REPORT

August kicked off with beautiful, pleasant weather. While the summer sun still felt intensely hot, the air felt less humid than last week, and the breeze was noticeably cooler. The fluffy white plumes of watasuge cotton grass swaying gently above the green marshland were so strikingly beautiful that I found myself stopping in my tracks, completely captivated by the scene.
[Watasuge Marsh]

A wide variety of flowers were in bloom across the various mash areas, including not only watasuge cotton grass but also plenty of Nikko-kisuge daylilies, hiogi-ayame irises, oba-senkyu, and gozen tachibana. Along the west side boardwalk of the Ukishima Marsh, spikes of Ibuki-torano and tall yellow otakara-ko were blooming in abundance. In the area just before the Tenbo Marsh, where the snow lingered late this year, clusters of Tateyama-rindo, chinguruma, and yukiwari-so made for a vibrant alpine flower patch.
[Ukishima Marsh～Ginmeisui Spring]

This morning, determined not to be beat by the billowing clouds overhead, I headed straight for the Tenbo Marsh after getting off the Tsugaike Ropeway. There, I met a woman from Kanagawa Prefecture (pictured, left), who told me, “I came here for this view. I stayed at the Tsugaike Hütte last night and hiked up to here first thing this morning. By the way, I heard you can sometimes see people hiking across the Hakuba Daisekkei from here—can you spot anyone today?” As of 8:30 a.m., even with my 20/13 vision, I couldn’t make anyone out.
[Tenbo Marsh]

At Pochadas, which opened on 7/19 (Sat.), I met a family from Tochigi Prefecture (pictured) who told me, “We’re spending our summer vacation traveling all over the country, camping in our car!” By the time I descended to the gondola mid-station, the summer heat was in full force, even at this high elevation of about 950 meters. Fortunately, the pond, fed by snowmelt from the Northern Alps, was icy cold, making it the perfect place to cool off and enjoy some refreshing playtime!
[Hakuba Tsugaike WOW!・Pochadas]

　
[Tsugaike Nature Park Opening Information]
*Period … 6/7 (Sat.) to 10/26 (Sun.), 11/1 (Sat.) to 11/3 (Mon., holiday)
*Hours … Tsugaike Ropeway is open Every day from 7/19 to 8/17 and Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 9/27 to 10/13 from 7:00 a.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays from 8/23 to 9/23 and 9/22 from 7:30 a.m.
*Fees … Tsugaike Ropeway Roundtrip + Entrance Fee / Adults JPY4,000, Elementary School Students JPY2,200, Preschoolers Free → Advance Discount Tickets: Adults JPY3,500, Children JPY1,950! (No need to exchange at the ticket window! You can proceed straight to the gondola.)
(*One preschooler free with each paid adult. The second preschooler will be charged at the normal children’s rate.)

[Hakuba Tsugaike WOW! Opening Information]
*Period … 2025/7/19 (Sat) – 8/31 (Sun) *Closed on weekdays from 6/7 – 7/13 and 9/1 – 10/26.
Opening hours … 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (last admission at 3:00 p.m.)
Charges … Tobidas (1 time) JPY1,000 Kabedas (1 time) JPY500 Amidas (60 min) JPY1,600 for adults, JPY1,000 for primary schools students Kogidas (1 time) JPY2,000

*This season’s Tsugaike Report will be updated once or twice a week.
*To Visitors Requesting Original Data of Our Photographs

reported by Snownavi