Japan's ski industry wipes out

[Taro Toporific]

Japan's ski industry quickly goes downhill
Japan saw around 10.8 million skiers in 2001 compared with a peak of 18.6 million in 1993....
...around half of Japan's 700 ski resorts are in reality bankrupt, but they choose instead to keep their business ticking over because under Japanese law they would have to dismantle their equipment and replant the slopes with forest at their own expense if they shut up shop completely.

[Big Booger]

Who would want to have to replant the forests and dismantle equipment if they can continue to run even while suffering from bankruptcy..

The government should encourage the failing resorts and businesses to close down to help improve the more successful slopes. With the crappy one's out of the way the others will prosper.

I wonder what attributes to the decline in skiers? Must be the economy, but seeing as it grew 2% in the last quarter, that surely cannot be the cause..

:P
BB

[Taro Toporific]

I wonder what attributes to the decline in skiers?

No kids.
Need more sex!
Calling all FG to the rescue!

[Jack]

I wonder what attributes to the decline in skiers?

No kids.
Need more sex!
Calling all FG to the rescue!

I think I did my part. Can't do more than my share of it.

[Taro Toporific]

I think I did my part. Can't do more than my share of it.

This guy is doing his part for the ski industry too!

Japanese, 99, to ski down Mont Blanc glacier
TOKYO - A Japanese man plans to celebrate his 99th birthday by skiing down a glacier on Mont Blanc, Europe's highest peak, in a party comprising four generations of his family, a family member said yesterday.

Mr Keizo Miura left Japan on Saturday, his 99th birthday, for France to ski a 24km course on the Vallee Blanche glacier down from the summit of the 3,842-m-high Aiguille du Midi near Chamonix.

[Big Booger]

I couldn't imagine skiing 24 kilometers at 99 years of age..

Man must be pumped up on viagra, Novocaine, and PCP.
HEHEHE
BB

[American Oyaji]

hehe

he said "caine"

Novacaine puts me to sleep.

I like Morphine. I had some back in July.

SHAZAM (btw, I was in the hospital emergency room)

[Taro Toporific]

I think I did my part. Can't do more than my share of it.

This guy is doing his part for the ski industry too!

Japanese, 99, to ski down Mont Blanc glacier .

The 77 year old did it!!!! Poor old 99 year oji-chan didn't.

Japanese Family Skis Across Mont Blanc
Feb 19--CHAMONIX, France (AP)--Yuichiro Miura [[age 77]], the first person to ski down Mount Everest, took his pursuit of adventure to the French Alps on Wednesday, tackling an arduous, avalanche-prone course with his son and 99-year-old father.

Together, the three generations braved howling winds and freezing temperatures to traverse the famed Mont Blanc's Valle Blanche, or White Valley.

Keizo Miura, who turned 99 on Saturday, wanted to ski down the glacier to mark his birthday. He required supplementary oxygen after being dropped off at the 12,700-feet high Aiguille du Midi, one of the highest points in Europe that can be reached by cable car.

[Mulboyne]

Edo Period Picture of Japanese Skiers. Now believed extinct.
IHT: Skiers point up malaise in Japan
SHIGA KOGEN, Japan The Japanese Alps sparkled in the sun after fresh powder dusted this ski resort, the largest in Asia. But it was a weekday morning and almost 20 percent of the 71 lifts were closed. A long string of chairs climbing one mountain flank was empty, except for one black-clad figure. Twenty years ago, Japan's ski resorts resembled Tokyo Station on the slopes. Today, the new image could be someone skiing alone. Despite abundant snow, fresh air and stunning mountain views, the number of skiers in Japan, the world's second-largest skiing nation, has dropped in half over the past decade...The solution, many Japanese and outsiders say, is to close marginal ski hills and invest to make the major areas attractive to Japanese and foreign visitors, both skiers and nonskiers...more...

[Ketou]

No More Fun on the Slopes

Too true. How can we possibly enjoy ourselves now that there is all that open space to ski!! And the snow. It will be like powder. I can't ski properly unless it has been compacted to ice!

[Mulboyne]

This guy is doing his part for the ski industry too!

Japanese, 99, to ski down Mont Blanc glacier
TOKYO - A Japanese man plans to celebrate his 99th birthday by skiing down a glacier on Mont Blanc, Europe's highest peak, in a party comprising four generations of his family, a family member said yesterday.
Mr Keizo Miura left Japan on Saturday, his 99th birthday, for France to ski a 24km course on the Vallee Blanche glacier down from the summit of the 3,842-m-high Aiguille du Midi near Chamonix.

Mainichi: Keizo Miura, pioneer of skiing in Japan, dies at 101
Keizo Miura, a pioneer of skiing in Japan and the father of adventurer Yuichiro Miura, died of multiple organ failure, his office said. He was 101...The spirit of adventure runs in his family. His son, Yuichiro, was the first person to ski down Mt. Everest in 1970 and scaled the mountain again in 2003 to become the oldest climber with his son Gota.

[IkemenTommy]

I don't know if this is the current trend, but I've noticed that the ski lift tickets are pretty reasonable these days.. around 4000 yen at most places. The only problem is that there are way too many fuckin people.. especially snowboarding gakis.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Ski resorts find themselves on a slippery slope

YUZAWA, Niigata Prefecture--Its white slopes were once the stuff of winter fantasy for legions of young Japanese who tried to reenact scenes from popular TV dramas and movies. Decked in designer brand snow wear and state-of-the-art imported skis, Japanese climbed out of their four-wheel-drive recreation vehicles and into gondolas as the bouncy tunes of J-pop diva Yuming (aka Yumi Matsutoya) echoed over the hills. Below, at the foot of the slopes, the Naeba Prince Hotel would be fully booked, particularly around Christmas, as the Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture, about 200 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, was considered to be the "in" place at the height of the asset-inflated economy. Fast forward 20 years to present day: The number of skiers on Naeba's slopes has dropped to about one-third of its heyday. Even on Christmas Eve last year, only a quarter of the 1,299 rooms at the hotel had been reserved in advance; a stark contrast to the late 1980s when reservations were filled months ahead of the big night. The picture is more or less the same on slopes across the nation. Watchers point to the demise of a mega developer, responsible for creating the Naeba resort, and popularizing winter sport in general, as the key reason skiing and related businesses find themselves on a downhill trend.

Naeba was opened in 1961 by the Seibu conglomerate headed by Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, 75. Tsutsumi, who served as the first president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, was eager to promote winter sports in Japan, and opened ski resorts in various parts of the country, including Naeba. In its heyday, Naeba was not only a center for winter sports, but also a cultural destination. In 1981, Yuming, known for her elaborate performances at marinas and other resort areas, gave her first concert in Naeba. Naeba proved particularly popular after a movie focusing on the adventures of a couple who fall in love on the slopes was released in 1987. Following the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, for which he was instrumental in the successful bidding, Tsutsumi was named an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee. But in 2004 he became embroiled in a scandal involving the falsification of financial reports at the Seibu group. The following year Tsutsumi was arrested on suspicion of insider trading and found guilty. Seibu Holdings Co., which was formed to replace the group, ended up letting go of 40 resort facilities across the country in fiscal 2006. Of those facilities, 11 ski resorts failed to find new owners and were forced to close.

The ski boom seemed to emulate Tsutsumi's fate and fizzled. In fiscal 2008, the number of visitors to the Naeba resort was 1.27 million, roughly one-third of the 3.18 million in fiscal 1992, at the height of the boom. This precipitous decline meant the number of users had returned to levels recorded before the 1982 opening of the Joetsu Shinkansen Line, which links Tokyo to Niigata and stops near major ski resorts along the way. The rail route meant that a large number of skiers from Tokyo could now come. The completion of the full stretch of the Kan-etsu Expressway in 1985, linking Tokyo with Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, was an added bonus. Consequently, the Naeba Prince Hotel has had to limit operations only during the summer and winter seasons. It is not only large hotels such as the Prince that are feeling the pinch: Noriko Minagawa, 55, operator of a lodge in Naeba, said that her business was also suffering. She is the mother of Kentaro Minagawa, an alpine skier who finished fourth in the men's slalom competition at the 2006 Winter Olympics at Turin. The 32-year-old skier grew up training on Naeba's slopes. However, while there were about 20 members in the local ski team when he was in grade school, today there are only four. "If the number of visitors was as few then as it is now, I don't think we could have afforded to let Kentaro ski," Minagawa said.

While next season marks 100 years since skiing was introduced to Japan on a significant level, experts warn that the situation could have broader implications. They say the entire sport could continue on a downward trend. "As can be seen from the phrase 'Seibu has Naeba, Tokyu has the Hakuba ski resort in Nagano Prefecture,' ski resort development has relied wholly upon backing by large developers," said Umihiko Sakakura, who heads the Winter Leisure League, a nonprofit group which follows trends in winter sports. "When those businesses pull out, it's the end. Skiing as a leisure sport ends up waning, and as a result, fewer young people take up skiing, leading to a decline in the nation's competitive level," Sakakura said. Another problem is the fall in real estate values in areas around the resorts.

In the 1980s, Yuzawa was the center of a development boom, with about 50 resort condominiums emerging in the mountainous landscape, many equipped with indoor pools and hot spa facilities. "Back then, the thinking was if you had land, you built, and once you put property on sale, it sold immediately," a local real estate agent said. Today many condominiums that went for about 20 million yen to 30 million yen have tumbled to around 2 million yen. Some condos are being offered for as little as 150,000 yen, prompting some to joke that "buying a condo in Yuzawa is cheaper than buying a car." For most owners however, prices have fallen too far to let go of their properties. Since 1992, no new condominiums have been built in the town. "With about 60 percent of the owners showing up less than once a year, the entire area could soon turn into a ghost town," the real estate agent said.

[wuchan]

Asahi: Ski resorts find themselves on a slippery slope

Last year a few of us went to nagano for a week to hike and ride some of the closed ski areas. The police were completely confused to why anyone would want to do anything like that and kicked us out of a few spots. We ended up riding four of the seven days on trackless ungroomed natural powder. It was one of the best weeks I ever had snowboarding, almost as good as alaska.

[Mulboyne]

Here's a graph showing the rise and fall of skiing in Japan.

[IkemenTommy]

Here's a graph showing the rise and fall of skiing in Japan.

I wonder if this is purely for ski and they did not count snowboarders.

Being a little optimistic here

[Ketou]

More likely based off lift ticket sales.

[waruta]

More likely based off lift ticket sales.

Anyone been out and about on the slopes this year? It seems to me as if the ad men have been really aggressive this year with the JR SkiSki and the Gala Resort thing lately....I always used to go to Zao (Yamagata) in Feb, but it has been a few years since last visit.

Can anyone confirm the slopes are empty? Or is it more peaky during the weekend rush and graveyard empty during the weekdays?

[IkemenTommy]

I don't know about you guys but I, for one, prefer the less-crowded slopes.

[dimwit]

Talking to my students, I would guess that far fewer of them ski/snowboard today than a decade ago. The big problem for the ski industry is demographic. There are far fewer young people around and most of them don't have the kind of jobs to afford overpriced skiing.

[Mike Oxlong]

I always found skiing very reasonable in Japan. Good used equipment can be had at recycle shops with some careful hunting, and the same goes for ski wear. Clearance sales at various sports shops at the end of the season often offer excellent deals, and occasionally pre-season sales too. Lift tickets, while pricey, are not in the same "holy shit" range of the big resorts in the Rockies. Or Whistler. Or Tahoe. While you can go to spend a ton of cash if you need the newest and best of everything, you can do it for a fraction of the price with even a little effort. Moving to Japan years ago actually reignited my interest in skiing.

[hairygateau]

agree with most of above. skiing/boarding are one of the things i love about japan, and a big reason why we moved back here.

so what it the slopes are empty?. nozawa was empty this sunday. kagura empty last the last holiday monday couple of weeks back. conditions have been awesome. it's turning into one of the best seasons here I can remember. happy days.