Shiga Kōgen (Maruike) 志賀高原 丸池スキー場
In 1947 US forces installed Japan's first ski lift here.
A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (MAB programme) since 1980 (one of the first four in Japan, together with Hakusan, Ōdaigahara-Ōmine-Ōsugidani and Yakushima), over an area spanning two prefectures and five municipalities: Yamanouchi and Takayama in Nagano, Nakanojo, Kusatsu and Tsumagoi in Gunma. Tourist development began in the ’20s with the Nagano electric railway, which reached Yudanaka in 1927; the first ski lift, in 1947 at Maruike, was built for the exclusive use of the US occupation troops before opening to the Japanese public. The 1998 Olympic downhill was originally planned on Mount Iwasuge, within this area, but a nature conservation association blocked its development in 1990 and the race moved to Happo-one, in Hakuba.
Nagano
Hasuike
