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Japan’s ski industry is reopening to foreign visitors for the first season after the Covid pandemic, and the slopes are packed with people from Australia, Singapore, the US and France. 

Japan’s ski industry is reopening to foreign visitors for the first season after the Covid pandemic, and the slopes are packed with people from Australia, Singapore, the US and France. 

Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg
Businessweek
Business

A $500 Million Bet on Reinvigorating Japan’s Aging Ski Industry

Taking a cue from Vail’s success, Hanazono resort in Niseko is spending big on modern lifts—and wants to raise ticket prices by 50% to pay for it.

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On a frosty January afternoon, Colin Hackworth treks into the backwoods of Japan’s Niseko mountain to show off a favorite stash of fresh powder. Dropping down a steep face, he dips into the knee-deep snow, shooting up crystallized plumes as he makes turn after turn through the trees. “There’s just nowhere else like this,” says the 65-year-old Australian. “When you understand the ski industry, you understand how rare it is to get this kind of abundant, airy powder.”

Niseko sits on the western edge of the island of Hokkaido, where Siberian winds sweeping across the Sea of Japan drop heavy snow almost daily during the winter months. The area typically gets at least 10 meters (33 feet) a season—and sometimes more than 15 meters—versus about 3 in France’s Courchevel and 6 in the Colorado resort of Vail.

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