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Well, as promised, here are a few of my collected thoughts after this year's trip
Overtourism is a thing
Yes, yes it is. Even in the far northern reaches of Hokkaido. The usual suspects (loud and culturally deaf Aussies, Chinese and Koreans) were out in force. But in addition, there were significant numbers of people from places not usually associated with ski tourism to Japan. Just the people we spoke to at lunchtime in the restaurant or in lift lines included people from:
Is skiing even going to be a thing in the future?
Not trying to be political, so if this topic is not something you want to hear my opinion about, please just scroll on by.
Oh it pains me to write this, but it seems obvious to me from my own lived experience that climate change is real and that the good old days of long ski seasons with lots of snow may be coming to an end sooner than I would like. I know I posted upthread about heavy falls in the Nagano area, but honestly 15 years ago when we first started coming to Japan, that sort of snow fall was common and nothing to write a TR about. At home, we have had 2 very poor seasons in a row in Perisher, and the BOM forecast for this year is not at all encouraging. It's ANZAC Day in Canberra, and instead of sighing with relief that I can finally turn the heater on (IYKYK), I'm actually wearing short sleeves and ventilating the house because it's too warm. The last couple of seasons in Japan have also been underwhelming compared to the snow bounty of earlier times.
www.abc.net.au
Cost of Living
Costs of everything are gradually but steadily creeping up in Japan, and this is very difficult for local people as their wages are not rising in line with prices. For example, the famous convenience store tamago sando seems to have risen by about JPY50 since last year (about 50c), and there has been a rise in the cost of bottled water of about JPY30 - although both these items remain very cheap compared to prices at home. There was a lot of talk in the media locally about the influx of foreigners, mainly Australians, buying up houses in ski areas of Hokkaido, and then only using them for the ski season but driving up prices so locals could not afford to buy. This is such a familiar story. I don't know what the answer is. I understand the motivation to buy a place in a ski destination you love, given the ever increasing cost of hotels eg the hotel we previously stayed in Shiga Kogen several times in the before COVID for $3000 a week for 2 people now wants $8000 a week for the same time of year. This is one of the things that drove us to Furano, where a week in a similar place cost "only" $5000 - but included breakfast and dinner and onsen access. No wonder there are not many Japanese guests any more.
There is a lot Australia could do better
Things like $5 -6 bottles of water. Things like $32 chicken schnitty. Things like $200/day seniors ski lift tickets. Things like coffee shops that close at 2pm - whatever happened to afternoon tea/coffee? Things like public spaces and coffee shop tables being filthy and no one ever cleaning them. Things like improve our very inadequate public transport.
So that's it for another year. In breaking news, I have resisted all thoughts of going to Japan in the non-ski season and I am pleased to announce that we will do a re-run of #Japanuary 2025 in #Japanuary 2026
. Everyone do a snow dance for us please.
Overtourism is a thing
Yes, yes it is. Even in the far northern reaches of Hokkaido. The usual suspects (loud and culturally deaf Aussies, Chinese and Koreans) were out in force. But in addition, there were significant numbers of people from places not usually associated with ski tourism to Japan. Just the people we spoke to at lunchtime in the restaurant or in lift lines included people from:
- Norway
- Germany
- Austria
- Spain
- USA
- Canada
- New Zealand.
Is skiing even going to be a thing in the future?
Not trying to be political, so if this topic is not something you want to hear my opinion about, please just scroll on by.
Oh it pains me to write this, but it seems obvious to me from my own lived experience that climate change is real and that the good old days of long ski seasons with lots of snow may be coming to an end sooner than I would like. I know I posted upthread about heavy falls in the Nagano area, but honestly 15 years ago when we first started coming to Japan, that sort of snow fall was common and nothing to write a TR about. At home, we have had 2 very poor seasons in a row in Perisher, and the BOM forecast for this year is not at all encouraging. It's ANZAC Day in Canberra, and instead of sighing with relief that I can finally turn the heater on (IYKYK), I'm actually wearing short sleeves and ventilating the house because it's too warm. The last couple of seasons in Japan have also been underwhelming compared to the snow bounty of earlier times.
BOM predicts one of the warmest winters on record
Since last August, Australia has baked through above-average temperatures and the BOM is predicting another winter of unseasonable heat.
www.abc.net.au
Cost of Living
Costs of everything are gradually but steadily creeping up in Japan, and this is very difficult for local people as their wages are not rising in line with prices. For example, the famous convenience store tamago sando seems to have risen by about JPY50 since last year (about 50c), and there has been a rise in the cost of bottled water of about JPY30 - although both these items remain very cheap compared to prices at home. There was a lot of talk in the media locally about the influx of foreigners, mainly Australians, buying up houses in ski areas of Hokkaido, and then only using them for the ski season but driving up prices so locals could not afford to buy. This is such a familiar story. I don't know what the answer is. I understand the motivation to buy a place in a ski destination you love, given the ever increasing cost of hotels eg the hotel we previously stayed in Shiga Kogen several times in the before COVID for $3000 a week for 2 people now wants $8000 a week for the same time of year. This is one of the things that drove us to Furano, where a week in a similar place cost "only" $5000 - but included breakfast and dinner and onsen access. No wonder there are not many Japanese guests any more.
There is a lot Australia could do better
Things like $5 -6 bottles of water. Things like $32 chicken schnitty. Things like $200/day seniors ski lift tickets. Things like coffee shops that close at 2pm - whatever happened to afternoon tea/coffee? Things like public spaces and coffee shop tables being filthy and no one ever cleaning them. Things like improve our very inadequate public transport.
So that's it for another year. In breaking news, I have resisted all thoughts of going to Japan in the non-ski season and I am pleased to announce that we will do a re-run of #Japanuary 2025 in #Japanuary 2026
. Everyone do a snow dance for us please.
