Japan Ski Holidays See A Boom In Early Bookings

What happens when the rest of the world has average snow seasons while Japan has breaking coverage? Naturally, everyone wants to come and get a dose of that sweet, sweet Japow! 

Everyone. It’s only been a few short weeks since we opened up bookings for next winter season, and already it seems fair to say that all eyes are on Japow. 

All eyes. If you’re a skier or snowboarder, there's a high likelihood that you’ve already got ‘ski holiday Japan’ in your Google search history. If that doesn't apply to you, be honest for a second, you've been thinking about it.

So let’s get into it, why is Japan such a buzzing location at the moment?

Two words: La Niña

Ok, what’s La Niña and why does it love Japan?

Look, before we get into explaining this one, we want to clarify that we all absolutely got into this industry because we are snowbums who love pow, not because we are meteorologists. But in short, La Niña is a climate pattern, part of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation Cycle (oscillation? The only oscillation we know is when we are hucking and praying off sidehits and kickers) that results in colder ocean temperatures, cooler deeper water rising to the surface, and stronger winds blowing along the surface. In turn, leading to very average conditions of the seas, but the perfect conditions for powder snow.

For Niseko, which already receives its world famous powder snow as a result of Siberia’s cold fronts crossing the sea of Japan and hitting us with full force pow, it results in conditions of epic proportions.

The Results?

Honestly, they speak for themselves:

Ok, so the pow hounds are frothing over La Nina? Why’s everyone else buzzing?

Value for money 

We don’t even need to point this out. If you’ve been on Instagram in the past 12 months you’d have undoubtedly noticed that seemingly everyone you know has visited Japan – and those that haven’t have already got their flights booked in. Everyone has the same plan! 

According to the JNTO (Japan National Tourism Organization), Japan clocked a whopping 36.86 million international visitors in 2024 alone –  a 47.1 increase over 2023. 

36.86 million… Think about that for a second. If you saw the footage of Lady Gaga’s recent concert in Brazil, which had an astonishing 2.5 million fans in attendance, spanning further than the eye can see, Japan logged over 14 times as many visitors last year.  Over 400 times the capacity of England’s Wembley Stadium…. that's how many people wanted to come see what all the hype's about.

Yep, Japan was the word on everyone’s lips, with the weak yen resulting in US customers roughly score ¥150 to the US dollar. Helping Japan to stand out as the best value for money destination over the last year, with people seeing the opportunity to finally do their dream trip for a fraction of the usual cost, and of course, tick off that ski holiday they’ve long been dreaming about.

THE spot for beginners: 

It may come as a surprise, but it hasn't just been the powder hounds flocking to Niseko in record numbers, with the region also seeing a huge influx of first timers finally seeing what all the hype’s about, and it’s easy to see why. 

“The nice thing about Japan is we’ve got very, very forgiving snow.” - Damo, Rhythm Rides Instructor

As Damo said best, powder snow is very forgiving. Very, verrrryyyy forgiving. If you’ve ever fallen over in both pow and on firm-packed icy slopes elsewhere around the world, you’ll know that there’s a very big difference. But it's not just the soft snow, with Niseko also offering a range of beginner-friendly slopes, mellow, un-steep runs, and very wide, open terrain perfect for beginners to learn how to ski or snowboard!

Food 

Konbini favourites, katsu curry, ramen, bbq, it doesn’t matter what your flavour is, Japan is the go-to destination for foodies worldwide, ranking in the Taste Atlas’ Top 10 best cuisines in the world for 2024/25. But that’s the country as a whole, when it comes to ski towns, it only gets better and better, providing the best and highest quality of Japanese cuisine alongside a stack of international options crafted by chefs from all around the world who now call these resorts their home. 

And if you visited Niseko last winter, you’ll know what we're talking about. There’s never a shortage of options, with the region's food truck areas tripling in size, spanning across every nook and crannie of Niseko’s Grand Hirafu, and new restaurants popping up everywhere you look. And that’s just the beginning for what’s in-store for upcoming winters, with Hong Kong based company Golden Resources Development Int Ltd currently constructing a HK$1 billion dollar F&B mecca, Project Hir@fu, which launched seven new restaurants in Niseko for the 2024 ski season and another dozen to be finished by the end of 2025.

Why now is the time to book

Savings

Discount accommodation, massive savings on rentals and huge early bird sales on lessons, guiding and touring programs – if you’re looking to save a few yennies this ski trip, we suggest taking advantage of early bird sales!

It’s not on offer for ever

We weren’t kidding when we said that ski holidays in Japan are absolutely booming. Over the 2024/25 winter season, Niseko United’s four interconnected ski resorts, Hanazono, Grand Hirafu, Annupuri and Niseko Village welcomed over 11.3 million lift and gondola rides, marking a 13.5% year-on-year increase. 

Yep, you read that right… when we said ‘all eyes are on Japan,’ we meant it. Not only that, but due to the hot demand of Niseko ski holidays, both accommodation options and restaurant reservations book out months in advance. 

So if you’ve been umming and ahhing about locking in that holiday, there’s no better time to start booking than now.

Book now and enjoy discounts, baby, discounts – with our whopping Early Bird deals currently offering 20% off all rentals, lessons, guiding and touring experiences this winter!