Welcome to Winterland in Nozawa Onsen! We have very limited accommodation availability in peak season so please see our Room Calendar to book a room. March is a great time to visit and we are open until March 31, 2026. Reservations are recommended for Winterland Taproom & Gyoza Bar and the dinner reservations for 2025-26 on Oct. 15, 2025.
Winterland Lodge—a boutique 3-star hotel in Nozawa Onsen
Winterland Lodge & Taproom is a boutique hotel with 6 rooms overlooking the main corner of Nozawa Onsen Village. When you arrive on the Nozawa Liner Bus from Iiyama Station look up and you have arrived at Winterland! Each room has ensuite bathroom and shower and custom craftsmen beds that can sleep a family of four if you want to all squeeze into one room. The Yokochi free onsen (hot spring) is right across the street and several more are within walking distance. The free Shinyu Pair Lift and the Yu Road (moving escalator) are just a 5-minute walk from Winterland. Guests enjoy a great breakfast in the restaurant before hitting the slopes.
Winterland Taproom—Craft Beer, Cider and Gyoza Bar in Nozawa Onsen
Come enjoy good food, good music and good times before or after a day on the mountain or exploring the village. Start the day with an espresso and big western or Japanese breakfast at Winterland—and the kids will love the Winterland Waffles. Happy Hour daily with curated music playlists and monthly live music. Find out What’s On! The Winterland Taproom features 12 taps with domestic and international craft beer and cider as well as a full bar. The izakaya-style menu is fun for the whole family and Winterland has a Kid’s Space so parents and kids all have a great time. Guests may come for the craft beer, but they stay for our famous gyoza featuring local ingredients and cutstom-made for Winterland in the gyoza-capital of Japan—Utsunomiya.
The Winterland Story
Winterland Lodge & Taproom was conceived by music and mountains. Two friends had made Japan their home for more than twenty years and had been snowboarding in Nozawa Onsen since before the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998. Both had grown up with the Grateful Dead—Gardner in Oregon going to shows on the West Coast and Chris, from Connecticut, on the East Coast. In 2015, Chris had an extra last-minute ticket to Fare Thee Well—the final shows the band would play together as The Grateful Dead—in Chicago. Gardner had just landed in Portland when he got the call and less than twenty-four hours later they were in Soldier Field on the 4th of July with fireworks over head as the band played on. The seed for Winterland Nozawa Onsen was planted there.
