Niseko: The Aspen of Asia

From Sapporo, we drove to Niseko for three days of skiing. Blizzard conditions made the drive quite stressful; some of the roads we were supposed to take and most roadside stores were closed. At one point, we all needed to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at a little shop that appeared to be open. I asked the woman working in the shop if I could use the toilet. She directed me behind the counter and through doors into what appeared to be a living room filled with her family. An old man was reading on the couch, and children were playing some kind of Japanese game on the floor. To say I felt awkward was an understatement. When I thanked them for their hospitality, I saw that T.J. was walking into the shop saying that he also needed to use the toilet. My heart sank. When I got out to the car, Matt said he had to go too. This poor Japanese family had no idea that they were going to have to let not one but three Americans use their personal restroom in the middle of a blizzard. The hardest part was knowing that it is not a cultural norm in Japan to say "no" in a direct way, so they may not have really wanted to let us use the toilet in the first place. Needless to say, we bought a few things to show our appreciation- a bag of peanuts, a package of butter (to cook in our cabin in Niseko), and a couple of beers. Back in the car and on the road, we laughed about what the Japanese woman must have thought about those random purchases.

We finally arrived in Niseko to more snow than we've seen in our lives. The walls of snow lining the roads were literally 10+ feet high. We soon learned why- it snowed about a foot each night we were there. We rented a small cabin, and slept side by side like the three four little bears. The sleeping arrangement reminded me of our 2008 trip to Austria with Kiley.We made spaghetti for dinner the first night, and made most of our lunches in the cabin as well.

The weather on our first day of skiing in was ah-mazing. Blue skies, sun, and great visibility of Mt. Yotei (see below). We skied from the Grand Hirafu lift on Day 1 and 3, and the Hanazono lift and lodge on Day 2. After  two seasons of skiing in our area of Japan, we were surprised at how awesome the Niseko ski area was- tons of lifts that get you up the mountain in a reasonable amount of time and plenty of challenging runs. Again, it was like being back in Europe. We were also surprised at how many "Western" faces we saw- nearly everyone we saw and met there were from Australia, New Zealand, or Americans/Brits living in Hong Kong. It was very easy to forget that we were still in Japan. In fact, we saw a sign that referred to Niseko as "The Aspen of Asia", which actually seemed like an accurate description.

There are a ton of onsens in Niseko. We took turns visiting Yukoro onsen, which was featured on Powder TV. 

When our time in Niseko came to an end, we grabbed a quick lunch before boarding the ferry. T.J. ordered a dish that included a bowl of rice and a raw egg. He thought he could ask them to fry up the egg for him, but after talking to about four different people, they were finally able to explain that there was no cooking in the kitchen at that time. So T.J. was left with the most adventurous meal of his trip: a raw egg served over a bowl of rice. He said it wasn't that bad. 

This picture gives you an idea of what it's like to embark and disembark a ferry by car. We were directed into a spot, the wheels are secured, and we had to wind our way through a dirty and wet underbelly of the boat to the passenger level. It wasn't a pretty sight (or smell), but worth it to have a car to drive to our destinations.

We are so thankful that T.J. was able to make the trip to see us, and had such a great time in Niseko, that we plan to return next year!