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Episode 13 of the podcast – and the first of Season 2 – brings us back to Nagano and Japan’s largest ski resort, Shiga Kogen. A host venue in the 1998 Winter Olympic Games, Shiga Kogen Mountain Resort is Japan’s largest and highest ski resort and enjoys the longest season of any resort in Nagano or Central Japan. Despite this the resort remains relatively unknown to international visitors…

In this episode I speak with Robel Zemichael, manager of Shiga International Ski School. Robel is a two-time Olympian who represented his birth country of Ethiopia at the 2006 Games in Torino and 2010 Games in Vancouver. He is long-term resident of Japan who has called Nagano his home for some time now, and as we wait the beginning of the ski school’s ninth season, I was fortunate enough to sit down with Robel for a chat about the ski resort and why he rates it so highly.

Make sure to check out the episode page on the Snow Country Stories Japan website for further information, relevant links and a map showing where Shiga Kogen is located. Given the size of Japan’s snow country and often unfamiliar place names, understanding where each episode is talking about can be confusing. For that reason, each episode has a page on website including links and maps to help you get your bearings and learn more about the people and places discussed.

For more information about the podcast and your host, visit our website: www.snowcountrystories.com. Make sure to subscribe, rate and review the podcast and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. 

Outland Japan is a bi-weekly podcast hosted by Peter Carnell - a freelance tour guide based in northern Nagano – that transports you to rural, regional and the wilds of Japan in pursuit of stories that lie outside the neon hum of Tokyo and golden trimmings of Kyoto. Stories of travel, life and culture beyond the big cities. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please note, prior to October 2024, Outland Japan was named Snow Country Stories Japan.