In a statement, the tour company’s CEO Shinji Wada said the “tragic accident” happened just before 11:00 local time on Saturday.
The tour was made up of nine snowmobiles including three guides, he said.
“During the tour, near an uphill curve along a forest road, the snowmobile from the front left the course while navigating the curve and rode up onto the embankment at the side of the trail.
“The vehicle subsequently overturned back onto the course. As a result of the overturn, the passenger riding tandem on the snowmobile became trapped beneath the vehicle.”
Wada said it had cancelled all its snowmobile and snowshoe tours until further notice and it would conduct a review of its operations and safety procedures.
Last month, Melbourne man Michael ‘Micky’ Hurst, 27, died after he became separated from his group of skiers between two ski resorts in the Hokkaido region.
It’s understood he collapsed suddenly and was taken to hospital but later declared dead.
In the same week, a 22-year-old Australian woman died after becoming trapped in a ski lift at a resort in central Japan.
She was using a chairlift at Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Otari, Nagano prefecture, when part of her backpack got tangled in the lift, leaving her suspended in midair.
The woman suffered a heart attack and was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead, officials said at the time.
In January, Australian-Indonesian teenager Rylan Henry Pribadi died while skiing at Niseko Ski Resort in Kutchan Town, Hokkaido.
It is believed he collided with a course boundary role. The cause of death was asphyxiation, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
AloJapan.com