20 Years of Stories: Rail Jam In Retrospect

20 years of pow, 20 years of kanpai’s and 20 years of stories - Rhythm Japan is officially 20 years old!

Every winter the Rhythm Rail Jam rolls around, and without fail, every year we claim that it’s “back and bigger than ever.”



And we know, for a lot of you who weren’t around in the earlier years, it’s a claim that just feels like marketing hype. We get it – we’ve all been burnt by terminology like ‘new and improved’ before….

But in reality, the Rail Jam history is genuinely pretty epic. So let’s rewind. 

The Yurt Years

Looking back, Rhythm’s Director of Employee Experience, Djan Aston reflects, “I guess, when we moved into the Berg Plaza to make Main St was when the Rail Jams started happening, but on a much smaller scale.”

“Although it’s also so hard to tell now,” he adds, “was it before or around the same time as ‘Tanuki Bar’? I don’t actually know, there’s so much to remember – but from memory the first year was actually at Herbie’s, which was this yurt style tent with a full 360 degree window.”

“That was back around when -or just before- the Hirafu 188 building was built. There used to be a Niseko Pizza building and then next to that was the Herbie’s yurt bar, which was an Austrian-themed bar.”



If you’re familiar with Hirafu 20 years back and are struggling to place which one Herbie’s was, it was off the record referred to as ‘Umbrella Bar,’ one of the initial pop-up venues in town which now holds a soft spot for longrunning locals as one of the original ‘knockoff destinations.’ 

Looking back on old stories, Rhythm Hirafu Store Manager, Matt MacAuley, spoke of how the initial Jam setup allowed for people to go full send, without the pressure of doing it in front of a massive crowd.



“Things got pretty loose” he laughs. 

"We used to do Rail Jams just like in the car park at Herbies. Literally, we’d just use a snowplow to push up a big mound of snow and then chuck sketchy rails in, which were always the guinea pigs for.” 

Continuing on his early memories (or lack thereof), MacAuley started speaking about inconic an 80s themed afterparty held at Tanuki Bar, before recognising, “actually, I probably can’t say that…”



And believe it or not, that was not the only story MacAuley had to stop himself from saying halfway through. In fact, the majority of his interview had to be vetoed from this article, but as you can imagine, for a bunch of ‘ski bums’ putting on a super homegrown setup for everyone to jib and enjoy, it was always bound to be a pretty mega day out.

“Oh yeah dude, they were huge parties” states Djan before launching into an anecdote about an "extremely heavy” pallet of schnapps the crew ordered to the store, which then fell on Djan to lug around town to every year’s edition. And while it might seem like an odd association, for Djan, lugging that hefty pallet of Schnapps around town each year makes it all the easier to place each year’s event. 

“It was up at Herbie’s Umbrella Bar for the first couple. They eventually sold Herbie’s and put the bar down in front of the Vale so we moved the Rail Jams down there too. Then we moved into Ginto Village, Sunsports,  and now Grand Hirafu.”

The Parking Lot Era 

Reminiscing on those early years and comparing it to now, veteran Rhythm alum Chris Smith stated, “It’s pretty crazy how big it’s become.” 

“The Rail Jam was always such a secondary thought. Like back then we didn’t have designated people who were organizing all those events, it was just like, "Oh by the way, the Rail Jam is on this day." And you were like, "Okay, what do we need to do?" 

Although reflecting on the difference between then and now, Chris laughed before stating, “Yeah, the course setup was much more rustic so it really didn’t need the prep it does now.” 

“I don’t know if you’ve seen any photos of the original Yurt Bar carpark setup, but that was janky. Like, super janky – just a super narrow course that had this hectic drop in and a rideout that would mean you’d essentially be riding out your line onto the street or into the crowd. Back then there’d only be 15 to 30 people there watching at the bottom, but then as the night would go on, more people would come and stuff like that. It was really cool.”

Red Bull Levels It Up

As with any good thing, it has to grow, and for Chris, 2017 was when things really started to step it up.

“When we moved down to the spot in Ginto Village, the first time Red Bull jumped on to sponsor, that was like the first time it really started levelling up.” 



“We set up the course and painted all the features red, literally anything we could do to make it look like a really cool event.  Dudes like Tim Herbert and Ryu Katayama were there, along with a bunch of other OG Rhythm Crew. We had Marcus Kleveland and Nils Arvidsson as guest judges, and all of a sudden it all started to feel legit.”

From Janky to Legit

And it didn’t stop there, as traction grew, so did the Jam, and while the homegrown carpark setup will always have a special place in locals hearts’, as Chris reflects, growth was always bound to happen.

“In some ways it was daunting, there was more pressure, more riders, more people coming in, but it also had to get more legitimate. It couldn’t have kept growing into the event it is now while also keeping it as off the cuff as it was.”

2026: Massive

With 2026’s event now ushering in the Jam’s second year presented on the slopes at Grand Hirafu, with an extra special course design supported by the Swatch Nines and a super limited wild card entry from the jam into the upcoming Swatch Nines in Hirafu, the first in Asia – maybe claiming it’s got ‘bigger’ was an understatement. 



What started as mystery rails in a carpark has since grown into world-class course design at Grand Hirafu, Rhythm Rail Jam didn’t just get bigger — it grew up. And in 2026, 8 editions later, it’s only just getting started. 

Something that Maya Bando, who has since taken the reins of the event, is stoked about, stating,

“Having managed the Rhythm Rail Jam for three years, I am incredibly excited to host our second event at Tokyu Grand Hirafu."

"The Rhythm team has been planning this for over a year, pouring our hearts and souls into this project as our flagship winter event. Please come join us at the venue to experience the power and excitement of these world-class performances up close!”

Trust us, it’s gonna be huge. If you’re around town next week, we will catch you on the 28th of Feb for by far “the biggest and best” Jam to date – guaranteed.

The Rhythm Rail Jam 2026 will take place on the 28th of Feb at Niseko Tokyu Grand Hirafu's Freeride Course.