Now we're talking my language.

Okay. Fire up your web browser (which I'm assuming you're using, if you're reading FlyerTalk) and check out the following links:

Snow Japan - http://www.skijapanguide.com/index.php
About Japan (Skiing) - http://gojapan.about.com/cs/sports/a/skiresort.htm
Japan Guide (skiing) - http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2262.html
Japan National Tourist Office Skiing PDF - http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/RTG/PTG/pdf/pg-802.pdf
JNTO Snow Page - http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/se...ter/index.html
Ski Japan (Tour Operator) - http://www.skijapan.com/
News.Com.Au Article - http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/...006180,00.html

Okay, so now you have a lot of links.

Now, here's my personal take on it...I thought the snow out there was amazing. Way better than anything I had skied in the US prior to that trip. Expert trails are expert trails, and at Green Plaza Joetsu (where I stayed) the weather was beautiful - but there were no warnings when a trail ended. (I almost skied right off the mountain. Oops.) Green Plaza Joetsu is in Niigata, which is also well known for rice and o-sake (and hot springs).

Budget-wise, you may want to find a friend who speaks Japanese and get them to look at the tour company ski trip books. I did an overnight (for $200 each person) in mid-February that included train tickets, ski rental, breakfast and dinner buffets, huge bedroom, hot springs, lift tickets, and a snowboarding lesson if we wanted it. Separately, it should have been about $400. (Nippon Travel Agency's 2007-2008 Ski Books)

Searching the SnowJapanForums.com site for "backcountry" gave me this little tidbit - "If you don't want to go to Niseko, but really want to ski the trees, then I suggest Rusutsu. It is relatively uncrowded and has great off piste skiing." (And they even have an AVALANCHE AND BACKCOUNTRY FORUM!)

Also - since most ski areas are located near each other, you can generally buy multi-resort lift tickets. Always try to find out if there's one available.