Japan Rail Hokkaido Going Green

In a step in the right direction to look after Japan’s environment, Japan Rail Hokkaido have been testing a form of transport that combines the function of a small bus and a train!

This hybrid form of transport has been developed to save on resources used in Hokkaido railway; often services in Hokkaido are extremely underused as the island only contains approximately 6% of the country’s population.

This is also a step in the right direction to help preserve one of Hokkaido’s major tourist attractions – winter! We hope more companies in Hokkaido will take a step in the “green direction” to help preserve the unique environmental conditions that brings a new way of looking at life after experiencing their first powder turns!

Niseko Hilton Official Opening

If you have not heard by now, the Higashiyama Prince Hotel has been undergoing a re-branding since the end of winter. The hotel is being operated by the Hilton group and will be called the Hilton Niseko Village.

The official open date is to be July 1st to the public and should prove to be a major draw card for international visitors looking for a first class one stop hotel experience. This will also affect not only the winter traveler but also the summer travel market to the Niseko as summer facilities are right on your doorstep, including, one 18 hole golf course, dirt buggy course, hiking trails and other assorted activities.

We hope that they invest in using the ski hill and area into building extensive mountain bike facilities, tires crossed!

Kutchan Jazz Festival

The biggest summer event on the Niseko/Kutchan festival calender is the Kutchan Jazz Festival. This year it is being held on July 5th and 6th.

Advanced tickets are on sale now. Ticket Prices are:
Advance Tickets: 1 day pass 4,800 yen*. On the day: 1 day pass 5,500 yen*.
Advance Tickets: 2 day pass 8,000 yen* (July 5th and 6th). On the day: 9,000 yen*.
*Prices include tax.
Elementary school students are free; high school students only pay half price and camping sites available.

This year has gathered another solid international and local line-up. Additionally, if you have your own band, this is your chance to get on stage yourself! View the Kutchan Jazz Festival site for futher details, under, "What's New" at the bottom of the home page.

See you there!

Dirty Wednesday

Mountain Bike Niseko

O its wednesday again! Time to get dirty after work!
Wednesday is the day that the niseko mountain bike crew meet for their mid-week dirty session! Get your work frustration out on your bike that has built up from your boss being on your back for the last few days and the rest of the week will seem like your sitting on a island surrounded by swimsuite models! ;)

Dirty Wednesday Details
The track - D-sen
Location - In the forest behind the Family lift.
What to bring - your bike!
The track is suitable for all levels and any bike. You will need to keep your flow on and be super smooth to be fast on this track.

For more info on mountain biking niseko

Niseko Summer BBQs - Round 1

With fantastic weather on saturday it was time to bust out the BBQ and give it it's first test run of the summer season! And what a way to start!

After a 7 hour marathon of eating the fantastic foods that Hokkaido is blessed with and enjoying sum of Sapporo's finest draft beer, it was time to pack it up and sleep off the food hangover!

What a way to spend a lazy Saturday in Niseko!

Tragedy Strikes Niseko

Many of the local residents would have woke on Wednesday 7th May, to the whirl of helicopters hovering in the distance over the river area.

Many residence feared a white water rafting accident, but in fact, a sicking death within the local community had occurred. A 29 year old female had been tragically murdered and her young baby girl was missing and feared drowned in the near by river.

The suspect was the husband and farther to the victims who was later arrested and admitted to the allegations. The husband a Napalese man who had only moved to Niseko in March of 2007 and shortly after married the deceased told police, “ She started talking about a divorce, so I killed her.”

An autopsy revealed that the death to the wife was caused by a combination of asphyxiation and shock brought on as a result of her facial injuries from repeatedly being struck with a hammer, kicked and punched to her chest, head and face.

A Green Weekend In Niseko!

A green weekend after almost 6 months wearing some or all of the following, thermals, gloves, down jackets, beanies is one of the most energizing experiences you can imagine! Stir the Niseko landscape and relaxed way of life into the mix and it will blow your mind!

A complete weekend sitting in the sun on deck chairs while enjoying a bbq with friends after spending the days riding and building mountain bike trails has never felt so good! Besides the muscles wanting to explode from not riding a bike in 6 months, however after the late Sunday afternoon onsen you feel like you could do it all again!

Bring on next weekend!

Last Lifts!

Well it's done!

The last lift of the season has run. The gods gave us the start to the day that we needed, a perfect spring day with blue skyes shinning upon us! A super fun day on to be on the mountain with locals ripping everything in sight from park to moguls and everthing in beween!

For the last few weeks in Niseko have been an awsome time of year with the best of both worlds on offer! Snowboarding in the park in the morning and mountain biking in the afternoon! Life does not get any better than that, for us anyway!

Others have been enjoying the early opening of golf courses in the area and hiking trails have also seen a lot of early traffic! It will not be long before hiking to the top of Yotei without an avalanch pack will be possible!

Time to bust out some short action and show the world our pasty white chicken legs! You know you want it!

Hold On Niseko

In Japan at the moment is what they call Golden Week! Normally this extra long weekend sees an influx of local Japanese arriving in Niseko to take advantage of the uncrowded slopes and terrific bluebird days. Unfortunately the crowds don't seem to be here this year as the early onset of Spring and vast melting of the snow pack has detered a lot of regulars.

For those that did arrive in Niseko this Golden Week to go skiing and snowboarding have not been blessed with the best conditions. With strong winds holding a few of the lifts from operation and heavy rain today (Monday), we can only hope that the conditions will be favourable for us all tomorrow.

If conditions continue to deteriate, this long weekend may be the last days the lifts are running for skiiers and snowboarders for the season. In the coming weeks this of course will allow for the hikers and mountain bikers to get into the lifts and up on the mountain to enjoy the green side of Niseko life!

One more day of perfect weather to enjoy the snow is not too much to ask for is it?

Shake It Niseko

Was it really? What ever you are doing at the time, you always start to second guess what is going on! You always start to think to yourself, "Is that me or not?", "I don't think I am feeling dizzy, so why is the PC screen a little fuzzy and moving".

What ever it is that you start to think, it is always your first thought when you live in Japan, not sure what I'm talking about?

Well my first thought was, "Is that an earthquake or tremor that is making the building feel like it is moving?"

At 2.29pm today Niseko was shaken by a tremor! Most people would not have even felt it as it was fairly minor, but pretty weird to feel a building move no matter how small the shake!