@kagurasnowsurfer?

Posted by: @skoonk

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I work remotely and I was thinking of working remotely in Japan next winter season - I'd go snowboarding during the day and work at night! I qualify for Japan's Digital Nomad Visa and for the sake of this post, I'm going to assume that I get approval from my company as well.

I'm not sure if anyone has experience living in Japan or the answers to my questions but I'd figure I'd ask anyways because maybe someone does know!

1.) I'm looking to get the Hakuba Season Pass and take advantage of the super early bird price around July/August. I won't plan on moving to Japan until December-April though. Does anyone know what happens to the pass? I have the Ikon Pass currently (I live in Colorado) and they mailed the pass to me. For the Hakuba pass, would they mail internationally? The website says choose a pickup location, but I'm not sure if they would hold it until I show up to the resort?

2.) This is more of a housing question - I'm looking to live short term as near as possible to the resort (without living on the overpriced resort itself). I'm looking at properties like this one, basically a walk to the train station which takes you to the Hakuba train station and then a shuttle bus to the resort. 

Does anyone know a short-term rentals for foreigners that are close to ski resorts (basically, not in Tokyo)? It seems like they are limited as most short term rentals are in downtown Tokyo which is way too far from the resorts. For the Hakuba Pass, I'm looking at apartments close to Nagano. I could also look at other resorts like Niseko and Hokkaido and find apartments nearby?

3.) Alternatively, I could live a bit farther away but drive by car. I can get an International Driver Permit, but does anyone know the cost of renting a car for 5 months? I'm guessing I could stay in Tokyo for a week or so, get my car sorted out there first? I do feel kind of scared driving in a foreign country while not knowing the language LOL.

Anyways, this is more of a dream and I'd still need to confirm with my company that such relocation is possible, but it's hard to go snowboarding on the weekdays and weekends are crowded (with plenty of ppl zooming down the runs), and traffic sucks.

OK. I live in Yokohama but I do have a friend who lives near Hakuba. I can try to forward your inquires (though, you are kind of asking for a lot of information). If you go the International Driving Permit route, I would recommend buying a used car here. Condition of used cars is usually better than other countries and the prices are reasonable. If you plan to live near a ski area or drive to one 4WD or chains are highly recommended. Back to Hakuba, there are a decent amount of foreigners who live in that area (or Niseko in Hokkaido) so, I am pretty that there are real estate agents that help folk with zero Japanese (but it might cost more). In any case, why don't you condense some of this content and send me a PM.