insights from frontier Japan

“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.

The Hong Kong luxury-hotel management company Rosewood Hotel Group is expanding its portfolio to run the resort currently under construction in the town of Niseko in central Hokkaido. It is hoped the large-scale development comprising a 220-unit condominium complex and 5 detached units will open in the winter of 2023.

Although visitors from overseas and outside the prefecture have dropped significantly due to the coronavirus pandemic, a number of ski resorts in Hokkaido are seeing many local skiers this season, with some even experiencing an increase in such guests compared with the average year.

Tours to experience riding in a piste grooming vehicle have been started by Chuo Bus Kanko Kaihatsu (tourism development) Co., Ltd., which runs the Otaru Tenguyama ski resort.

Niseko’s unique powder snow and international resort makeup are playing an interesting role in the evolution of ski and snowboard design. A growing number of Japanese and foreign residents are setting up boutique ski and snowboard manufacturing operations out of Niseko, all pioneering concepts that have, and could continue, to influence powder skiing and snowboarding around the world.

　Neil Hartmann, an American filmmaker who lives in Sapporo’s Minami Ward, has opened a café named ‘SKS INTERNATIONAL’ at the summit of the Sapporo Kokusai Ski Resort (1,100 m).

The Mt. Kurodake ski slopes in Sounkyo in the town of Kamikawa in northern Hokkaido opened on November 19, making them the first to open in Hokkaido this season.

　‘Powder Life’, a free magazine issued by the Niseko Media publishing company in Niseko in central Hokkaido, will this winter be issued in a Japanese-language edition in addition to its conventional English-language edition.

Hokkaido Ropeway & Ski Lift Association (Sapporo), a group made up of Hokkaido ski lifts and resorts, began concentrating on public relations efforts for the upcoming winter. The efforts will mainly target Hokkaido residents.