WHEN entering one of Niseko Home Designs (NHD) houses, you can feel the warmth of Japanese culture. Powderlife speaks with the managing director of NHD, Mr. Shigeru Uehara, an architect with carpentry experience.
Having two business degrees from both Japanese and American universities, why did you start your career as a carpenter?
It all started when I helped the son of the family who I stayed with in New Zealand. I went to New Zealand after university like so many young Japanese full of hopes, dreams and a one-year working holiday visa. My plan was to work for six months and spend another six months to travel around the country. At that time, my landlord’s son asked me to help him. Although I didn’t know much about carpentry, I was thinking this could be a quick way to save money to travel. In the end, I worked for one year and continued working as a carpenter in Japan after that. In Japan, I worked under an American oyakata (chief carpenter) for five years, where I learned construction the North American 2×4 way.
When did you come to Niseko, and why did you start your business here?
I came to Niseko eight years ago to ski and two years after that trip I moved to Niseko to work as a carpenter. After having been involved in many of Niseko’s early condominium projects, in 2006 I started NHD. I shifted to an architect role with a desire to see my inspiration materialise into a house. Having spent two years in the US and one year in New Zealand, some inspirations come from my time spent outside of Japan. One example of this foreign influence is my focus on the kitchen, living room, and bathroom areas of the house, which, in Japanese society, find themselves stuck in the dead-end corner with very little natural light. At the end of the day, my main goal is satisfying the needs of the house owner.
What separates you from other designers in Niseko?
I spend one year designing and building each house. This year is my third year for NHD. I am currently in the middle of designing my third house, so you can see how much effort goes into every one of my projects. On average, it takes three months to finish the whole blueprint, and another six or seven months to build.
I also support the community by hiring local workers. Most of the big projects in Niseko tend to use big-name companies, however, I have been more than impressed with the local talent. By hiring people from surrounding areas I am also able to contribute to the community and cut down on maintenance costs.
There has been a lot of western-style construction in Niseko over the past few years. After seeing the inside of some of your houses, you seem to do a lot of traditional Japanese interiors. What do you like most about Japanese architecture?
Because I only build custom designed projects, the Japanese influenced houses that you’ve seen were designed with clients’ requests in mind. All of my clients are from overseas and tend to have a terrific knowledge of Japanese culture and architecture. I am also personally a huge fan of the warmth seen in Japanese architecture, but I could never build such wonderful houses with only my thoughts alone. My clients’ own creativeness inspires me to design something that incorporates traditional Japanese culture with the creative mind of everyone I meet. I personally think Japanese architecture has a great balance of nature and human interest. Using naked wood pieces adds curves and warmth that can be found in nature instead of the industry-standard straight lines.
Do you think the boom in Niseko over the past few years was a bubble, or do you think Niseko still has a bright future?
Seeing the speed of how business has gone, I would say it was a bubble. At the same time, I think there will still be a very bright future ahead in Niseko. Other than the high-quality powder snow and beautiful nature, I think Niseko’s biggest charm is its people. When I came to Niseko, I was so surprised by the number of young Japanese with such an incredibly intense passion for life. All welcomed newcomers and became friends with each other through skiing and a variety of other outdoor sports. The core structure of the Niseko community is the young people and locals who put endless amounts of effort into making a comfortable place for everybody to live.
What do you want to see in Niseko’s future?
Currently, Niseko is becoming affordable only for the wealthiest of tourists. As development continues, the value of all sorts of things will rise. I sincerely hope Niseko won’t get too expensive in the future, as I would like all the skiers, snowboarders and people who are really passionate about this area to be able to come back and enjoy the same Niseko that they first came to love.