Our 234th entry in this blog is our first time trip to Hakuba Mountain Harbor in Hakuba Village, Kitaazumi District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. 🙂

Hakuba is now one of our favorite places here in Japan. It is famous during winter but equally famous as well in the Autumn season.

Just look at the view. Breathtaking indeed! I can just stare at the mountains below me for the whole day, while sipping hot coffee of course! 🙂

HAKUBA MOUNTAIN HARBOR is a mountaintop terrace that offers a panoramic view of the lush Iwatake peak and the Northern Alps.

Every year around October, you can enjoy the famous “three-tiered autumn foliage” of the Northern Alps. The three-tiered autumn foliage is a beautiful gradation of the Hakuba Sanzan mountains, created by the “snow-capped summit,” “autumn foliage on the mountainside,” and “greenery at the base of the mountain.” It is one of the few scenic spots in Japan where you can see the entire 2,200m difference in altitude.

This is a perfect place to relax and chill, literally chill in the cold sunny weather 🙂

Opened in October 2018, this majestic viewpoint is located on an altitude of 1,289 m. With its eye-popping view, not only in winter, but the place is also a hot spot in Hakuba in other seasons as well.

Ate Rei is drinking her hot choco. And along with our little Sai, listening to Papa Dave’s nature tales.

The cinematic lights of this place is surreal. My photos actually did not do justice at all. 🙂

A lot of people come here and bring their mountain bikes. The slopes are perfect for mountain bikers. It looks scary to me though. hehe

There are still other areas to discover in this mountain harbor, unfortunately, we arrived late in the afternoon, so we need to go back down to check-in in our hotel.

We are so in-love with this place and the view! We really would love to go back next time when Autumn colors are in its peak. 🙂 See you again Iwatake Hakuba.