This year civil work began on Niseko Mirai – a 9-hectare, 240-dwelling Niseko Town Council-led residential development that paves the way for the district to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Mirai means “future” in Japanese. Niseko Mirai is being developed by the public-private company Niseko Machi, and project board-member Atsushi Murakami says it demonstrates Niseko Town’s commitment to planning for the environment.
”This is a 10-year project that puts Niseko Town’s plans for carbon neutrality and sustainable development in practice
Niseko Mirai is a joint venture between Niseko Town, local businesses and individuals.
The site is located 1km away from Niseko View Plaza (the town-run farmers’ market) and 10km from Central Hirafu. It will be developed in four phases over 10 years, and eventually home to 240 residences and 450 residents.
”The village will consist of apartments, shared residences, a geothermal energy generation centre, café, park space, vegetable garden, and other communal facilities
The homes will model significant green construction initiatives to reduce electricity consumption, in particular, thermal insulation via triple-glazed windows, double-layered insulating material, and self-energy generation systems (solar panels and co-generation systems).
These measures will benefit the environment but also residents in terms of savings in utility costs.
”The village’s two main aims are to provide modern eco-friendly housing for local residents who may wish to downsize from older, existing houses to make way for families moving to the area; as well as for people moving to the area themselves. Beyond that, investors will be able to buy individual titles
The project broke ground with civil work commencing in 2022. Phase 1 of the project consists of three condominiums – 24 units in two blocks for sale, and 16 units in the third block for lease from the developer. Construction is scheduled to commence from spring 2023 and residents should be able to move in from spring 2024.
Niseko Town has a population of approximately 5,000 and has been selected as one of 40 model eco-towns in Japan. It has set a target benchmark to become carbon neutral by 2050 at the town level. Niseko Town aims for Niseko Mirai to be carbon neutral by around 2030.
This article appeared in Powderlife 2023
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