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Home » Powderlife Magazine » Issue 1

Powderlife Magazine - Issue 1

Sat, December 22nd 2007 - Fri, January 4th 2008

Editor's note

  • Niseko car buried in powder snow
    Editor's Note
      Welcome to the very first issue of Powderlife! It’s no secret Niseko has the best powder in the world, but there’s a lot you didn’t know about this amazing little corner of...

Irasshaimase

  • Hana Jizoh bakery izumikyo, niseko, japan
    Hana Jizoh Bakery
    Inoue and Keiko Tsuyoshi decided on a tree change in 2002 and moved to Niseko. They chose Hokkaido for its pristine environment, temperate climate and slow pace of life... little did they know a boom...
  • Bonbori Souvenir Shop in Hirafu, Niseko, Japan, traditonal souvenirs
    Bonbori Souvenir Shop
    Bonbori is a charming little souvenir shop just down the hill from Australia House, opposite the Seciomart. It’s jointly owned by three ladies – Mukai-san, Takahashi-san (pictured) and Nagahama-san wh...
  • Manager Niseko Izakaya restaurant Mina Mina
    Izakaya Mina Mina
    Manager Matsura Shougo (pictured) and owner Outa Mitsuaki are good friends who met in Niseko about 11 years ago. Matsu was born in Tomamu – near the famous ski resort of the same name and moved to Fur...
  • Niseko ski tuner and skier Bon bontak
    BonTak Ski and Board Tuning and Repair
    It’s hard to tell whether Takeshi ‘Bon’ Nakahara is more Japanese or Kiwi. The talented ski and board tuner is the owner of BonTak Ski and Board Tuning and Repair. He grew up in Nagano, the well known...

Features

Restaurant Review

  • Bang Bang Niseko restaurant interior
    Bang Bang
    Mention Hokkaido to most Japanese from “the south” and the first thing they think about is not snow. It’s food. For them, a trip to Hokkaido is not complete without indulging in Hokkaido’s famous food...

Page Seven

  • Niseko early season skiing sasa girl skier
    Bumper season forecast
    After a low snowfall season (only 12m!?) an early start to winter 07/08 was an omen locals had been praying for - if history is anything to go by, early starts in Hokkaido equate to bumper seasons. A...
  • Niseko surfanic ski gear jacket pants
    UK brand Surfanic arrives in Niseko
    Upcoming UK snowboard outfit Surfanic were so impressed with Niseko they plan to make the Japanese powder haven an integral part of their global marketing campaign. Surfanic pride themselves on makin...
  • shouya grigg sekka niseko restaurant
    Shouya rebranding Hirafu
    After creating one of the most talked about restaurants in Hirafu, and building a few elegant but low key developments in the lower village, Shouya Grigg appears to have officially launched the beginn...
  • Mic Fanning surfing world title win snowboarding niseko
    New world surfing champion swaps boards
    Newly crowned world surfing champion Mick Fanning is headed for Niseko. But can he board?? Silly question... After claiming his maiden surfing world crown in the the best waves on the planet, Mick Fa...
  • niseko annupuri backbowl bluebird first tracks
    Deadly reminder
    The avalanche deaths of four people in Hokkaido already this winter highlights the ever present - although too often underestimated - danger the region’s powder stacked mountains are hiding. Niseko Sn...

In Focus

  • Higashiyama Prince Hotel manager Jiro Kamiharako
    Jiro Kamiharako in focus
    Niseko has a number of residents who have achieved great feats in their chosen field. One of these is Higashiyama Prince Hotel manager Jiro Kamiharako, who was one of the pioneers of the V ski jump an...

Kutchan

  • loaf lounge kutchan niseko japan ski resort skateboard bowl
    Lounging around in K-town
    The Loaf Lounge is so cool. The Japanese are known for being at the cutting edge of innovation, and most often it surfaces in the form of the high tech gadgets that, for a long time now, have been sta...

Real Estate News

  • Hanazono Niseko Japan Mt Yotei
    Big business backs Niseko
    WHEN the history of Niseko is written, the latter half of 2007 will be seen as a major turning point in its transformation as a truly international winter resort. In the run-up to the season this year...
  • The forest Niseko hirafu real estate property land
    $7m forest sold
    THE Forest – a huge tract of treed land in upper Hirafu - has sold for what’s believed to be a Hirafu/Niseko record for a single sale. The final sale price is confidential but it was on the market for...
  • A sale a day at Moiwa
    IMPRESSIVE sales at the recently released Moiwa Resort Towers is another sign buyers are increasingly confident investing outside Hirafu. NRE agent Keith Rodgers said close to 30 of 109 apartments und...

Real Estate Articles

  • Nisade Niseko Setsumon construction Hirafu
    Developing and building in Japan
    By Kal Bragg, joint president of Niseko Alpine Developments [Nisade]. Anyone considering building, developing or renovating in Niseko must be acutely aware of the pitfalls and differences between Japa...

Four Seasons

  • Shiretoko peninsula national park waterfall hokkaido summer travel
    Shiretoko Peninsula: The End of the Earth
    So highly regarded is Shiretoko as a unique wilderness area that in 2006 it was formally designated a World Heritage site - only the third one in Japan to be so recognised by UNESCO. Shiretoko in the...

Last Word

  • knee xray ski injury
    ACL injuries: from tear to repair
    I have an interest in knees and while staffing Niseko Physio in the 2006/7 season, decided to begin an extended research program into the biomechanics of snowboarding and the strength of the knee liga...