Road Trip to Nagano in Dec

Hi,

We will be doing a road trip to Nagano in early Dec. We will rent a car from Yokohama and start drive to Hakone. May I ask if this itinerary is too pack?

Day 1 & 2 - Hakone, Gotemba
Day 3 - Mount Fuji
Day 4 - Matsumoto
Day 5 & 6 - Nagano City. As we are driving and not sure of the snow condition, we decided to stay in the city and take tour to Snow Monkey Park (Jigokudani Yaen Koen) and not drive. Is it possible to do the Snow Monkey Park in the morning and snow skiing in the afternoon? I am wondering if we should stay for 3 nights in Nagano instead of 2.
Day 7 - Kaurizawa
Day 8 - Saitama
Day 9 - Back to Tokyo

Other question:
1. We have not driven in a heavy snow region before. Will there typically be heavy snow in the first 2 weeks of Dec?

Thank you so much in advance for your help.

Snow tires at that time are encouraged in places like Mount Fuji and Nagano Prefecture (Matsumoto, Nagano, Karuizawa). And if snow does pile on unfamiliar roads, you are encouraged to drive slower than 20km/h.

If you're planning to stay at one or two hotels and make day trips, that allows you to be flexible. But I think it can be risky (and unnecessary) to change hotels for each stop.

The other thing is that rent-a-cars in Yokohama normally wouldn't be providing snow tires unless you request it, and snow tires would be slightly inconvenient when driving on snowless roads. Tire chains are more inconvenient unless you're used to putting them on and off.

Perhaps it's better to rent your car at Hakone/Gotemba and drop it off at Karuizawa. Posters who are used to driving the area may have better ideas, though.

-- "snow tires would be slightly inconvenient when driving on snowless roads. "

This isn't true, "snow tyres" are just winter tyres which are for low temperatures (generally below 7 deg c), there is not the slightest inconvenience using them on snowless roads.
I live in Switzerland so am used to this.

Snow monkeys in the morning sounds great and visiting them is such a special experience! https://japanskiexperience.com/resorts/hakuba/12-best-things-to-do/sno...

The nearest ski resort to Jigokudani monkey park and one of the biggest ski areas in Japan is Shiga Kogen. Hopefully by the time you visit the resort will be largely open. This could be a good place to spend a few nights.

If you had more time and were visiting slightly later I would recommend Hakuba Valley, but you might be slightly on the early side.

Snow tyres are an absolute must for driving in Nagano in December. Even if you are not near a ski resort, and even if it is not snowy, it is important to be prepared as conditions can change very, very quickly!

This page can give you information about all ski resorts I. Japan and when they opened in the past. There are also daily snow reports available

https://www.snowjapan.com/

As PP said, you might be slightly on the early side for skiing.
But definitely need snow tires. (Which work perfectly fine on dry non snowy roads as well)

Perhaps it's different in other countries, but in Japan, there are a lot of things that drivers need to keep in mind after switching to studless tires on regular roads. But most of it does seem to be about the difference between regular tires and studless. If you're driving on studless all the way, you may not have to worry about the gap you may feel when driving on both types of tires.

https://www.webcartop.jp/2016/11/56694/#google_vignette

By the way, I found a site on winter driving tips. You should also look into other sections like "Traffic Rules in Japan" so that you'd know what road signs to pay attention to in order to drive safely.

https://www.timescar-rental.com/en/japan/snowdrive.html

Thank you everyone for your valuable tips and insights.

I thought snow chain was a must and looks like snow tires may just be enough. Will research more on this area too. I am now reviewing my detailed itinerary and also looking at possible car rentals nearer to Nagano so that we could rent a vehicle with snow tires.

Hopefully we will get to do some skiing at Nagano. Shall be looking at the snow reports regularly nearing our travel dates. Crossing my fingers.

The thing with snow chains is that it can easily come off if you fail to put it on properly. In that sense, snow tires can be safer than chains. But yes, be sure to study, inquire, discuss, and know who to contact in case of emergency.