The Future is in Furano: Central Hokkaido’s Year-Round Tourism Hotspot

If you’re looking for value, capital growth potential and year-round rental returns, you might want to look at Furano.

Located in central Hokkaido, about two hours’ drive from Sapporo. Furano has a world-class ski resort, but more tourists visit in the summer than winter.

Central Hokkaido is home to Hokkaido’s highest alpine mountain ranges, and the colder, drier interior far from the coastline produces some of the lightest powder snow you will find on the planet and is a regular host of international ski and snowboard competitions, including 12 World Cup events.

Night skiing is available on both sides of the mountain and all ski zones are equipped with high speed lifts, with a tram at the Furano zone and a gondola at the Kitanomine zone that gets you straight to the top of the mountain peaks.

Furano is quite different to Niseko. Firstly, being inland means it gets more sunshine and blue sky days making it an excellent family destination. Another interesting difference is that the ski slopes are based in the main town. This means easy access to hundreds of restaurants, bars and shops within minutes’ walk or taxi ride and a more authentic Japanese experience than international hotspots.

For property investors, the potential for year-round rental income is the key differentiator of Furano. The region’s picturesque landscape and flower fields draw 1.5 million tourists every summer, nearly 10 times as many as Niseko. Yet there is limited high-quality accommodation available in the area.

Seeing a great opportunity, Zekkei Properties, the developer of Niseko’s premier estates Elevation and Intuition, has commenced construction of Fenix Furano, a condominium located in the most prime ski-in ski-out location of Kitanomine ski village. The six-story 33 unit/62 key property is expected to complete in the summer of 2020.