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“Journeys in Japan”
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Blow like the wind!
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Summer in Hokkaido!
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It’s a land of lush greenery, especially around Niseko.
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Steven Lefever has come to explore the area
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and to have some fun.
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This time on “Journeys in Japan,”
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Steven finds thrills
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and a few spills in Niseko’s rich natural environment.
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And he meets the people who have moved here,
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who now call this resort destination home.
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NISEKO IN SUMMER: Natural Fun in the Great Outdoors
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Located some 800 kilometers north of Tokyo,
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Niseko lies in the southwest of Hokkaido.
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It’s best known as a world-class ski resort.
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Thanks to its abundant powder snow
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and rugged, challenging terrain,
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Niseko attracts skiers and boarders from all across the world.
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In summer, though, Niseko offers a very different face.
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It becomes a world of profuse vegetation.
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We got Mt. Yotei over here.
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It’s not fully in vision but
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it’s still beautiful.
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I can only imagine what
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the view that paraglider is getting over there.
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The nature of Niseko.
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So fresh, so clean, so green.
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and this is Niseko in Hokkaido.
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You see, Niseko is very famous in the wintertime,
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but I heard it’s really fun in the summer.
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Let’s check it out.
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Steven is a video creator from Guam.
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He lives in Tokyo with his Japanese wife and two children.
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Steven’s first move is to try some backwoods mountain-bike action.
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So, welcome. We’re at the entrance of the
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Twin Peaks Bike Park here in Kutchan.
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And so what we’ll be doing is
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we’ll be starting off with the Jinja Ninja.
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Hop on that trail, ride that up to the Skills Loop
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and go from there. How does that sound?
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Jinja Ninja to the Skills Loop?
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– Sounds great to me.
– Nice. Let’s ride some bikes!
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– Here we go.
– Here we go. Nice, easy.
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Feeling good, feeling good. Let’s go.
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Megan is from Canada.
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She’s one of the many English-speaking instructors based in Niseko
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who are ready to guide visitors on their outdoor activities.
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Okay. Ready for the downhill?
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– Let’s do this.
– Let’s do it. The time has come.
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– Okay, let’s do it.
– Let’s go.
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The mountain slopes around Niseko
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offer as much excitement on mountain bikes
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as they do on snowboards or skis.
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Nice. How was that?
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That was a lot of fun.
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– A lot of fun?
– Quite challenging too.
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There’s so many trails. And the trails, whether it’s
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biking or hiking or skiing in the mountains,
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they’re all different. There’s something fun and challenging
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for every single level of person that comes out here.
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let’s see where I go from here then.
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Sounds great. Tell me when you’re back up here.
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I wonder what’s going on over here.
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They think they can catch me?
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I’m the fastest shooter in the west.
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After the thrill of mountain biking downhill,
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Steven opts for a more sedate activity,
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horseback riding across the lowlands.
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I’m on a live animal right now.
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Let’s go, baby. Yeah!
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This is a highlight right here.
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My first time riding a horse.
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– That’s beautiful.
– Yeah?
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– Yeah.
– Wonderful.
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Steven, can you stop and head to this direction?
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Yeah, yeah, that’s it. Okay, very good.
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Yeah, this is so great. Thank you so much.
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– You’re welcome.
– I never realized how
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fun it would be to ride a horse until I’m actually on a horse.
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In the old days, farmers here all had horses.
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They were used for plowing the fields.
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We used horses to develop the land and
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to transport wood from the forest.
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They are a familiar sight in the Niseko area
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and we still take great care of our horses and cattle.
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In winter, the fields around Niseko lie fallow under the snow.
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But in summer, this is all productive farmland.
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Hokkaido is best known for its potatoes.
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But many other crops are grown here, including wheat and rice.
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We got a goat family over here.
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Steven visits a farm that produces
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more than 50 kinds of organic vegetables.
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Thank you. Let’s have a look.
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Honami will show you around.
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– Thank you.
– Nice to meet you.
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Nice to meet you too.
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Let’s start with kale.
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– Good job.
– Good job.
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– Right here?
– Yeah.
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– Oh, you pick that?
– Yeah. Same move, please.
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Thank you for coming with us.
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It’s like a little green pumpkin or tomato.
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You’d be wrong. It’s “Piman (green pepper).”
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That’s great. It’s long.
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There’s a variety of different plants and vegetables.
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– So many vegetables.
– Yeah, look at that.
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In Niseko, summer temperatures rise to 30 degrees C,
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but drop to under 15 degrees C at night.
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That differential makes our produce very sweet and tasty.
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You didn’t warn me!
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This one had like a few roots only.
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I got it, but I got a little dirty as well.
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– There’s an onsen here?
– Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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– Do you know onsen?
– I know onsen, and I love onsen.
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So many onsens in Niseko.
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– You should go to an onsen now!
– Yes, please.
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Clean my messy self up.
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Although other places are better known,
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Niseko is one of the top hot spring areas in Hokkaido.
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We got some gardening over here.
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I do love me some rice fields.
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It doesn’t really look like a usual onsen but…
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We got the onsen sign!
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I guess we’re on the right path.
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What makes this hot spring unusual
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is that it’s surrounded by rice paddies.
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I’ve never been in an onsen in the middle of a rice field before.
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That looks like a smoke signal over there.
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I think we got to check it out.
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Hello. We’re going to make pizza. Okay?
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All right, let’s do it!
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Are these the vegetables we picked?
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Oh yeah, it is. I recognize these vegetables.
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Please cut them lengthwise.
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After that, the zucchini.
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I feel like Gordon Ramsay here.
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Oh yeah, I can hear the air coming out.
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It’s very therapeutic making a pizza.
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Pop pop pooy, feelin’ like ratatouille.
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Fresh from Niseko. Everything was grown right here.
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It’s so delicious. Thank you.
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That was very satisfying.
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All right, now that I’m full,
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it’s time to burn off some of these calories, yeah?
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Hello. Nice to meet you.
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Today we’re going to do some trekking.
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This is a great way to see the scenery and
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to learn about Niseko’s history too.
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– All right, let’s go!
– Lets’ go!
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Yeah, I’m putting my body to the test, which I do like,
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I love exercising so
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there’s no better way to exercise than to be in an actual environment.
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I’m out here in beautiful nature
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listening to the birds and,
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you know, being challenged by my environment.
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So, yeah, I love it.
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Careful, guys. Wow.
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The soil is white here and looks very different from the surrounding land.
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This whole area used to be inhabited.
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– There was a town?
– Yeah.
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From the 19th century,
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this was the site of a mine where sulfur was dug
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for use in matches and in gunpowder.
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At one time, there were nearly 200 people living here.
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They even had a school and a hospital.
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In the middle of the mountains.
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There was a town here.
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The kids were probably playing over here,
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jumping up and down,
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having a good old time in the water.
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Evidence of some horses here too.
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A whole little economy right here 150 years ago.
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And these wood pillars are still strong.
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Imagining how they lived back in the day.
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This hot spring lies near the foot of the mine.
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it was discovered in 1885.
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Hot springs were discovered in this area
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as people were searching the mountains for sulfur.
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This was the first one they found.
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Later, many more hot springs were discovered
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and this brought visitors to the Niseko area.
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I really love onsen and I’m curious.
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Is this the same type of onsen in Niseko, or are they different?
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The Niseko area has an unusual range of hot springs.
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Of the 10 different kinds of onsen in Japan,
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you can find seven types in Niseko.
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Very special place.
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This is a sulfur spring. There’s a similar kind of onsen
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you can try around the corner. I think you’ll enjoy it.
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I’m sure I will. Thank you.
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You know, it’s amazing to think that these very hot springs
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were used by miners generations ago
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after a long day’s work to relax, just as I’m doing now.
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A little bit of history right here. It’s incredible.
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The era of sulfur mining came to an end
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in the middle of the last century.
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It marked a major turning point for Niseko.
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About the same time, the skiing boom was born.
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Hokkaido hosted international skiing events,
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including the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics.
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Niseko grew rapidly as a ski resort.
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Over the past two decades,
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there has been massive investment from abroad,
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transforming Niseko into one of Japan’s most exclusive resorts.
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Steven has come to visit a new luxury “ryokan” inn
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developed by overseas investors.
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This ryokan was founded by a British photographer and his wife.
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It’s set in the middle of virgin forest, which they cleared themselves.
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Nice to meet you. I’m Steve.
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Nice to meet you. I’m Nobue Shiozawa.
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Why did the British couple choose Niseko out of all places?
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They traveled all over Japan while they were living here,
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and they are really attracted by the nature of Niseko,
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not only the powder snow,
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but also every season’s beauty that they really admire.
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Those are cooked in Niseko’s fresh air,
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and also, mountains absorb water of Niseko,
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and they taste very different.
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And that will make you believe
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that you will have to visit Niseko for true enjoyment.
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It just simply melted in my mouth.
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Another popular summer activity in Niseko is rafting.
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Let’s go. Forward paddle, guys! Forward!
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The Shiribetsu River flowing through the foothills
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of the Niseko mountains offers plenty of thrills.
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Okay, between the rocks!
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Cut it, cut it. Cut it!
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It’s the Steven-Megan team that’s doing it.
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Yeah, we are. Yeah!
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Good, a little bit more!
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– All right, let’s paddle!
– Let’s go, let’s go!
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Ross Findlay is from Australia.
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He moved to Niseko about 30 years ago
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and pioneered rafting in Hokkaido.
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You’ve been here for over 30 years.
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What makes you… You know, what are
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the finer things in Niseko that you appreciate?
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For me, I love the summer.
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It’s just really nice weather.
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I mean, I work sitting on a boat going down the river
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having fun with people, so you can’t beat it.
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How was it like around here? Does this look
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exactly the same as what it looked like when you first came?
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So, yeah, it’s entirely different.
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Just nearly every building’s been taken down one time
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and a new building’s been put up.
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There’s people investing from all over the world.
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Unlike anywhere else in Japan.
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There’s nowhere else in Japan that’s like this and
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has foreigners from all over the world coming in to work and play.
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Like, 10 percent of the population’s foreigners, and so
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if you go to a cafe, that’s where everyone’s hanging out.
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And it doesn’t matter if they’re Japanese or foreigners, everyone’s friendly.
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– It’s a country town. It’s just relaxed.
– I love it. I love it.
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Steven visits a cafe that’s a hangout for Niseko’s foreign residents.
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– Good morning
– How’s it going?
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– Good, good, good. I’m Steve.
– Norris.
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– Norris.
– Nice to meet you.
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– Meg.
– Meg? Nice to meet you.
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Awesome. So this is like the hangout, huh?
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Yeah, lots of locals coming here. This is our cafe.
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Foreign locals, what parts of the world are they usually from?
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– Everywhere?
– Yeah, every corner of the world pretty much.
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I moved here because of the nature here.
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Once you live here and you get to explore more intimately, it’s beautiful.
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We came first for the snow, then experienced spring,
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summer, autumn and then really fell in love with
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the Niseko area after that.
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I love that aspect about this place.
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Yeah, it’s really special.
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After the heat goes. Agreed. I actually love summer more.
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Winter is so busy. I don’t know.
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We all come out in spring like a bear. We are all just like…
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Ah! Hi, let’s hang out. Let’s go barbecue.
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Let’s go to the lake and…
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– Yeah. Definitely. Isn’t it?
– It is… No, it’s a beautiful…
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It’s a beautiful social time to share.
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It’s been a fantastic adventure enjoying these outdoor activities,
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meeting the locals,
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and getting to learn about Niseko’s history
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and evolving culture.
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Being from Guam and now living in Tokyo,
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coming here reminds me of my roots in a way,
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especially since I’m here during the summer.
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The warm temperatures, cool waters
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and green jungles all remind me of Guam,
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not to mention how friendly people are here.
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These are all aspects that remind me of my life back home.
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I had an amazing time here,
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and I can’t wait to come back with my family
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to enjoy the unique experiences of Niseko.
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From Tokyo, flights take about 90 minutes
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to New Chitose Airport.
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Then it’s another 2 hours to Niseko by car,
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or 2 hours 45 minutes by train.
AloJapan.com