The steamy hot Tokyo summer is upon us, and I personally would rather be anywhere else than a concrete jungle. With limited travel options this year, I packed up a rental car with groceries and drove straight for the mountain getaway of Hakuba. Nestled in the heart of the Japanese Alps in the prefecture of Nagano, this idyllic town reminded me so much of the small villages in Switzerland. Hakuba is known for its ski slopes, but seriously do not sleep on summertime Hakuba! With such a variety of activities, beautiful weather and gorgeous mountains, Hakuba quickly became a new favorite of mine.
Stay
I really did not feel comfortable staying in a hotel with many people, so we opted for a whole cabin of our own. We stayed at the lovely Powder Peak Misorano lodge, which sleeps 6! (It was only me plus two others however, spacious!) Powder Peak Misorano is a cute little cabin tucked away in the forest with the nearby sounds of the gushing river. There is also a large enough kitchen in which we made all our meals to minimize any contact with the locals. We were able to barbecue, go river rock hunting, and comfortably sleep at night with no air conditioning. It was pretty much bliss. The owner, Greg, also has loads of amazing hints about what to do around Hakuba, and staying there really made my time all the more special!
Greg also has two other self-contained houses which sleep more people and also a lodge. We chose this particular cabin because we wanted to be more in nature and weren’t going to be heading to bars or restaurants in Echoland. Here is the website if you’re interested in looking at the properties:
https://powderpeakhakuba.com/accommodation/
Food
BBQ Pizza
Our attempt at making BBQ pizza on the grill was a pretty comical one. I am used to making homemade pizza dough at home in Tokyo, but I really underestimated how dry the dough needed to be when you place it on the grill. So let’s just say the first few pie attempts were, uh, not good. We finally sort of got the hang of it and I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty they were! I add veggie sausages from Ikea, Aeon plant-based cheese, and homemade pizza sauce to mine. I definitely want to try this method again!
BBQ Night
Definitely couldn’t let a perfectly good BBQ go to waste, so we spent another night firing up the grill and toasting allll the veggies! We used locally grown corn, potatoes, negi, shitake, and tomatoes. Also, we slow roasted some garlic and eggplant which we combined together to make a dip! Lastly, crisped up some tofu and baguettes and it all came together perfectly. I also found a sauce in the supermarket which is meant for yakiniku (grilled meat) which had no animal products in it, so we used that for dipping. The vegetables themselves were already really flavorful anyways with just the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Spicy Korean Tofu
My friend treated us to a specialty of hers one night, and I am so glad she did. Definitely going to add this recipe into my repertoire. Here is the recipe she used: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/dubu-jorim. It was quite simple, just grill some firm tofu on each side then prepare the spicy sauce. The only difficult to find ingredient maybe is the Korean red pepper flakes.
Oyaki
One of the real treats of traveling around in Nagano is that a snack they are famous for is vegan! Oyaki, a type of Japanese dumpling, is usually filled with only vegan friendly fillings such as mustard greens or fruit. We picked some up at a rest stop and I happily ate them at home. The ones we got were the traditional mustard greens and an eggplant one. They were delicious and I am so happy about this accidentally vegan snack I can enjoy!
Activities
Hiking Happo Ike
Happo Ike Pond is a popular hike in Hakuba, which on a clear day you will get to see the neighboring Japanese Alps reflected in the pond. When we left in the morning it was clear, but by the time we reached the summit it was completely covered by clouds. Despite that, it was a stunning hike up to the top so I wasn’t even disappointed! I would recommend going really early in the morning if you want to catch the reflection in the pond. You have to take three lifts up to the top to even begin the hike. Then you hike to the top in about 90 minutes. It’s not a particularly difficult hike either, and you really can’t beat those views!
Lake Aoki
Lake Aoki is actually one of the most beautiful lakes I’ve ever seen. It has crystal clear blue water where you can actually see all the way to the bottom. We spent a few days hanging by the lake, one of which we rented SUP equipment and took our leisure time paddling across the lake. While the lake is one of the hot spots in Hakuba, there are no public piers or beaches that you can enter the lake from. Either you can hack it from the shores, or you can head to APC (there’s two) and rent SUP boards for their pier access or pay ¥500 a person to use their lake entrance. It’s owned by the loveliest family, and we were happy to give them some business. We bought floaties from the nearby Big Aeon and floated our troubles away on the lake.
There are loads of activities in Hakuba in the summer time like white water rafting, hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, parasailing–they’ve got it all. We chose a few activities and relaxed in between those. You can also head to the nearby river or drive around to find other refreshing rivers. If you have the time, it would be amazing to stay a week or so in this area just to take in all it has to offer!
Have you ever been to Hakuba? What did you do while you were there? What are some other summer activities in Japan you would recommend? Xoxo Jackie
