Is likely to be different to how it is now
Just spent a few days at Appi Ski Resort in Iwate with my wife and granddaughter. We’ve been coming here for a few years now and there have been some massive changes during that time.
The first big one was when the hotels were rebranded as IHG hotels in 2021 (Crowne Plaza, Intercontinental, and Holiday Inn). Clearly they were targeting the expanding tourist market but had very bad timing with the pandemic.
For the next couple of years the resort was quite a sorry place. Not many visitors, not enough staff to open restaurants and facilities.
Then last year all the prices went up as visitors returned.
This year it’s even more expensive, and the place is full. Walking around on Thursday and Friday, we went all day without hearing any Japanese. All the guests seem to be from China, Korea, Australia, etc.
Lift ticket prices are maybe 50% higher than they used to be, food and drink 2-3 times. The hotel prices are insane. And there are special ‘black’ ski passes that cost 33,000 yen a day and allow you to skip the (short) lines. The few people using them seem to be foreign visitors.
And I have mixed feelings about this.
I’m not thrilled to be paying these prices. And it is mildly discomforting to be in the same place as lots of people with different cultural norms than Japan (although to be fair no one has been behaving unpleasantly). Are we going to end up like Thailand used to be, wealthy tourists enjoying things that local residents can’t afford?
But on the other hand without overseas visitors I suspect this ski resort would be going the way of many others: closing down. And then we wouldn’t be able to enjoy it at all.
And that seems to be the future Japan is making its meandering, unhurried way towards. One where things keep functioning thanks to foreign immigrants and visitors. One that feels a bit different to how it was before.
Change.
Will we succeed in keeping the good elements of the Japan we love, while integrating new ones? I hope so.
But I don’t think we have a choice. Things are not sustainable without more people working on them and consuming them, whether that is farming, service industries, or maintaining vital infrastructure.
What do you think? How much is Japan going to change going forward?
Free Guide
Our free guide to personal finance in Japan has a new home! You can download it here.
Substack trial
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New bite-sized podcast
Following advice I got from the community, I have started a new short form podcast. Basically I am going to answer questions or comment on things that happen to me or news stories. Planning to update it a bit more frequently and have short episodes.
Please send me questions so I don’t have to think about the content for this.
You can check it out and subscribe here (if it’s not on your podcast platform of choice please let me know and I will try to get it added).
RetireJapan TV S3E4
RJTV S03E04 will air on Monday, February 17th, at 20:00. Hope to see you there!
YouTube
Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We published a short video about Buying real estate in Japan in 2025: should you consider an akiya?
The Forum
Speaking of which, the Forum is doing well (39,978 posts so far). The forum rules are here. In essence, they are:
- Be nice
- Ask any question you like
- Only answer questions when you have relevant knowledge or experience
Here are the latest active threads:
This week’s books
I am still on my Terry Pratchett binge! Bought all of his Discworld books on Kindle and have read the first ten now. It’s really fun but I am already feeling sad because I will finish reading them at some point. Thirty or so to go.
This week’s links
- I don’t like this. That might be irrational, but it seems very dystopian: Japan Deploys Walk-through Facial Recognition Ticket Turnstiles at Train Stations Across the Country
- Friend of RetireJapan and mortgage expert Emil Gorgees did a video (YouTube) about mortgage interest rates in Japan. He’s going to do regular updates so if you are interested definitely smash the like button and subscribe: Jan 2025 Mortgage Rates in Japan: What Homebuyers Need to Know
- Damn, hadn’t thought of this one: Burglaries of Japan’s Abandoned Houses Are Becoming More Aggressive
- A nice update (Reddit): Pension benefits amount for 2025
- This was interesting: I was jailed for four years for a non-violent climate protest – this is my prison diary
- Gold did better than I expected: Historical Returns For Stocks, Bonds, Cash, Real Estate and Gold
- I really agree with this (and need to remember it more day to day): The Little Things
- Give unwanted land to the government? Starting to get it
- Interesting second order effects in here: DeepSeek Breaks the AI Paradigm
- Ridiculous: Media watch: Government to punish UN office for having opinion similar to that of Japanese citizenry
- Don’t know a huge amount about this, but it would make sense for them to follow Japanese law: US Army Black Hawk helicopters like in fatal DC collision also routinely fly low above Tokyo
- Uh oh: Japan’s immigration processing fees to rise starting April 1
- Horrendous. Don’t read if you are sensitive. But something that is a bit of a theme here in Japan: At the crossroads of bullying, suicide and murder
- We’ll be seeing more of these headlines in the future: Japan records biggest jump in foreign workers in 2024
What do you think? Anything interesting in there?
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Wow. Kokumin nenkin is rising a fat ¥1,308😄
Did I read it right that kokumin nenkin doesn’t decrease if you have a high income? It talks about the ‘basic amount’.
It will be interesting to follow the tourism curve over the next 3 to 5 yrs. To see if this is all still post-Covid pent-up demand as is also observed in places like Portugal, Spain etc. or if it’s Japan’s new norm. Pros Nd cons to both scenarios.
If the yen remains this cheap, I don’t see why we wouldn’t have huge growth in tourism numbers.
It is far cheaper to visit Japan than Europe/AusNZ/North America now.
I hope the government capitalizes on it by charging for visa on arrival and cancelling duty free shopping.
Duty free shopping is different from the refund for sales taxes tourists can get from shopping in Japan. Duty-free is cancelling customs duties while the sales tax (VAT) refund is applying to the 10% sales tax but duty-free is already limited because it doesn’t mean you will be exempt from custom duties if the purchased items exceed certain cost levels or are above the unit amounts allowed in Japan duty-free. Merchants have good reason to be strongly in favor of the VAT refund because it increases their sales (lowers the effective price to the consumer) and doesn’t really affect their own tax rates. https://www.customs.go.jp/english/c-answer_e/keitaibetsuso/7104-2_e.htm#:~:text=Customs%20selects%20the%20duty%2Dfree,entire%20sum%20of%20%C2%A5250%2C000.
That is a great point, thank you. Yes, I am referring to the VAT refund scheme.
I am an avid skier and the prices have shot up immensely over the past year or two at most ski resorts (Niseko led the way along with Hakuba and Nozawa Onsen and now every major ski resort is cashing in). I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, skiing in Japan was too cheap before and was on an unsustainable path so I am glad to see former struggling resorts making money. On the other hand, the locals are being priced out of their own resorts and the hotels are becoming outrageously over-priced. I really think it has swung too far in the other direction and the snake is eating its own tail. Also, and I know I sound like one of those entitled long term gaijin, the foreign skiers are freaking loud and annoying with very poor etiquette – it is really breaking the culture of the ski resorts here. I remember Koizumi’s Yokoso Japan campaign and thinking it would never work – boy was I wrong! I now want them to start the GTFO of Japan campaign instead lol.
#7–To the list, I would add, “Find a teacher, and be one.”
A couple alternate versions of ‘the journey is the destination’: “To travel is better than to arrive,” (Pirsig, ZATAOMM) and “It’s … the going, not the getting there, that’s good.” (Chapin, ‘Greyhound)
I’m curious to know more about your experience becoming a good neighbor and really being an active member of your neighborhood, or not
Can you please add podcast to Apple Podcasts. I only see the TV version.
Thanks! Should be here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ro/podcast/the-retirejapan-bite-sized-podcast/id1792118301
Thanks, I listened to one for the first time. I feel like 10-15 minutes would be a nice length, 3 minutes was too short.
Thanks for the feedback! We’ll see how it goes.
I’m finding it really easy to make these short ones.
Hi Ben, I’m also re-reading through the entire Discworld series at the moment. My favorites by far are the City Watch series but there are some crackers throughout. Thanks for keeping up with this site and resource, I know you’ve been doing some soul searching of late but count me amongst those who quietly enjoy it each week. I hope you find a path forward to make it sustainable for you too.
Thanks! Yes, the Guards books are my favourite. I also like the wizards and witches, but Vimes and co. are the best.
I have some ideas on how to make RJ more fun and more sustainable, so never fear! We are going to be here for a while.
Regarding No. 6:
The historical comparison is unfair for gold because owning gold was illegal for US citizens between 1933 and 1974, and the price was fixed at $35 in 1935 until Nixon ended the gold standard in 1971. Since then, the gold price has increased by 8% on an annualized basis (according to the World Gold Council).
There really needs to be something done about the overtourism. The infrastructure isn’t there in many places and us locals can’t afford to enjoy what we once did, or not as much anyway.
While I’m happy that some places (shops/hotels/ski resorts etc) are directly benefiting, for the average Joe Tanaka things are only getting more crowded and more expensive.
As Ben suggested, charge tourists on arrival to Japan. This should be a no-brainer and it is crazy that it hasn’t been done yet.
Considering our wages aren’t changing there really should be some way to charge locals one price and tourists another. Surely there could be a system to make it work for big places like ski resorts and hotels. Sign up online or show a Japanese drivers license or something. Shopping and restaurants etc would probably be harder to control but entrance prices to attractions and hotels at a reasonable price would be something that would really allow Japanese residents to enjoy life too.
As someone who has spent about 30 years researching and documenting Japanese ski areas (publicly on the website I created, http://www.snowjapan.com) and more recently also listing up closed ski areas from the past (www.snowjapanhistory.com), I have a few thoughts on all this! (Probably way too many).
In my time here, a lot has changed, but it does seem like post-corona the speed of change is accelerating rapidly.
However, while some destinations are racing away in a new direction (Niseko, Hakuba, etc) and some others are trying to emulate, many are being left behind. There is a lot of 30-40 year old infrastructure out there, and most places cannot afford to maintain/update it. In the coming years, that is going to become a more pressing matter.
Our long-time Niseko reporter had some interesting comments to make today (3rd Feb) regarding one of the ski areas up there introducing a new ski lift pass that is valid for just 29-minute and costs 20,000 yen.
I hope it is ok to share a link:
https://www.snowjapan.com/japan-daily-snow-weather-reports/niseko-now/archives/3rd-February-2025
There is certainly a lot of conflicting feelings out there, including in the places that are not very popular.
That pass is crazy (I thought the Appi black pass was mad, but that one takes the biscuit). I guess if people are happy to pay it it’s a good way for the resort to make some extra money…
Earlier this season Annupuri (on the same mountain) did an early morning ticket with the gondola operating for 30 minutes. (It was just for a few days).
If I remember correctly, that cost 2,000 yen. Even at that price point, it was deemed kind of expensive.
The only difference, other than the 10x price, is that it was not limited to 20 people as this Hanazono one is.
I do wonder whether people truly seeking out and passionate about powder will be the ones paying this 20,000 yen.
Clearly, such people are no longer the main target.
First of all, thanks for the fine site Andrew. Have used it many a time.
That pass is… wow… don’t know what to say.
It must be a hard one for ski resorts these days. With less locals going on the slopes, shorter seasons and the ageing infrastructure that you mentioned, they have to find a way to make money if they want to survive. I have seen the 7 nearest skifields to me close in the last 15 years (to be fair, more due to lack of snow over anything else) but more and more are going to disappear if things continue. Finding a way to use the slopes in the off-season is a challenge that many places are undertaking. But the easiest thing to do is to raise prices and make these fancy tickets in hope that people (likely foreigners) will buy them. Unfortunately places like my regular see very little foreign tourists (Although very popular with Kansai/Gifu people) so upping prices justs hurts the locals which is unfortunate. But it’s probably either that or lose the resort so not much we can do but pay higher prices. But you end up going less with higher prices so the cycle continues as less customers come in each year. It’s a tough one.
Thank you very much, Inakappe.
The site and general topic is my passion; that’s where it’s coming from.
I do fear that, one day, there will be more ski areas listed on SnowJapanHistory (old closed ski areas from the past) than there are on SnowJapan (currently operating ski areas). As much as I have loved putting together the history site over the last five years, I don’t want to see lots moving there.
The big ski areas that are fully focused on chasing the inbound market seem absolutely unconcerned about putting off the local Japanese skiers. The price increases are quite alarming. I have spoken with a few ski areas manager types recently (not Niseko/Hakuba/etc) and they say that numbers are a bit down this season; they blame their increased ticket prices putting people off and it getting too expensive. (Muzukashii desu ne).
25 years ago I worked for a ski area here in Niigata and the issue of what to do in the “green season” was always a headache for them. The reality is that winter sports is a much easier and focused market (compared with all the different things you can do outside of winter, many of which are already done better elsewhere). I guess things have probably changed there too, and I think we’ll see more of it though in the coming years.
There is a way to balance the tourism industry with the Japanese population.
i would suggest that the price increases are there for the tourists, and like in some other countries, the citizens could show their I.D, My number card, driving license, Insurance card, and University I.D, and pay a discounted fee. This wouldn’t alienate the citizens who might feel double punished/taxed for the price increases (whose salary may not have gone up) they may accept or at least tolerate the increasing hassle/annoyance of the over-tourism, and also make them feel a bit better that the A) tourists are contributing more to our society, paying to support the community, local population, and we may feel better about it. At the same time, we have to live here and pay those increases possibly indefinitely or forgo those experiences we may not be able to afford. The tourists go home, with their Instagram snaps, their memories, and hopefully good experiences, increasing tourism further. We on the other hand must LIVE here.