Kumagorou

Kumagorou owner Kumiko Yamaguchi was born in Yamagata prefecture in northern Honshu but said she always felt the call of Hokkaido. Like so many others she was drawn by the open spaces, nature, and beauty. She lived in Sapporo for five or six years for university, and worked part-time at a restaurant. Kumiko-san doesn’t know why she chose Niseko but she moved here eight years ago and found a job as a chef at JoJo’s. She worked there for two years and snowboarded a lot. So much in fact, that she felt she needed something more and decided to start her own business. She opened next to the Seicomart, in the space that the police box is now. She found it good for business but a little noisy and busy, so she moved into a haven in middle Hirafu. The owner of the building has plans for an izakaya at night and gave her the use of the space for lunch. The izakaya has still yet to materialize but the lunches have gone from strength to strength.