Lotte Arai Resort Video Reviews: Slopes & Mountain

A viral fishing short in which the creator scatters habanero spice into the sea to see what happens. Entirely unrelated to the resort and indexed in error.

A business-history explainer on the resort that reportedly burned through ¥80bn: the 1993 opening, the third-sector bankruptcy, nine years standing derelict, the ¥1.8bn auction in 2015 and the Lotte-backed relaunch as a high-end powder destination.

A thirty-second food short about Omori Ramen's Arai branch in Myoko, pitched on HIKAKIN having loved it. A ramen shop, not the ski resort — indexed on the place name.

A countdown of the five snowiest resorts in Japan. Lotte Arai lands at number three on roughly 16 m of annual snowfall, pitched as the country's only major luxury ski resort and as a freeride destination where about 70% of the terrain is left ungroomed.

A tour of the resorts around Nagano — Hakuba, Seki Onsen, Myoko, Shiga Kogen, Madarao and Nozawa — in which Lotte Arai gets a warm four-minute segment as one of the presenter's favourites for patrolled, widely spaced tree and off-piste skiing.

A sixty-second sponsored short: a ski YouTuber who moved from Osaka to Nagano visits the resort that came back from being a ruin, finds deep snow even at Golden Week, and says winter-sports people should go at least once.

A Niigata TV news report embedded with the Lotte Arai patrol team: the 6am briefing, avalanche checks before opening gates, two rescues on the day, an avalanche-dog search drill, and a warning about people slipping past the boundary.

Two friends do a two-night Lotte Arai trip for ¥11,150 a head on a spring student campaign. They hike the Daishamen face — easy in soft spring snow — eat their way through the buffet, and rate the hotel food the best they have had.

A caption-only walkthrough of the whole hotel over a December stay: an Arai-building twin room, the four buildings and their connecting passages, the bakery cafe, library, spa and onsen, a Japanese set dinner, and the bill — ¥53,020 for two with two meals.

A bluebird powder day ridden with two sponsored pros, framed as how to win in a fiercely contested powder resort: ask patrol where snow is left, take the mid-station gondola instead of walking, and move fast when a zone opens.

A professional skier's first visit, arriving by ferry and car from Hokkaido. He rides Funaishi, hikes to the signature Daishamen face for leftover powder, drops into Zendana Bowl, and ends up calling Arai one of his favourite resorts in Japan.

A first visit to Lotte Arai on a two-day Myoko trip. The creator is struck by how wide open and unrestricted it feels, does a five-minute boot-pack to a traverse line, then drives thirty minutes to Akakura Onsen for night two.

The season's last powder day, and Daishamen opens just as they arrive. The pair boot-pack it three times, planning each lap around which aspect still holds cold snow — north and east faces over the sun-hit sides — and arguing tactics on the way up.

A fifteen-second clip of the mogul line at Arai on the creator's last ski day of the season. Music only; the description admits the afternoon fell apart.

Daishamen opens on 9 January and the creator hikes it. She misjudges the timing — waits, gives up and rides a bumpy Funaishi, then arrives late to the boot-pack — and climbs for about an hour, finishing on Zendana Bowl.

An early-April visit wrecked by wind: the Zendana lift crawls, then shuts for the day, and the freeride gates go with it. What is left is the full groomed top-to-bottom run, which the creator says she almost never rides and finds surprisingly long and fun.

A green-season family stay on a Niigata residents' discount: tubing, the Tree Adventure ropes course, the indoor playground with trampolines and bouldering, and yakiniku ten minutes down the road. Two adults and two children for ¥23,000.

A van-life crew reunites in Niigata after the ferry from Hokkaido and spends a day at Lotte Arai with a guest rider. They find the first genuinely open bowls of their road trip, hike about thirty minutes along the ridge, and finish on ramen down the road.

An autumn drive up from the Kansai side to stay a night at Lotte Arai for around ¥10,000 with two meals. Covers the roadside station at Arai, the Lodge building room, the Hoshizora onsen, the Japanese restaurant Asahi and a Niigata sake fair.

A summer girls' trip to a ski resort with no snow: the 25 m pool, a buffet dinner with steak cooked to order, the zip line the presenter chickens out of, and a Tree Adventure ropes course that turns out to be the advanced one.

A restaurant-by-restaurant tour of the hotel: the room and its unusually large desk, the breakfast buffet, The Plate, the Korean dining room Dakhanmari, the Japanese restaurant Asahi, the Beco steakhouse and the shops, filmed on a heavy snow day.

A seventeen-second powder-day short: one run, one song, no words. The title supplies the only context — a pow day at Lotte Arai.

A fifty-one-second snowboard-shop product explainer for the Bataleon Disaster 151, presented by a rider named Yoshikazu Arai. Nothing to do with the resort — indexed purely on the name Arai.

A pre-season overnight stay in late November, before any snow. The creator wanders the whole complex — onsen, pool, gym, library, steakhouse, gondola building, zip line — on a ¥10,980 half-board deal, and reads the trail map wishing he could ski it.

Two riders test a new DJI Osmo Action 6 at Lotte Arai, chosen deliberately because it snowed there the day before in an otherwise snow-poor season. About 10 cm of soft snow on a bluebird day, and the camera talk runs the whole video.

An eighteen-minute music-only stay at the Lodge building, presented as the luxury option: room, common areas, dining and the wider resort, with no narration at all.

A nostalgic night walk around Arai station and town in Myoko — the arcade shopping street, the city hall, the creator's old high school and the Echigo Tokimeki Railway platform. Nothing to do with the ski resort.

An afternoon hunt for leftover powder after 30 cm overnight. Zendana Bowl is closed, so the skier probes whichever freeride gates are open, finds flat light hiding the terrain, and praises patrol for chalking snow conditions on the gate signs.

A full property-and-mountain review from a credit-card and travel channel: two hours by bullet train plus a free hotel shuttle, a room and amenity tour, three meals, and a terrain verdict that the draw here is gated off-piste rather than the small number of managed runs.

A thirty-six-second parent-and-child short running through the Adventure Pass: the trampoline and bouldering playground, a 190 m tubing run, the tree-top adventure course and the zip line — all of it in the rain.

A compact end-of-season trip report: Hokuriku Shinkansen to Joetsu-Myoko, the free but reservation-only shuttle, keycard lift gates, the trail breakdown in kilometres, the Sky Restaurant Zen at the top of the gondola, and a buffet dinner at The Plate.

A town-portrait documentary about Myoko City, formerly Arai City: the Hokkoku Kaido post town, the covered shopping arcade, Echigo Tokimeki Railway's Arai Station, and Sekiyama Shrine at the foot of Mount Myoko. Nothing about the ski resort.

A silent walk through Araijuku, the Hokkoku Kaido post town laid out by Uesugi Kenshin. A history piece about the town, not the ski resort.

A late-March lap with a three-metre base still in place. Zendana Bowl is closed and most gates are roped, but one Wase entrance and Mamushi Gaeshi are open, and the rider works the natural banked gullies in softening corn snow.

A once-in-a-decade snowfall and a carry-over powder day after the previous day's closure. The queue loops through the stairwell and out of the building, and the pair spend the morning hunting untouched faces and re-reading the terrain between laps.

A March van-life episode: the crew sleep in the resort car park to beat the weekend queues, wake to a surprise dusting, and hike 30 minutes to the top for a run down the Big Bowl in heavy spring snow, with the lower gates all shut for glide cracks.

A Hong Kong travel channel films the green-and-white side of Lotte Arai: the zip line billed as Asia's longest, snow tubing and the other activities, set entirely to music with no narration.

A mistakes-to-avoid guide to Lotte Arai: ship your gear with Yamato, pre-book the free shuttle, and above all pick the right building, because the old Arai block and the newer lodge, club and nest buildings feel like different hotels at about $50 a night apart.

A thirty-one-second package advert from a deals site: seven nights at Lotte Arai with daily breakfasts, an exclusive dining experience, lift passes and onsen access, from $1,799 for two adults against a stated value over $5,800.

Run footage from a Crown Prize ski-test attempt at Arai Mountain Resort in late April, cut to music. The only speech is a coach shouting turn, turn and go, go, go.

A GoPro POV of a first day snowboarding at Lotte Arai: a warm-up groomer, then four hike-to laps into freshly opened untracked terrain on a bluebird day, with the rider repeatedly saying the hiking is what buys the snow.

An honest pre-Golden-Week state-of-the-mountain report. The pro rides everything still open in late April, finds mogul hell on one side and technical tree and gully lines on the other, and concludes that spring riding here is still worth the trip.

A one-minute entry in a series ranking Japan's best powder resorts. Arai's case: most slopes ungroomed, a ski-in ski-out hotel, easy day trips from Myoko. Against it: a pricey hotel, few groomers for beginners, and a mid-to-small ski area.

A fifty-eight-second short version of the same channel's snowfall ranking: Rusutsu 14 m, Geto Kogen 15 m, Lotte Arai 16 m, Niseko 17 m, and Kiroro and Sapporo Kokusai tied first on 18 m.

Day one of a September family stay, booked in connecting rooms with friends. An intro to the resort's year-round offer, a room tour, the indoor pool that the title says delivered, fireworks in the courtyard and the onsen before bed.

A pro snowboarder tries the First Class pass just before Golden Week and plays up the aristocrat treatment: a private gate, an empty VIP lane and no queue at all. With a bad knee he takes it easy, hunts a water-slide spot, and meets local families on the hill.

Day two of a September family stay, given over to the green-season activities: tubing, the indoor playground and games, a Koala's March treasure hunt with a sticker prize, and a verdict that late summer means short queues.

A stay review of Super Hotel Arai, a budget chain hotel inside the Michi-no-Eki Arai complex — not Lotte Arai Resort. ¥5,760 a night with a hot spring, a free welcome bar and a free organic breakfast, plus half-price sashimi from the fish market next door.

A forty-six-second first-tracks clip at Lotte Arai, cut to music with no commentary. The title carries the whole of the claim: first track.

A thirty-two-second clip of snowboarding with the creator's sister in Myoko, described simply as fun powder. Music only, no commentary.

A twenty-two-second short about the 300-to-400-year-old ginkgo at Arai Betsuin temple in Myoko. A sightseeing clip about the town, not the ski resort.

A 2019 travel-show feature shot with a resort guide named Thomas. Five metres of base, nineteen metres of accumulated snowfall that season, terrain from world-class off-piste down to beginner, and a sushi counter the presenter rates the best he has had.

A ten-second Korean short filmed on a mini tree run beside the second slope at Yokoteyama, Shiga Kogen. A different resort in a different prefecture — indexed in error.

After a full-mountain closure the day before, the pro turns up at 6:35am and counts himself 46th in a queue that already loops out of the building. The question the video asks — is there still powder from that far back — gets an emphatic yes.

A Hakuba-based rider's week round-up that ends with a day trip to Lotte Arai. He rates it for uncrowded powder fields, notes the Gold Class queue suggests the secret is out, and warns it is no place for kids or anyone shaky in deep snow.

An autumn friends' trip based at Lotte Arai that is mostly about eating and drinking — nodoguro in Arai, a crab market run to Nou, the hotel bar and the Beko steakhouse — ending with a gondola ride up to see the snowless slopes and autumn colours.

The resort's own sixteen-second spring commercial: skiing and snowboarding, activities, and a closing line promising the finest resort experience.

A forty-three-second short introducing the Arai building as the casual, everyday half of the resort, framed for summer as well as winter. Music only, with the pitch in the description.

A bluebird gelände-powder session with a coaching debrief. He skips the Fast Pass, queues with about eighty people ahead of him, and explains how to keep finding fresh snow once the obvious faces are gone — shade, north aspects and terrain shadows.

A short powder-day clip from a sponsored rider: a quick piece to camera saying he just had a blast pow day at Arai and loves snowboarding, then the day's footage set to sound.

A thirteen-second clip captioned that nobody had been down it. The description explains why: continuous overnight snow raised the avalanche risk and several zones were closed.

A sixty-one-second spring powder edit from a Myoko-based channel, cut to a song with no commentary. Title and footage are the whole of it.

A music-only powder edit from a week at Lotte Arai where, as the description puts it, the snow started and never stopped. No narration at all — the captions capture only the song lyrics.

The final episode of a Spanish-language Nagano series, filmed at Lotte Arai. Cut to music throughout, with the description supplying the only context: a luxury resort bought and rebuilt after years abandoned.

A music-only drive from Hotel Route Inn Myoko-Arai out to Naena Falls. A different hotel and a summer waterfall — indexed under this resort only through the place name Arai.

A music-cut edit whose title asks whether this can really still be in-bounds. The description is the informative part: the Big Bowl and Daishamen, reached by a twenty-minute skin, with many double-diamond gates.

A 4K tree-run film shot at Ikenotaira Alpenblick in Myoko — a different resort entirely. Music only, and indexed here in error.

A music-only powder edit from a 2023 trip, framed in the description as Japan rescuing another poor European season. No narration, just riding.

A sixteen-second vertical short from a Traditional Chinese channel, captioned as intermediate-to-advanced runs comprehensively beaten. Music only, with no detail anywhere.

A twenty-second vertical short of the DIY course, which the title says opened on 7 February. Music only, no commentary, and nothing on screen naming the line.

An American rider finally makes his Japan trip after three years of waiting, and spends a warm March day at Lotte Arai teaching his friend Joe to snowboard for the first time, in slush rather than the powder he was hoping for.

A family ski trip to Myoko told mostly through the kids. Deep snow at the base, a beginner slope that turns out steeper than it looked, a windy day that shuts the gondola, and a final bluebird morning when they finally get a proper ski day.

Part one of a family snow trip: toddlers in the snow, a snack kiosk and games indoors, lunch up at Zendana Station while dad and the eldest snowboard, a lap the kids call the long run, and a plan to head over to Umanose.

A ninety-second booking-site readout: ten room types listed on booking.com, over 100 reviews, an 8.0 rating, 3pm check-in and 11am check-out, and the card and photo-ID requirements at check-in. Nothing about the mountain.

A forty-two-second ambient clip of snow falling at night at the resort in December 2022. No speech, no skiing — just the snowfall.

A 2021 GoPro powder edit shot on Mt Kokenashi, according to the description. Music only, with no narration and nothing on screen identifying the line.

A coaching session with a beginner called Hailey on a warm day: sticky spring snow that pulls the board left, practice spins on the flats, an instruction to lead with the right foot, and a slope so slow they end up stuck.

A 2019 Japanuary edit: a rare bluebird day at Lotte Arai just before the powder started dumping again, according to the description. Music only, no commentary.

A 2026 riding clip from a Taiwanese visitor who chartered a car straight from Narita to Myoko. Music only; the description carries the trip logistics, not the video.

A 2018 crew edit shot at Arai, cut to music with no commentary. The description says only that it was a day of fun.

A second synthetic-voice booking advert for the Lotte Arai hotel, near-identical in structure to others of its kind: 257 rooms, kids stay free, bar, boutiques, buffet dinners with Niigata specialities, included parking, and a QR code to book.

A nine-second New Year countdown filmed at the resort at the end of 2022. One line of speech and nothing else.

A three-and-a-half minute riding session cut to an original Japanese rap track. The captions carry only the lyrics — about chasing what you love and grinding at it daily — and nothing about the resort itself.

A seventy-seven-second powder-day clip from 2019, cut entirely to music. The title and description say only that it was a powder day at Lotte Arai in Myoko Kogen.

A fifty-second powder-skiing clip from a Korean ski instructor, cut to music with no commentary. Hashtags rather than narration carry the context.

A GoPro edit dedicated to a mate back home: a full hike to the top, the ocean visible from the summit, and run after run of deep powder with almost nothing said beyond whooping and swearing at how good it is.

A 2013 clip titled taro ARAI 413, described as taro and a dragon helicopter. Unrelated to the resort and indexed on the word Arai alone.

Two friends skiing Zendana in March 2020, filmed without commentary. The description calls it one of the top runs at the resort and notes the season's snowfall had just passed twelve metres.

A synthetic-voice listicle of ten things to know before booking Lotte Arai, assembled from booking-site data: location, 257 rooms, a value-for-money score of 8.2 and a facilities score of 8.6, dining options, family policy and a booking QR code.

A fifty-six-second sign-off at the end of day three: the gondola has closed, the mountain is empty, and the creator realises he is the last one down before they shut the run.

A third synthetic-voice booking advert for the Lotte Arai hotel, running the same script beats: 12 km from Myoko, opened 1994 and renovated 2017, 257 rooms, free stays for children aged one and up, shops, bar, buffet dinner, parking, and a QR code.

A short synthetic-voice booking advert written in second person — imagine yourself, picture yourself — listing the same facts as its siblings: 257 rooms, 12 km from Myoko, breakfast, bar, shops, free stays for children aged one and up, and a QR code.

A brief synthetic-voice booking advert: opened 1994, renovated 2017, 12 km from Myoko, 257 rooms, 3pm check-in, children aged one and up free, shops, a well-stocked bar, included breakfast, on-site parking and a buffet dinner.

The shortest of the synthetic-voice booking adverts at two minutes and change: 257 rooms, 12 km from Myoko, free stays for children aged one and up, shops, a cocktail bar, buffet dinner, parking, breakfast and a QR code in the description.

The most informative of the synthetic-voice booking adverts: it names the two buffet restaurants, notes Myoko-Kogen Station is 13.5 km away so you need a car or shuttle, and lists the spa, pools, kids club and four staff languages.

A 100-second synthetic-voice booking advert running the standard list: 12 km from Myoko, opened 1994 and renovated 2017, 257 rooms, 3pm check-in, children aged one and up free, shops, bar, breakfast, buffet dinner, parking and a QR code.

A synthetic-voice booking advert in a chatty, enthusiastic register — a real gem, it stole my heart — covering the standard facts: 12 km from Myoko, 257 rooms, free stays for children aged one and up, shops, bar, breakfast, buffet dinner and a QR code.

A synthetic-voice booking advert for the Lotte Arai hotel, framed as elegance and mountain serenity: 12 km from Myoko, 257 rooms, 3pm check-in, free stays for children aged one and up, breakfast and buffet dinner, a bar, shops, and a QR code.

An eighty-second synthetic-voice booking advert, the shortest of the set: 12 km from Myoko, built 1994 and renovated 2017, 257 rooms, 3pm check-in, children aged one and up free, shops, bar, breakfast, parking, buffet dinner and a QR code.

A two-minute synthetic-voice booking advert with no first-hand content: 12 km from Myoko, opened 1994 and renovated 2017, 257 rooms, 3pm check-in, children aged one and up free, shops, breakfast, buffet dinner, parking and a QR code.

A synthetic-voice booking advert written in the hotel's own first person: 12 km from Myoko, 257 rooms, flexible check-in and check-out, free stays for children aged one and up, breakfast, buffet dinner, bar, shops, parking and a QR code.

A synthetic-voice booking advert for the Lotte Arai hotel: established 1994 and renovated 2017, 12 km from Myoko, 257 rooms, 3pm check-in, free stays for children aged one and up, shops, breakfast, buffet dinner and a QR code.

A synthetic-voice booking advert in a heightened luxury register — sanctuary, estate, curated boutiques — covering the same facts as its siblings: 12 km from Myoko, 257 rooms, free stays for children aged one and up, buffet dinner and a QR code.

A synthetic-voice booking advert for the Lotte Arai hotel: 257 rooms, free stay for children aged one and over, on-site shops, bar, breakfast and dinner buffets, 3pm check-in and 11am check-out. No skiing content beyond one passing line about Myoko's slopes.

Another synthetic-voice booking advert for the Lotte Arai hotel, pitched at solo, couple and family travellers: 12 km from Myoko, 257 rooms, free stays for children aged one and up, shops, a bar, breakfast and buffet dinner, and a booking QR code.