Zao Snow Monsters

On the upper slopes above Zao Onsen, wet wind off the Sea of Japan freezes onto the branches of Maries fir, layer on layer, until each tree becomes a lumpy white column. The Japanese term is juhyo; the tourist name, snow monsters, is a fair description of a field of them under low cloud. A two-stage ropeway climbs from the hot spring village into the middle of it, and from late January the field is lit at night on set evenings. The same slopes are a working ski area, so many people meet the trees from a chairlift. In summer the road over the ridge opens to Okama, a crater lake that turns green in strong light.

What you actually see

• The rime field - iced firs standing in rows across the upper slope.
• The night illumination - the trees floodlit on scheduled winter evenings.
• Zao Onsen - a sulphur hot spring village at the base of the lifts.
• Okama crater lake - the green summit lake reached by road from late April.

When to go

The trees need weeks of freezing wind to build, so early February is the reliable window; December is usually too thin and by mid March they are collapsing. For Okama and the ridge road, the season runs from late April to early November. Night illumination happens on published dates only, and the last ropeway down is early.

Honest expectations

The ropeway shuts whenever wind or visibility crosses the limit, which happens often in exactly the weather that makes the rime, and a whitewash of cloud can hide the trees you paid to see. Mild winters produce shaggy trees rather than sculpted ones. It is well below freezing at the top, queues are long at weekends, and the summit lake is often fogged in.

Nearby

Yamagata city, Yamadera's cliff temple and the wooden street at Ginzan Onsen to the north.