SHIMUKAPPU, Hokkaido—A JR express train was filled to 60-percent capacity when it left Sapporo Station for Shimukappu in the central part of Hokkaido in December.
After it stopped at Minami-Chitose Station near Shin-Chitose Airport, all of the empty seats were filled up, mainly by Asian families carrying large suitcases.
And at Tomamu Station in Shimukappu, featuring views of “twin towers” halfway up a ski slope, the tourists departed from the train.
In Shimukappu, 538, or 34 percent, of its 1,591 residents are non-Japanese, the highest rate among municipalities on Japan’s northernmost main island.
And they are the ones who support the ever-increasing number of non-Japanese vacationers here.
In comparison, Hokkaido’s population of about 5.22 million included more than 60,000 foreign nationals, or 1 percent, as of June 2024.
Consisting of two pairs of twin tower hotels, Hoshino Resorts Tomamu receives about 490,000 vacationers a year, and nearly 30 percent of them come from abroad.
Many of the overseas tourists are from East Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Singapore, according to the resort operator.
The village is also seeing a growing influx of guests from Europe and the United States who are avoiding the Niseko area, also in Hokkaido, that has become congested after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the foreign residents in Shimukappu work at either Hoshino Resorts Tomamu or the Club Med’s resort.
Hoshino Resorts Tomamu employs about 670 people.
Roughly 270 are permanent employees, and 20 percent of them are non-Japanese, according to the operator.
The foreign staff have various tasks, such as serving customers, cleaning and providing skiing lessons.
The company has been hiring people with wide-ranging backgrounds to cater to an increasingly multinational clientele.
“They can’t enjoy their stay at ease when they can’t communicate,” said general manager Iwao Watanabe. “A resort is not a resort unless it offers a sense of comfort.”
Shin Ryeo-jin, 24, who hails from South Korea and is fluent in Japanese and English, has been working at the resort as a receptionist for two years.
She said it would be convenient if there was a drug store in the vicinity because she mostly travels between the company dormitory and her workplace.
“I like snow and stars in Tomamu,” Shin added. “The food is also delicious and I like it here.”
INITIALLY INTENDED FOR JAPANESE
The village was originally rich with pastures for grazing cattle.
A resort development project started in 1981 when the JR Sekisho Line opened. It was initially intended for Japanese tourists.
According to documents from the village office, only around 10 foreign residents lived in Shimukappu in fiscal 2008, or about 1 percent of the population.
A turning point came in 2017, when France-based Club Med, which operates resort facilities at more than 60 locations in 25 countries, opened one here.
After the company hired foreign employees, they accounted for nearly 30 percent of the village’s population.
But most of them live in company dormitories at the resort, so they have little contact with village residents.
The foreign residents are not only essential for supporting inbound tourism, but they also contribute to the village’s revenues through corporate taxes collected from the resort operators.
Shimukappu can also expect an increase in local tax grants from the central government when its population grows.
“We don’t see our future in the village with no foreign residents,” said Mayor Masaharu Tanaka, 68, who was involved in selecting the site for the development project as a village official.
“We will proceed with our community development efforts to live together with foreign people while maintaining a population of 1,000 Japanese people.”
The village office provides multilingual services using translator devices, housing complexes and a compulsory education program tailored for foreign students.
An increasing number of foreign residents have joined local festivals and other events, according to officials.
“They can’t live together here if they have worries,” the mayor said. “Inclusiveness is all about providing a foundation in which they can feel at ease. I feel that making such an environment is what matters in our community-building efforts.”
AloJapan.com