In spring they come for cherry flowers. In autumn, on leaves on leaves.
Now more travelers reserve winter trips to Japan as a reputation of the country as world -class skiing place He still lures visitors from Asia and the Pacific and more.
Foreign guests of Japan have increased by 33% in the last winter from pre -standardic levels. According to the Japan National Tourism, the organization of tourism was about 10.5 million visitors came from December 2024 to February 2025, compared to 7.9 million in the same period in 2018.
Many people gather on the powder slopes of Niseko and Hakuba, which together with other ski areas, such as Yamagata and Yuzawa, received a record number of international tourists last winter, according to a report published on Thursday by Visa.
According to Vis, visiting Japanese ski places exceeded the pre -Endandemic levels in the winter of 2023. He said that he did not end there – international newcomers increased by another 50% in the previous ski season.
According to Vis, about 30% of visitors came from Australia, 20% from the United States and 15% from Southeast Asia.
According to the Visa report, international guests, and the average daily expenses above the triple skiers are above.
Decrease in domestic demand
However, many ski cities in Japan are fighting. People without international crowds are struggling with a decrease in domestic demand, which fell by 75% since the splendor of skiing in the early 1990s.
The number of skiers and snowboarders in Japan fell from 18.6 million in 1993 to 4.6 million in 2023, when the population in Japan at the age of birth rate fell, and younger generations found other ways to spend free time, in accordance with local media Reports citing data from Japan Productivity Center.
The number of ski resorts in Japan also fell – from 1669 in 1985 to 449 in 2021 – according to the largest English newspaper in the country, Japan Times. It covers Niigata prefectureHe has long been considered one of the most important Japanese ski places.
Canadian Harvey Glick has been taking snowboard trips to Japan for almost two decades. He said that abandoned ski resorts – and these “simply hanging” – can be seen on the village Honshu and Hokkaido.
“Over the past 20 years I have seen an amazing change,” he said. Efforts are now focused “around a foreign, international traveler on skiing or snowboarding, because they spend more than domestic ones, and they really try to create this luxurious brand of Japan – something like Switzerland.”
A skier in Nizeko Tokyu Grand Hirafu Ski Resort in Kutchan, Hokkaido Prefecture in Japan, on January 20, 2023, Niseko is seen as a success story in the industry dealing with a ten -year decline in home skiers.
Noriko Hayashi Bloomberg Getty images
He said that nowhere is it more visible than in Niseko and Hakuba, which have luxurious resorts served by English -speaking employees and slopes that cause glowing oral reviews.
A resident of Singapore Aman Naain said that the recommendation of friends led him to reserve a trip to the Hokkaido Med Tomam club for the first ski journey to Japan.
“Japan and Club Med are an ideal duo to learn to ski with soft, forgiving snow and amazing configuration, especially for children,” said Narain.
The center indicator included ski administrations and lessons and rental of equipment, “what was the main,” he said.
Narain visited in January during the holidays in the new moon year and estimates that after the 80% of other hotel guests left China.
Japan is now the best skiing place for Chinese travelers, “by dethroning the United States that was at the top of the list last year”, according to Visa report.
South African Cindy the Old, Whoever went to Niszeko for the first time 22 years ago said that she and her family have been standing permanent guests for the last decade.
“Ever since there has been an explosion in Hong Kong,” she said.
Prices have risen, she said, like the caliber of hotels and restaurants. “The restaurant's scene has become quite exclusive. Nowadays you must pre -book your accommodation and restaurants up to a year in advance.”
But one thing has not changed, she said: “Snow remains fantastic.”
Mixed feelings
Visa data showed that almost half of all foreign visitors in Japan last winter went to Nizeko, according to Prateeka Sanghi, the head of a consulting company and analytics in Asia and Pacific. He said that the popular Hokkaido ski resort also accounted for more than half of foreign expenses in the peak ski season.
But Hakuba Nagano – which is sometimes referred to as “the second Noseko” – also gains on the ground, said Sanghi.
“Hakuba is the fastest growing through the foreign card from year to year and accounts for about 35% of foreign visits,” he said.
In part, that's why Glick now says that now he is avoiding Niseko and Hakuba.
“I don't like the new character and culture that has evolved there,” he said. “I think it is quite disturbing because I think they block many medium … or even high income people because prices go through the roof.”
Answers to Post Reddit complaining about crowds in Niseko, as shown on March 31, 2025.
Many online expressed lamentation over the popularity of resort cities. In January, the Reddit poster complained about Niseko, writing: “Giant lines for Hiraf Gondolas (expected) without absolutely any lines of queue or gates?
In response, another commentator wrote: “There are about 500 other ski resorts in Japan. Many of them are practically empty.”
Here Glick said he was going to snowboard now.
“I am looking for some smaller mountains that have more Japanese character for them,” he said. “You don't see any other foreigners.”
Investment influx
The growing international interest in skiing in Japan fuels the inflow of the investment, because foreigners collect homes and pour money on the development of the resort.
In 2023, the Patience Capital Group group based in Singapore announced $ 1.42 billion in Mega-resort in Myoko Kogen, a popular ski place in Niigat's prefecture. . The company is talking To open a fund for new investors, Reuters gave at the end of March.
But not everyone applauds the idea of ”third” Niseko in Japan.
Locals are worried that tourist tasks and dollars that will generate a center may not be enough to balance Jumping in real estate and food pricesand deterioration of long -authorized cultural customs of Japan, according to Reuters. AND now viral video Published in February, he shows a Japanese man a confrontation with the Australian tourist about the smoking at the bottom of the ski slope.
“Many skiers from Japan are also a bit fighting because they see that these cities are becoming something other than the Japanese ski resort.” Glick said.
For now, he said, he sticks to independent centers in which English is not so widely spoken.
Plus: “The total elevator pass is $ 35.”
– Bella Stoddart from CNBC contributed to this report.