Shiga Highlands, Mountain ski resort in Yamanouchi, Japan

Shiga Highlands is a large ski resort complex with more than 20 interconnected slopes and numerous lifts spread across the mountainous terrain. The resorts sit on a high plateau with varied terrain, offering runs for different skill levels and abilities.

Nagano Electric Railway founder Fujihira Kōzu named the plateau after his home village of Shiga in Saku and began developing ski areas around the ponds at the foot of Mount Shiga. The resort later expanded into the Ichinose and Yokoteyama districts. In 1980, 13,000 hectares were designated a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve, and in 1998 the area hosted events of the Nagano Winter Olympics.

The highlands are home to natural hot springs that feed traditional Japanese inns scattered throughout the area. After skiing, visitors can soak in these thermal baths, which remain an important part of the local way of life.

The resorts are easy to reach with free shuttle buses connecting different areas throughout the highlands. These convenient bus links make it simple to move between slopes and explore the entire region.

The mountain hut Unjō no Yado Yokote Sanchō Hyutte, at 2,305 m on Yokoteyama, contains a bakery that claims to be Japan's highest. It also serves as a restaurant and hotel, and the surrounding summit area is known for snow monsters (juhyō) forming on the maries' fir trees in midwinter.