Luxury Defined: Zekkei Stays Ahead in Bringing Luxury to Niseko

For 15 years Zekkei Properties has been ahead of the field in Niseko’s luxury home market.

In 2005, when the founders of Zekkei Properties first visited Niseko they were so impressed by its potential that they immediately bought two plots of land in lower Hirafu. They sensed that the sleepy village of old houses and pensions would attract more visitors from Asia and the rest of the world, if only it improved its accommodation offerings. Two years later, they completed the largest ski house in the village, a six en-suite bedroom chalet which they named Zekkei, “the ultimate view”.

Chalet Zekkei, the first home with an eco-friendly geothermal system to heat the house, roof and driveway, remains one of the largest and best-known ski houses in Niseko. It was the definition of luxury – a state of great comfort and elegance, which involved great expense – and, initially, some neighbours thought it was an extravagance in this little village. Yet, with hindsight, the property was a turning point for others to follow. It inspired a great number of visitors and many people used it as a checkpoint before designing their own homes.

Over the last 15 years, with love and belief in Niseko, Zekkei Properties has achieved a number of other firsts, each time expanding and finessing the concept of luxury living. In 2014, Zekkei invited Japan’s world-renowned architect Kengo Kuma to masterplan Upper Hirafu’s first gated estate, Elevation. Zekkei built the infrastructure, including a wide tree-lined road with underground cables, and the development was sold out within 12 months. Some of Niseko’s finest homes are now located in a forest enclave, where owners appreciate the masterplan’s design control that ensures the value of the neighbourhood, respecting each other’s privacy and protecting their views.

”In 2018, Zekkei unveiled Hirafu’s first private onsen estate – Intuition

Phase I development of 10 villas is located close to the village, steps away from the ski lift, in a gated neighbourhood surrounded by forest.

All the villa sites were sold out within weeks of release.

Intuition Phase II, a 5000sqm condominium hotel, is now under construction and scheduled to open by the end of 2020. Designed with a mesh louvre, the building façade will create a soft abstract representation of the surrounding birch forest. The layout of each apartment is modelled to achieve optimal space and flow, with rich-textured and high-quality materials providing an understated luxury. Atop the building will be Niseko’s first six-bedroom penthouse, with its own onsen. It will indeed be a “Zekkei” penthouse, with 270 degrees of unobstructed views of Yotei, Hirafu village and Annupuri ski hills.