Niseko, a short history
In the late ’80s and early ’90s amongst the elite pro ski crowd whispers started to circulate of a Winter Shangrila. A place where it never stopped snowing, where the powder was so dry that you couldn’t make a snowball and snow would blow around for days before finally settling on the pristine slopes. A ski resort in Northern Japan where lift tickets were cheap and where people had never heard of lift lines, a place where the locals rarely ventured off piste and where you could ski fresh bottomless turns all day and into the night. A place with annual snowfalls of 15 meters – in a bad year.
That place is of course Niseko and everything they said was true. Until the turn of the millenium Niseko remained something of a secret with very few travellers from overseas making the journey to Hokkaido’s biggest ski resort. Although the secret is definitely out now (Forbes last year voted Niseko the second snowiest resort in the World), the things that brought the pros to Niseko are still here in abundance and the increased investment has brought with it a new vitality to the resort. Niseko development is however, still in its early days.
The Australians were the first to venture to Japans North Island in significant numbers but recently they have been outnumbered by visitors from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, China and further afield, America, Canada and Europe. Niseko is one of Asia’s fastest growing tourist destinations. The international developments have been happy to ignore domestic and summer tourism up until now and this market has been largely left untouched. Only now are people realising the potential Niseko shows during the off peak months with golf, fishing, horse riding, white water rafting, hiking and fantastic food just some of the attractions that are increasingly attracting visiters looking to escape the heat and humidity of Tokyo and other South East Asian cities.
Nestled between the Annapuri ski runs and the imposing 1890 metre dormant cone volcano of Mount Youtei, Hirafu village is the focal point of Niseko, two hours drive from the recently upgraded New Chitose airport.