It is a dream come true, ski or ride for free in Japan’s largest winter resort destination, the Hakuba Valley with over 100 lifts, up to 15 meters of snow and over 130km of courses.
Furusato nozei, literally translated as “hometown tax” is a system that allows you to redirect your tax payments to a rural community in exchange for gifts. As you must pay tax anyway, this is a chance for free stuff and in Hakuba that means season passes and lifts tickets.
As a foreigner and a tax-paying resident in Japan you are eligible to participate in this great system.
For those who pay a lot of tax, if you make a tax donation of 476,000yen to Hakuba village you will receive a Hakuba Valley Season Pass worth 118,80yen. This will allow you to ski at all of the valley’s 10 resorts from opening day usually beginning of December right through to Golden Week in early May. That is lot of free riding!
Even if you are only planning on skiing or riding just once this coming season, a tax donation of 22,000yen can get you a day pass that can be used at any of the resorts. There are a few different deals available, please check the link below.
So how do you get your free passes? For starters, you are going to need to be fairly comfortable reading Japanese or have a Japanese friend or work colleague who can help you navigate your way around the website. All you have to do is make your donation, keep the receipt and submit them to your local tax office when making your tax returns.
See you on the slopes
To make your tax donation please navigate to this page Furusato tax Hakuba
