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THE little-known Ainu, Hokkaido's first inhabitants, for the most part remain unknown, hidden in the shadows of today's Japan. Their existence was even categorically denied by the government until las...
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WHILE Niseko offers a dream-like landscape of lift-accessed, fluffy powder runs for the masses, beyond the bright lights there are mountains of consequence to be found in Hokkaido. Standing above them...
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THE amazing snowfall Niseko receives attracts thousands of international tourists to the area, but when they arrive, they realise Niseko is so much more than just a ski hill.
There's a rich culture,...
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THERE'S no doubting that we in Niseko are blessed with access to some of the best snow and terrain in the world. And what makes us even luckier is that so many of these runs – even the backcoun...
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THE Japanese archipelago was once a part of the Asian mainland. The connecting bits have vanished over countless millions of years, but if you look to the north of Hokkaido, the island of Sakhalin...
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THE Sapporo Snow Festival is Japan’s biggest winter event and one of the most popular Japanese festivals both in Japan and internationally. Around two million visitors flock to Sapporo every Feb...
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NOCTURNAL skiers and snowboarders are arguably treated to some of the best flood-lit night terrain in the world in Niseko.
After dark, three-of-four Niseko United resorts are still open for business...
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NISEKO Town itself is a village of about 5000 people about a 10-minute drive from the ski resorts. It has very little to do with the ski resorts yet attracts an estimated 1.5 million tourists througho...
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LIKE many countries, Japan takes a great deal of pride in its national beers – or ‘biru’, in the local dialect. Whilst its wines have not reached the heights of other countries like...
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IT’S the eternal battle. To ski or to board? That is the question.
For decades now it’s been heatedly argued out in bars après ski…or should that be après board?
Tradi...
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ON its own, Niseko is an amazing place to go skiing. So much so that since it has been ‘discovered’ by the outside world in the past 10 years or so, it has gone from sleepy, locals’...
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The heavens open for Derek Begley and his fellow powder worshippers
Kamikawa National Park, in central north Hokkaido, is known in the local Ainu dialect as ‘the playground of the gods’....
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While 2007/08 was a great season for a whole range of reasons, once again Hokkaido’s default abundance of fresh, fluffy powder snow was the star. If you look at the stats it won’t go down...
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Recently we got a fantastic email from 12-year-old Kealan and nine-year-old Neesha Clarke from Sydney. They’ve been travelling Japan with their parents and stopped in at Niseko. The youngsters a...
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One of Japan’s most spectacularly beautiful and admired landscapes is just an hour’s drive from Niseko on the far side of Mt Yotei. Lake Toya is an almost-circular volcanic caldera lake, 1...
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Once you step into Black Diamond lodge you soon realise you’re being attended to by genuine mountain men. All six male staff are Canadian, and just as most people assume all Australians know the...
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Although the international community is only just beginning to discover Niseko, among Japanese it’s been well known for a long time that Niseko is the best resort in the country. It’s no...
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Soaking naked in the steaming hot waters of a public onsen is a Japanese institution. Traditionally used simply as public bathing places, today they play a central role in directing Japanese domestic...
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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 hi...
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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....
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There is a science to avalanches. And gravity, it has been said, is a bitch. Any slope steeper than about 45 degrees sheds snow naturally and consistently. Few slopes in Niseko fit this category. Most...
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For most visitors to Niseko, Annupuri has always been a bit of a mystery. A cursory glance at the lines on the course map is as close as many people get. You either need to face the elements clo...
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‘Baka’. It’s Japanese for stupid. Early March 2005, walking into the Kyogoku Lawsons convenience store a little after daybreak frozen to the marrow, up to my ankles in blood and fro...
