irasshaimase

KOHEI Nikahara learnt how to make cheese fondue in Germany and Switzerland, where he used to live as a student.

38-year old manga fan Shinichiro Satoh manages Soga, but it was his mother’s idea to open the spacious restaurant on route 66, just beside Niseko Village’s convenient store 7-Eleven, which she owns.

IF you want to try one of the best yakitori in the area, you no longer need to go to Kutchan.

SUSHI Riders is 28-year old Hitoshige Nishikawa’s first business, which he just opened in December. 

IT seems like destiny that Guzuguzu Bakery came to be. Owner Satoshi Shimizu is from Yokohama but came to Hokkaido to go to uni.

ONLY in the past five or 10 years has Niseko become a crossroads of cultures from around the world.

WHILE most foreigners come to Niseko to ski in winter, many Japanese people come for the green season.

This section of the magazine is called Irasshaimase because that's the friendly welcome local businesses yell when you enter their shop. At Teuchi Soba Ichimura, if it's your second visit or you're a regular, they'll also say 'okaeri!'

WITH some dishes, it can be the case that less is more. The very same can be understood about Hirafu’s yakitori restaurant and bar, Yosaku. It’s the simplistic nature of the yakitori food style – which is essentially meat and vegetables on a skewer – that charms and delights my senses every time I dine here.

One of the most popular sections of Powderlife this season was ‘Irasshaimase’, the catch cry meaning ‘welcome’ that staff in Japanese businesses greet their customers with. In each issue of Powderlife, Irasshaimase took a look behind the scenes of great little local businesses – the origins of its owners, the motivations