Summer Info
Thanks to this year’s unusually rapid snowmelt, the Tsugaike Nature Park Mizubasho Week is taking place from 6/6 (Sat.) through 6/14 (Sun.)! From the very first day of the season, visitors were able to enjoy the beautiful early-summer scenery created by the contrast between the lingering snow on the Hakuba peaks and the broad marshes filled with blooming mizubasho (Asian skunk cabbage). The season opened on 6/6 (Sat.) with an Opening Festival featuring a Shinto ceremony, complimentary sansai (edible wild plant) soup, and an alphorn performance.
[Mizubasho Marsh]
Overall, the season at Tsugaike Nature Park is running about three weeks ahead of normal, and there was no remaining snow to be seen anywhere in the Mizubasho Marsh (compare that with conditions on opening day last year). The mizubasho (pictured), which reached peak bloom on 6/1 (Mon.), continue to look excellent. Sankayo, shirane-aoi, takane-zakura, and shojo-bakama were also in bloom.
[Mizubasho Marsh]
Skies were overcast, and with low clouds drifting through the park, the cool air made a jacket feel just right. The marshland is certainly beautiful on a clear day, but shrouded in mist it takes on an equally beautiful, almost mystical atmosphere. Later on, I continued on as far as the Kusukawa river, and the only remaining snow I walked across was near the Fūketsu wind cave area.
[Mizubasho Marsh]
Starting at 10:00 a.m., visitors gathered in front of Tsugaike Sanso were treated to a hearty bowl of miso-based sansai soup filled with nemagari bamboo shoots, nameko mushrooms, warabi, zenmai, enoki mushrooms, kikurage mushrooms, green onions, and canned mackerel (pictured; the people in suits at the back had attended the Shinto ceremony). On weekdays from 6/8 (Mon.) through 6/12 (Fri.), a special “Weekday Visitor Appreciation Giveaway & Prize Drawing” will also be held at the Tsugaike Nature Park Visitor Center and the Village Tsugaike Shop.
[Tsugaike Sanso]
[Tsugaike Nature Park Opening Information]
*Period … 6/6 (Sat.) to 10/25 (Sun.), 2026
*Hours … Tsugaike Ropeway: Open from 8:00 a.m. (*Early morning operation start from Jul.11)
*Fees … Tsugaike Ropeway Roundtrip + Entrance Fee / Adults JPY4,000, Elementary School Students JPY2,200, One preschooler free per paying adult → Advance Discount Tickets: Adults JPY3,500, Children JPY1,950! (Skip the ticket window! Go straight to the gondola gate.)
