Global Powder Skiing Mecca Niseko Now a Poster Child for Over-tourism
Native Japanese are being priced out, and there seems to be an undercurrent of discontent just beneath the latest dusting of snow.
What’s new: Located on Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, the ski resort Niseko boasts some of the best powder snow on the planet and has been attracting foreign skiers for decades. The local economy is booming, but there are signs of cracks just below the surface.
Why it matters: Niseko is one of the hot spots in the country where Japan is struggling with the effects of over-tourism. There does not seem to be much of a master plan, which results in overcrowding during the ski season, strains infrastructure, leads to higher costs across the board, and sometimes damages the once pristine local environment.
The situation is getting so bad that there are now fears of a "Niseko bubble" economy.
By the numbers: Tourism in Niseko has recovered rapidly since the pandemic, but the total number of visitors has still not quite reached pre-pandemic levels.
In the fiscal year 2022 that ended in March 2023, there were 1,427,997 visitors in total, including 1,026,498 day-trippers, which represented a 41.6% increase over the previous year1. Winter tends to be the busiest season, but the summer season also attracts a lot of visitors.
The number of foreign visitors is also on the rise, with 107,447 in fiscal year 2022, although this is still lower than the pre-pandemic peak of 218,498 in 2017. The vast majority of foreign visitors are from other countries in Asia, although Australians made up the largest group of foreigners from a single country, with almost equal numbers of visitors from Hong Kong and the U.S. Singaporean, Taiwanese, and Malaysian nationals were also well represented. In 2017, Chinese nationals made up the most populous group of foreigners. Now that the post-Covid travel restrictions for Chinese travelers have finally been lifted, it is highly likely that this group of foreign visitors will once again jump to the top of the rankings2.
What’s happening: On any given night during peak snow season, downtown Niseko may look more like the Shibuya Scramble Crossing than a secluded winter retreat.
Sky High Pricing: During the winter ski season, signs at restaurants frequented by many overseas tourists advertise "1,000 yen (about US$6.80) per rice ball" or "2,000 yen (US$13.60) for tempura udon.” Rice ball snacks, called onigiri (おにぎり) in Japanese, usually sell for as little as 115 ~ 150 yen ($0.78 ~ $1.02). At most noodle shops, a bowl of tempura udon usually goes for only 500 ~ 800 yen ($3.40 ~ $5.44). Thus, to the typical Japanese visitor, Niseko's street prices seem abnormally high.
"Prices are unbelievably high. Even at the Japanese restaurant where I work, ramen is around 1,900 yen (almost $13). A single stone-baked sweet potato, a traditional snack called ishiyaki imo (石焼き芋) in Japanese, costs 1,000 yen ($6.80) a piece." - Moririn" (pseudonym X/Twitter), a Japanese migrant worker who has made Niseko his home for the past 3 years
Elsewhere in Japan, a bowl of ramen noodles routinely sells for as little as 600 ~ 1,200 yen (a little over $4.00 ~ $8.00). Stone-baked sweet potatoes usually sell for as little as 200 ~ 300 yen each ($1.36 ~ $2.00).
The soaring prices in Niseko are due to rising labor and fuel costs, but good old-fashioned greed may also be a culprit.
"Ski resorts need to make a profit during the short winter season, so it is thought that they try to make as much money as possible by overcharging wealthy overseas visitors." - Professor Tomoya Umekawa (梅川智也教授) of the Department of Tourism and Urban Planning, Faculty of Tourism and Urban Planning, Kokugakuin University
Caveat emptor or "let the buyer beware" is a good thing to remember when visiting Niseko.
Inadequate Infrastructure: There are not enough restaurants to accommodate the number of foreign tourists, so there are many food trucks in operation. Usually about 60 to 70 trucks are densely packed within a radius of about 1 km (about 3,300 feet). At night, they attract foreign tourists and sell everything from ramen, beef bowls, pork cutlet bowls, pizza, udon, and soba noodles. Recently, the old-fashioned ishiyaki imo (stone-baked sweet potato) carts have also set up shop. Such street vendors can be found throughout the country, and normally you can hear the vendor almost singing, "ishiyaki-imo...imo." However, in Niseko they simply shout "sweet potatoes" in English, which somehow seems unsuitable to local travelers.
Now Niseko suffers from traffic jams due to the inadequate road infrastructure. Most of the old hotels and inns have gone out of business. In their place, developers have built large, multi-unit condominiums on small lots. So even though the number of condos continues to grow almost unabated and more cars come and go, the roads can no longer be widened and remain the same as they were in the past. There is not enough parking, and traffic jams are now a fact of life during peak ski season, which is somewhat ironic considering Niseko's relatively remote location.
Loss of a Sense of Place: The influx of foreign visitors makes Japanese visitors feel out of place in their own country.
"Most of the shop signs are in English, and all the people walking around are foreigners. It almost gives the impression of being overseas." - "Moririn"
While Japan has certainly become much more cosmopolitan by welcoming many more foreigners-not just occasional travelers but also permanent residents-during the past decade, foreigners still make up only a tiny fraction of the total population (about 3%). It is also important to keep in mind that Niseko is a remote, rural town. Thus, the impression of over-tourism by foreigners seems more obvious.
Deteriorating Manners and More Crime: Overseas tourists often tend to buy cheap alcoholic beverages at convenience stores, drink them outside, and then throw the cans on the street. Now the streets are littered with empty cans. Security is also getting worse.
"The other day, a friend of mine was driving through downtown Niseko around 1 a.m. He had to drive slowly to get through an alley where a bunch of drunk foreigners were hanging out. When he got out of his car, he was kicked in the back. - Moririn
Many local residents are now sometimes afraid to go out alone late at night.
Questions about Tax Compliance: Ski rentals, ski instructors, etc. are businesses that Japanese who do not speak English well cannot easily do. It seems that many of the seasonal service workers come from overseas just for the winter, make as much money as they can without paying taxes, and then return to their home countries. There have also been reports of unlicensed taxi drivers, called haku-taku (白タク) in Japanese, operating illegally throughout the area to transport skiers to and from their hotels and the slopes.
"It is wonderful for a region to receive a lot of investment, including foreign investment, and we should not reject it, but there are concerns that various issues will arise regarding the acceptance of foreign nationals and foreign capital. In order to create a symbiotic society, it will be a challenge from now on to develop and improve the system by creating rules unique to the region or by having the government create regulations." - Professor Umekawa
Japan's notoriously thorough tax collectors are probably all over this issue.
Go deeper: What really seems to be driving up the cost of just about everything in Niseko is condominium development. As is the case with many of the most famous ski resorts in North America, condominium sales dominate the industry. Originally, the majority of revenue at Japanese ski resorts came from lift ticket sales, but overseas, the game is how to sell condominiums. Condominiums are often sold as timeshares or Airbnb, which allow owners to rent their property to the general public for most of the season when the they are out of town. Property management companies typically split revenue with the owner on a 50/50 basis, which typically allows an owner to earn a 10% return on investment annually. That's a healthy return-especially when you consider that the owner can carve out time to use his or her own property to go skiing a few times a year. These owners, many of whom are wealthy Chinese, usually don't mind if the food is a little expensive.
What’s next: There are several risk factors that could eventually cause the so-called "Niseko bubble" to burst. A worsening global economy could lead to a decline in foreign tourism and lower real estate prices in Niseko. If the Japanese government tightens restrictions on foreign investors or implements a strong yen policy, investment in Niseko could decline, leading to the bursting of the bubble. Over-development in Niseko could lead to oversupply and lower real estate prices. Finally, a major earthquake or other natural disaster in Niseko could cause real estate prices to fall.
Although the incredibly high quality of Niseko's powder snow insulates the resort from competition to some extent, other locations could take Niseko's place in terms of investment. Some of the more likely candidates include the following resorts:
Rusutsu (ルスツ): It is the second most visited resort in Japan by foreign tourists after Niseko. This resort is large and offers a wide variety of courses. There are many accommodations such as hotels and condominiums in the resort. It is relatively easy to reach, about 2 hours by car from Sapporo.
Furano (富良野): Known for its high quality powder snow, there are many courses for advanced skiers. It is more developed than Niseko and has a better infrastructure. Also, there are many sightseeing spots in the area where you can enjoy the beautiful nature of the Furano region.
Kiroro Tribute Portfolio (キロロトリビュートポートフォリオ): This resort caters mainly to upscale foreign tourists. In addition to skiing, guests can enjoy a variety of activities such as hot springs and spas. There are also golf courses and wineries nearby, making it a popular destination for the wealthy.
All of these ski resorts, like Niseko, are popular with foreign tourists and more investment is expected in the future.
Commentary: It has been about 6 years since I last visited Niseko, and I remember being surprised at the number of foreign visitors, the overall development, and the high prices. Back then, while we did meet a fair number of skiers (mostly snowboarders) from Australia and New Zealand, especially at the bar, it seemed that most of our fellow travelers were from China. The statistics from that year bear witness to this fact. Many of these people did not seem to spend much time on the slopes, but they were ubiquitous in the high-priced shops and restaurants around town. I remember having a casual conversation with our hotel's local Japanese bus driver about what he thought of all these overseas visitors. He bluntly told me that it was a "double-edged sword.” While I could tell there was a certain amount of disdain for how his hometown was changing, he was grateful for the influx of foreign money. It is safe to say that while all of these trends have probably accelerated in the past six years, the quality of the snow is probably pretty much the same.
The story of Niseko's rapid development is certainly not unique. What Niseko is experiencing is a microcosm of the over-tourism conundrum. All over the world lots of ski resorts have gone through boom and bust cycles, and criticism of the lack of an adequate master plan to manage and control growth seems to be a real source of concern. I would argue that someone or some group of visionaries should act like the famous duo of Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton, the developers of Vail Ski Resort in Colorado, which opened in 1962.
What do you think? Niseko is just one example of where over-tourism is disrupting the status quo while bringing a mixture of financial benefits and growing pains to the local population. Kyoto certainly comes to mind as another hot spot where over-tourism is causing friction.
Link to Japanese Source: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/5b3f2bf40fc7b227b6d54f9fc1098d2b35eed22f
#Niseko #skiresort #overtourism #pricegouging #NisekoBubble #foreigntraveler #foreignvisitor #foodtruck #ニセコ #スキー場 #オーバーツーリズム #価格高騰 #ニセコバブル #物価高騰 #海外観光客 #フードトラック
令和4年度(2022-23)観光客入込状況(ニセコ町)、ニセコ町の観光客入込状況令和4年度(2022.4月~2023.3月)、商工観光課
2022-23 外国人観光客入込状況(ニセコ町)+ ニセコ町の観光客入込状況(H29) ~訪日外国人編~、ニセコ町の観光客入込状況~訪日外国人編~令和4年度(2022.4月~2023.3月)、商工観光課
More regulation ALWAYS makes everything worse for locals. More government isn't needed and not desired. Let the market correct itself naturally. In a truly free market, the consumers and customers will force changes; not government. Japan is already way too bureaucratic as it is.
I stayed about a month at the foot of Mt Fuji filming a TV back in the early 90’s. On one of my free days we took a hike about a few miles up the mountain which wasn’t very far. The entire trail was littered with so much trash I thought I was at a dump. It wasn’t the experience I anticipated. I was told hikers just dump their garbage and goes all the way up the mountain. No regard for environment! 😔