Costumed visitors ski down the slope at Kobe's Rokkosan Snow Resort, on Dec. 4, 2021 -- the first day of the downhill season at the resort. (Mainichi/Naohiro Yamada)

       KOBE -- The skiing season has officially opened at the Rokkosan Snow Resort in Kobe's Nada Ward, and many skiers marked the first day on the slope on Dec. 4 by zipping downhill in outlandish costumes.

       The resort in this western Japan city is scheduled to be open until March 6 next year.

       The temperature on the hills at the 9 a.m. opening time was 5 degrees Celsius. Chilly, but not so cold as to put off the costumed skiers and snowboarders, who got free entry and free lift tickets if they got to the resort by 10 a.m. What followed was a cavalcade of animals, manga, anime and book characters speeding down the artificial snow-covered slope, measuring about 20 meters wide and 200 m long.

       Yasue Okai, 44, dressed as a dairy cow for her visit to the resort with her 7-year-old daughter, who came as a tiger, the Chinese zodiac animal for 2022.

       "The snow is easy to ski on, and it feels wonderful," Okai told the Mainichi Shimbun with a smile.

       (Japanese original by Naohiro Yamada, Osaka Photo Department)

       In Photos: Menagerie of animals, anime characters hit the slopes at Kobe ski resort

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