Introduction

Gunma Minakami Hodaigi, often known as just Hodaigi, is located on the north-western slopes of Mt Hotaka in Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture.

Hodaigi has a base at 830m, with two quad lifts (1194m, 1515m) and four pair lifts (530m, 519m, 872m, 675m) servicing the 16 ski runs. The top of the Number 9 quad lift is at an elevation of 1400m. The Eagle course off the Number 7 pair lift has a steepest gradient of 40 degrees. A few runs are normally left ungroomed. Two new tree run courses as planned for the 2024-2025 season.

This ski area opened in 1979 and, for most of the time, was known as Minakami Hodaigi, with the characters written in kanji characters. In November 2021, a new look was unveiled with the updated name. In 2023, on its official website the ski area also calls itself Hodaigi Mountain Resort in English characters.

Hodaigi is one of seven (currently operating) ski areas spread across the central region of Minakami Town. View the full list here.

Minakami is a popular year-round destination offering a wide range of outdoor sports, activities and onsen hot springs. To the north of Minakami, on the other side of the Tanigawa mountain range, is Yuzawa Town in Niigata Prefecture.