WOW. Only Mother Nature could deliver a better Christmas present than the thermal undies my own mother sent me – the first sustained period of solid Niseko snowfall this season (sorry Mum!).
It was a good one, even by Niseko standards, and the wait made it that much better. Between the local and visiting powder hounds, and the families who had just started to arrive in numbers, everyone was on cloud nine over the chicken feathers endlessly falling from the sky.
Niseko is now back in full swing for another winter. After a relatively quiet start to December, the villages are now packed with international holidaymakers enjoying the Christmas/New Year period. Restaurants are starting to book out, so make sure you book early or you’re going to miss the best of them. Fortunately there are at least an extra 15 or more new restaurants open across Niseko this year (as you’ll see in our story on page 9), so that should help spread the crowd a bit.
Speaking of restaurants, in this issue we convinced Kamimura-san (of premier Niseko restaurant Kamimura) to share one of his unique recipes with us, so be sure to take the mag home with you and try it out. We also take a look at Hirafu’s burgeoning entertainment district Momiji Street, and introduce you to another bunch of interesting local characters, and a whole lot more about Niseko. We hope you have a great festive season in Niseko. Happy New Year!
Kristian Lund, Powderlife Managing Editor [email protected]