Hi folks,
It's time to ski Japan and wondering if anyone has some tips on booking plane trips, accomm, and where to go from Shanghai.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Call Helen Gong at Crescent travel for a cheap airfare (6272 7199).

Fly to Narita or Haneda (Tokyo). Take a bullet train (90 mins) or bus (4 hours) to Nagano. Tons of ski trips from there!

Don't forget to stay in a Minshuku which is a traditional Japanese B&B. They start from 400rmb per night and they are all over Japan. Also do the outdoor onsens.....baths.

Skiing in Japan is a cultural experience as well as fantastic fun with amazing scenery.

ENJOY!

Adrienne
http://www.shanghaiprops.com

i just booked a trip myself for 8 days which is working out a lot cheaper than package tours i found. i booked a airfare shanghai - niseko 4600rmb rtn cha bu duo (china eastern)
accomm was bout 10,000yen per night single room in a lodge.
you can book transfers online or your accomm can arrange it for you
just buy lift tickets at the bottom of the hill or if your accomm offers a discount from there.

Northwest airlines is one of the cheapest to fly to Narita if you buy online way in advance but no harm trying today.
Like Shanghai, there are 2 airports in Tokyo. Depending on where you will go in Japan, sometimes it is better to fly to Haneda (Hongqiao equivalent) than Narita (Pudong equivalent) as most domestic flights takeoff from Haneda (eg. if you're planning to ski in Hokkaido) and it is quite a hassle to transfer between airports. MU, FM, JAL and ANA flies from Hongqiao to Haneda, but usually more expensive than flying to Narita (I got mine from Ctrip a couple of months back. It is quite expensive as I checked again yesterday). From Japan, however, you should be able to benefit from special domestic flight/train fare for tourists which you have to buy before arriving in Japan. www.japan-guide.com has all the info you need to know.

www.snowjapan.com has all the info on where to go and list of accomm.

Have fun!

Thanks for the tips everyone. I wrongly assumed flights to Japan would be cheaper ($2000RMB range) considering how close Shanghai is. However, after a bit more research I'm thinking of going to Niseko.

Wuseng33, may I ask who you used to book your airfare and accommodation? Are you flying into Sapparo and getting a bus transfer?

hey , my Chinese friend found the airfare for me and i was a bit lucky ( its amazing what prices you can find if you research in Chinese) and yes it is Shanghai/ Sapporo Fares generally are in the 8000rmb/ 2000aud range and is actually cheaper to book a package and fly from Australia. the next best fare i found was around. i was having the same thoughts that we are so close to japan in shanghai it should be cheap but is not the case. i booked my accom here:
http://www.kimamaya.com/english/top.html
it is very tight for accom at the moment as it is coming towards the end of the season and there is a ice festival in sapporo and snowboard comps in niseko in feb. i will try to find the travel agent i used for you and post later.

Just found the travel agents number i think its called -china travel sky PH:5109 9929
as i said before my chinese friend called them so on this part im not all that useful, but the ticket was approx. 4746rmb and i booked 1 week ago for the 4th feb.
hope this info is useful