its steepest point it reaches 46 degrees, with an average gradient of around 35 degrees over approximately 870 metres. It is a serious expert-only descent.
The Pioneer is deliberately left ungroomed, and its north-facing aspect can hold excellent powder. The resort itself describes it as a powder zone, and the course is opened only when the conditions and safety situation allow it.
Historically, the course has also required significant avalanche and snow-safety assessment before opening. Local ski-patrol information has highlighted the avalanche risk associated with the terrain and the need for patrols to secure the course before it can be opened.
For an advanced skier, this is what makes Romance no Kamisama so interesting.
You can take a lift almost to the summit of Mt. Kosha, look across the enormous landscape of Northern Nagano, and then drop into a steep, north-facing powder line.
That is not the experience most people expect when they hear the words “small Japanese ski resort.”
Powder skiing beyond the Pioneer
The Pioneer Course gets most of the attention, but it is not the only reason to bring wider skis.
The upper mountain has a mixture of natural terrain, ungroomed sections and tree skiing. The resort’s newer Woodrun Course, introduced for the 2025–26 season, adds what was once a little-known secret for locals: 1.3 km of tree side-country skiing within a bowl that, despite now being open to the public, still holds a few secrets and entry points, some requiring a bit of skinning.
Then there is the Passion Course, which follows natural terrain and a gully-like feature. Following snowfall, large sections can remain ungroomed, creating opportunities for natural banks, walls and powder turns perfect for intermediates looking to boost their powder skills.
Romance no Kamisama is not a huge resort where you need dozens of lifts and hundreds of kilometres of pistes to find something interesting. Its appeal for experienced riders is much more about terrain quality, snow retention and low skier density, It is a perfect one-day trip from the crowded Nozawa Onsen, or a great option when the conditions are good – and exactly the kind of resort we like to build into our Powder Belt ski tour.
If you want to ski Japan’s steepest terrain without the crowds, get in touch at outdoor@lacolinaretreat.jp or browse our ski packages and itineraries – we can build your trip around days like this.