Best Niseko Snowboarding Videos
The original list of 35+ videos of skiing and snowboarding in Hokkaido, Japan.
If you know real estate in Hokkaido, then of course you know of Niseko. While what we call Niseko is actually a cluster of at least three small towns in the mountains of southern Hokkaido, “The Niseko Story” has spread around the world, and made Niseko perhaps the most famous small town in all of Japan. That is especially true with foreigners.
Local hype aside, it is a fact that the light, fluffy quality of Japanese powder snow (combined with the volume in a good Hokkaido winter) is as perfect as it gets. And skiers and snowboarders from around the world have made coming to Japan a goal, if not a lifestyle.
"Japan is one of the places I think that has made it's way to every snowboarders bucket list. It's known for such good powder snow."
— From the <i>Route One in Japan</i> (2016) snowboard video
As legend has it, beginning in the 1990s the Australians began coming to Hokkaido and Niseko to ski. In many cases, they bough property, and Australian accents are still common in both the recreation and business communities in Niseko. From that original rush by the Aussies follows a host of international tourism and investment in the local real estate.
If the original appeal of Niseko property was the snow, how did the reputation of the snow in Hokkaido spread around the world? Where there any ski videos that helped sell the idea of a trip to Niseko to foreign skiers?
Over the year end holidays, I did some research to see if I could find any particularly influential ski movies that might have helped build the international reputation for skiing in Niseko.
What started out as a “quick project,” became a more extensive undertaking. I started asking questions, took recommendations, made contact on LinkedIn, sent emails, follow-up after follow-up, and the results was:
The List of the Best Videos About Skiing and Snowboarding in Niskeo
That name is misleading, in some ways. It is true that while the great majority of the videos on that list feature the Niseko region, the list of films spans locations across Hokkaido included footage of Rusutsu, Asahidake, the Iwanai Resort, Higashikawa, Wakkanai, Karibayama, and even a brief mention of Sapporo Teine (a personal favorite of mine).
More over, the films almost exclusively about the Hokkaido backcountry. While skiers can find bigger mountains elsewhere, it is the opportunity to plow through pow in the trees that makes the Hokkaido experience so distinctive. And in those many movies, you will indeed be tempted (over and over) to come try some “Jap-pow” for yourself.
We can report there is, of course, a strong connection between the snow and requests for real estate in Niseko. In the Fall, we wrote about the ongoing challenge Niseko has when it comes to apartments for rent in Niseko (there are none), and how each there are so many requests for “an apartment near the lifts in Niseko” that are turned away (because of a lack of availability).
In fact, even a year in advance, many brokers will tell you there is nothing suitable for rent in the Niseko area. Niseko is designed for short-term stay (in hotels) or long-term property ownership. If you want to rent a place for the season (forget about it) or even for a year, you’ll find that surprisingly difficult (we have recent experience with real estate agents in Niseko declining clients for next year).
How much of the Niseko real estate bubble was driven by the desire for powder created by movies about skiing in Niseko? Certainly some of it.
While I was expecting to find more movies in from the late 1990s (the time when “The Niseko Story” typically begins), the earliest notable films I found were early 2000s, beginning with Public Sentiment (2002) by local legend Taro Tamai. Big names like Red Bull put money into film projects like Heath Patterson’s Hidden Mountain (2017). Salomon Freeski featured our mountains several times, including Rusutsu SuperNatural (2014). And Patagonia make an especially strong series of contributions with films like Find Away: The Northern Ski (2014) and Karibayama (2023) And by the late ‘00s, there were several spectacular films, no doubt bringing skiers to the region, as well as inspiring the next generation of explorers and filmmakers.
While the original boom from the Australians brough “western” visitors to Niseko, as they developed and marketed the region, the current boom is mostly Asian faces. Buyers from Singapore, China, Taiwan, and Korea are common in Niseko real estate circles. And you will increasingly see those visitors on the slopes as well.