Japan’s ski resorts are enduring their worst winter for decades due to lack of snow
- Snow failed to fall in December in some of the most well-known areas for winter sports
- In Sapporo, ski competitions have been cancelled and the city is trucking in snow for its annual snow festival
Japan’s ski resorts are suffering through one of the worst snow seasons on record, disappointing locals and foreign tourists and jeopardising the country’s budding reputation as an international ski destination.
On the northern island of Hokkaido, where resorts like Niseko are known for reliable, fresh powder, the snow failed to fall in December and remains scant in the new year. In Sapporo, ski competitions have been cancelled and the city is trucking in snow for its annual snow festival. December’s snowfall there was the lowest since the Japan Meteorological Agency began keeping records in 1961.
At resorts farther south, conditions are worse. In Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics, skiers dodge wide patches of grass on the slopes. In Zao, where Japanese kids usually squeal over ‘snow monsters’ created by sticky downfalls that cover trees, there are few to be found. Niigata, setting for the classic novel “Snow Country”, has had a quarter of its usual accumulation.
There’s still enough snow to ski at many resorts, but Japan’s built its international reputation on the reliability of its deep annual snowfalls. The Lunar New Year holiday, which starts later this month, will bring a massive influx of skiers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China who may end up sorely disappointed. For a country concerned with tourism – and an industry already nervous about the effects of climate change – this winter is an ominous sign.
Andrew Lea, founder of the website Snow Japan, has lived in Niigata for 29 years, and by mid-January, he usually has at least a couple of metres of snow outside his house. This year, his garden was bare. “People who have been here 60 or 70 years can’t remember anything like this,” said Lea, whose site is an independent source for ski conditions at 500 resorts in the country, tracking daily snowfalls and accumulation. “Locals are getting a bit scared. If we don’t get snow soon, people are going to have to start closing down.”