insights from frontier Japan

Aviran is the owner of "Avi's kitchen", a Middle East cuisine take-out shop in Takikawa. The shop offers selections like "kebabs" (chicken grilled on skewers) and "falafels" (chickpea croquettes) stuffed inside pocket-shaped Middle Eastern bread to enjoy hamburger-style. "In addition to local residents, people who have visited or lived in the Middle East also come from long distances away and joyfully tell me the food really reminds them of their time there," Aviran said, smiling.

Two foreign nationals who specialized in studying civil engineering at university have become a vital fighting force for a construction company in the Niseko region town of Kutchan. Amidst a chronic labor shortage in the Shiribeshi region construction industry, Ang Ka Ho from Hong Kong and Jigme Samdrup from Bhutan are highly motivated to help out in the region with their own knowledge and skill.

When I arrived on the island of Hokkaido for the first time in November of 2006, I had no idea that this would become the place I called home for the next 15 years (and counting). As an Australian country boy I had grown up on a farm in central Victoria. Wide open spaces and freedom to roam were part of my childhood. As I became an independent young adult my passion for surfing and snowboarding, coupled with a love of photography, drove my relentless travel itinerary which took me through Japan, Europe, Patagonia, Iceland, Greenland and much of South East Asia.

Chief priest Tamaki Akihiko (45) is endeavoring to re-establish Kaributo Shrine, which is located in the center of the town of Niseko in central Hokkaido. Tamaki relocated to Niseko from Tokyo 5 years ago after being attracted by Mt. Yotei and, when the opportunity arose, became the successor of the shrine.

In April, it’s 10 years since local volunteers began running the café & gallery ‘Akanara’ in Shimogoryo in the city of Furano. In the past, the café was the mecca of fans of a popular TV drama. Now, its role is changing into a place where locals and migrants interact.

Uno Atsuko, who worked as a nurse in Tokyo, has relocated to the town of Kyogoku and returned to the days of coming into contact with horses that she loves.

“It’s appealing because there are Japanese people who kindly accept foreigners like us.” Taiwanese snowboarder Bonny Wu talks about her reasons for deciding to settle in Niseko.

Ono Tomohiro, founder and CEO of international IT venture company Kudan, liked the “borderless” Niseko community and relocated to the Hirafu district from Shinagawa, Tokyo last August. He thinks that Niseko is also a perfect base for his technical research facility and investment department.

A male hair stylist who returned to Japan from Canada after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and a female nurse who experienced exhaustion in the field of medicine in Tokyo: the couple met in a share-house in Niseko while visiting the resort to snowboard in a bid to heal their mental wounds, and ended up settling in the town. They started a business making aromatic oils extracted from local forest resources, and are now creating new values in Niseko.