Niseko does more consistently enjoy excellent snow condition during winter season but i disagree that it's the best in the world. It surely is 1 of the best for powder snow but certainly not the only 1 in Japan...let alone the world. Niseko just happens to be the Japanese ski resort with great snow that most HK people/Cantonese speakers know about. The above conclusion is based on my personal skiing & snowboarding experience as below: 1) Ski/Snowboard at least once a yr on average for 36 yrs since i was a teenager. 2) Tried many ski resorts across U.S.(e.g. Lake Tahoe, Vermont) Canada(e.g. Whistler, Lake Louise), Korea(e.g. YongpPyong), Japan(e.g. Niseko, Rusutsu, Inawashiro, Shiobara, ShigaKogen, Hakuba) and even PRC(Yabuli). 3) Over 8 winter trips to Niseko from 2002-2017. Done all 4 resorts there - Hirafu, Hanazono, Higashiyama(aka Niseko village) and Annupuri multiple times AND in various weather conditions from sunny clear sky to completely 'white out'. For powder snow consistency year-to-year, I find ShigaKogen and Hakuba resorts in Nagano are at least as good as Niseko....even better than Niseko in some years. 'Disadvantages' of ShigaKogen or Hakuba vs Niseko: 1) Almost no super luxury hotel /international hotel brands and zero billionaire villa. Hotels there tend to be older(but still very well maintained) and more mid-low range price. 2) No fancy/3stars restaurants. Tend to serve simple/basic meals catering more to japanese middle class taste than the high end international rich tourists taste like niseko. 3) very limited shopping. 4) Far less English spoken or shown on signs here than niseko. Visitor breakdown is about 15% foreigners 85% locals. Since my 1st visit to niseko in 2002, it has changed a lot. I remember i stayed at Higashiyama Prince(long before Hilton took over) where 90% guests were Japanese and no more than 1-2 staff in the whole lobby(checkin desk and cafe/lounge) could speak a little English. When i returned to Hilton(exact same hotel building as the original Prince) for afternoon tea in 2017, only about 10% guests were Japanese and absolutely all staff could speak English.
2021/22, I stayed in Whistler Blackcomb from late November to early of March, but only less than 5 powder days (well after one poweder day > if you really well known remote terrian - relied on local guides and instructors) then you can still enjoy two to three days of vargin snow afterwards. In 2019/20, I stayed in Nesiko for around ten days in late December, there were not much powder (no fresh powder for the whole jounery, so I was disappointed). By the way any people has typical idea how many days of powder snow in average when stayes in Nesiko for a whole season?
@felixli52792 жыл бұрын
@@deepestjapan 100% agree. Hakuba is also well known among western skiing tourists(not really known by hongkong/asian tourists though) partly because of its 1998 Nagano winter Olympics heritage. Niseko today is mostly catering to very high-end/super rich foreign tourists(surprisingly, i found out many of them, particularly those from PRC, don't even ski while in Niseko...they are just there to see the snow, enjoy expensive restaurants/spa, shopping, etc.) while Hakuba+ShigaKogen are more middle-class & local focused. I just want to stress that all 3 have basically similar snow quality+quantity....despite their huge difference in average prices. Another interesting thing is that i strongly remember 10-15 yrs ago, Niseko average prices used to be very similar to Hakuba/ShigaKogen. I stayed/eaten at all styles of Niseko accommodation including standard hotels(e.g. Northern resort Annupuri_Hotel Nikko, Higashiyama Prince), onsen ryokans(yes, a few do exist if u search hard), basic private cottages/chalets, deluxe villas, pensions(i.e. b&b), etc. If u look hard today, u can still find reasonable, mid-price range(e.g. about JPY 15,000 per head per night winter season including 2meals) pension stay at the 'potato republic'- a tiny village-like area right next to Annupuri ski resort. In my opinion, Annupuri is today the only remaining Niseko ski area still preserving much of that middleclass local Japanese resort feel.
@jp44312 жыл бұрын
How's the powder quality at Hakuba or ShigaKogen compared to other more well known Hokkaido ski resorts like Furano, Rutsutsu, Kiroro? I still think going to Hokkaido is worth the trip from what I've read.
@@deepestjapan thanks. Hope to see more instructions on Japan tour video.especiaply places only japanese speaking or things like cheap car rentals etc.😁
Japan's Tourist Associations of the 47 Prefectures should be more than happy to give Kevin a monthly fee so as to recognize Kevin's contributions to Japan's culture and tourism 👏😄