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Home » Powderlife Magazine » Issue 4

Powderlife Magazine - Issue 4

Sat, February 2nd 2008 - Fri, February 15th 2008

Editor's note

  • kanronomori hotel
    Editor's note
    Along with the Christmas/New Year boom, Chinese New Year is fast becoming the most important period on the Niseko winter calendar. Powderlife, and I’m sure the entire Niseko community, extend a...

Niseko News

  • kerry ann kennerley in niseko
    Australian Celebrities hit Niseko
    Powderlife caught up with Australian television personality Kerrie-Anne Kennerley on her recent trip to Niseko. A keen skier KAK said she had visited resorts all over the world but rated the snow in...
  • Waza opens the brick
    Popular local identity Waza and business partner Jeremy have opened their new venue The Brick ¥500 Bar and Takeaway. The invite-only opening night saw guests treated to complementary drinks and tasty...
  • four seasons jacksons hole
    Luxury resorts news
    While no formal announcements have been made, there’s now no doubt several big names in the luxury resort world are set to invest in Niseko. It’s no longer a secret that Four Seasons resort plans to s...

Irasshaimase

  • Niseko cheese factory knodou takashi
    Niseko Cheese Factory
    Kondou Takashi was born in Monbetsu in the very north of Hokkaido. So far north you can actually see icebergs off the coast. He used to work for supermarket giant Daiei in the deli section. Eventually...
  • st gallery shigeru tokumaru
    ST Gallery Kutchan Art Gallery
    Shigeru Tokumaru, 73, is a talented local painter who was born in Obihiro in central Hokkaido. He stayed there until he was 32 and worked in a busy bank before asking to be transferred to a branch whe...
  • beatniks apartment sasurai daisei-san
    Beatniks Apartment Sasurai
    Beatniks apartment is a funky store in Kutchan right next to Takiguchi sports. The owner Daisei-san sells a range of unique artwork, cool t-shirts and jumpers, and unique jewellery he’s collected from...
  • red bar kyoichi okamoto
    Red Bar
    Kyoichi Okamoto was a trading company employee until his early 30s when he began working in the promotions department for an outdoor clothing maker. He then worked for his friend’s rafting business in...

Features

  • niseko snowmobiling
    Powering through powder
    Scott Bowman has spent the last three seasons in Niseko without strapping a snowboard to his feet. “Once you’ve been snowmobiling you won’t want to go back,” he says with no hint of doubt. Drawn to Ni...
  • joel gentemstick
    Gentemstick: Surfing Mt Annupuri
    A recent poll listed experiencing the local food as the main drawcard for 71% of tourists to Japan. But what ends up leaving the most lasting impression for so many is the Japanese people themselves....

Restaurant Review

  • dragon spread
    Dragon
    Because Hokkaido was only settled by Japanese from the mainland in the very recent past, it lacks a lot of the traditional architecture and history usually associated with Japan. But diner’s at the Dr...

Page Seven

  • snow branches
    White January and some rare blue
    As soon as the calendar flicked over to 2008, the real Niseko finally returned. Non-stop storms buffeted us throughout most of January, giving us a good amount of snowfall almost everyday. If there wa...
  • armada jp chris benchetler
    Best powder trip ever: Armada skis founder
    In case you were wondering if January was actually that good, a couple of pros whose job it is to travel the world in search of the best snow, testify they’ve just had their best powder trip ever....
  • Nicked plough returned
    A happy ending for Liam Bartley, Captain Hirafu Pension owner and author of epic Issue 1 feature article ‘Surving Yotei’, who woke up to find someone had stolen the $30,000 front end loader he was lea...
  • chris ernst
    Big Day Out comes to Niseko
    Fresh from playing two of Australia’s premier summer music festivals - the Big Day Out and Woodford Folk Festival - blues and roots crooner Christopher Ernst is set to soothe Niseko. Minus band - Blac...
  • Please don’t ski in the village
    Not only is it stupidly dangerous, skiing on public roads could land you in trouble with the law. “It’s an illegal act based on the road traffic regulations,” said Grand Hirafu public information mana...

In Focus

  • roku-san portrait
    Roku-san in focus
    Ninety two years old and still going strong, Rokurou Takada - affectionately known as Roku-san - is a local insitution. Roku-san used to be the only active player of the traditional Taiko drum in the...

Powder Tools

  • avalung
    Avalung
    Of 100 buried victims wearing a beacon, 50 will die. The Avalung significantly improves your chance of surviving an avalanche. When you are covered in a snowpack the exhaled air forms a cone around th...
  • armada jj
    Armada JP vs Julien
    JP Auclair is one of the best freeskiers in the world and he just spent three weeks in Niseko throwing everything he could at his Armada quiver. Together with Julien Regnier they created this superb a...
  • haglofs husky jacket
    Haglofs Husky Jacket
    This innovative Swedish brand is taking Europe and Japan by storm, but has yet to expand to Australasia or North America. Haglofs make top quality winter gear and this husky fleece is no exception. Co...

Kutchan

  • fujii confectionary kutchan
    Sweet love in Kutchan
    Fujii Confectionary houses a love story so sweet it has literally rotted teeth. The 60-year-old family-run business was started by current manager Chiaki Fujii’s grandfather, possibly as sweet a tooth...

Real Estate News

  • yen notes
    Commonwealth Bank offering Niseko Loans
    In a promising development for buyers and the local real estate market, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is believed to be very close to finalising a deal to allow Niseko property to be used as secu...
  • Seicomart sold
    The land upon which the Seicomart currently occupies has been sold. Often considered the village hub, the Seicomart is a long-time favourite with tourists and locals alike. Owner Kazuhisa Takiguchi is...

Real Estate Articles

Four Seasons

  • niseko summer rafting yotei
    Niseko after the melt
    There are probably lots of very technical ways to measure the maturity of holiday resort areas. But in the case of ski resorts, the simplest - and most accurate - test is to look at how many visitors...