My morning started at 6 a.m. with a flight over to Niseko, the northern region of Japan, where I checked into the beautiful Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono (328-47 Iwaobetsu). After taking in the unreal views of my mountain-view room, I got ready for my next beauty service. I love getting my nails done and knew that getting them done in one of the birthplaces of nail art would be an experience I couldn’t possibly miss. My sisters and I have an Instagram thread where all we do is send nail inspo, so I dipped into that folder and decided on a bubblegum-watermelon theme. The village center in Hanazono is small and quite rural, so my options for nail salons were limited to the hotel. Unfortunately, it did not have a salon either but offered to send a local artist to my room. Thrilled at the ability to stay in my cozy room while watching the ski lift, I opted in and had the technician come to me. The service started with a soak, premier filing, buffing, and then a fresh paint job with design. The result: perfect works of art for four weeks without compromising my nail health.
The last time I participated in a snow sport, I was 16 and on a snowboard. In the 15 years since, I’ve thought about starting up again but ultimately was too intimidated by the fear of falling, not to mention the financial commitment. But when I read about Park Hyatt Niseko’s ski facilities, often deemed to have the “best snow on earth,” with true ski-in and ski-out access, I bit the bullet. My day started with a three-hour one-on-one lesson with instructor Becca Wheatcroft.
I started off scootering to practice my balance and get the feeling of sliding, then two-ski shuffling up a hill. Once I mastered this, I graduated to the beginner area until I felt ready to ski down from the gondola, where I learned to turn and practiced stopping. Wheatcroft told me that I was a natural and that most people don’t carry on past the beginner area in their first lesson. I was ecstatic. Feeling on top of the world, I signed up for a snowmobiling tour directly afterward, during which I got up to 45 mph, speeding through a snowy forest. This was a true highlight of my trip.
The majority of spa treatments in Japan start with an onsen soak to prep the skin for service, improve blood circulation, and reduce stress. I had 45 minutes to soak in my private onsen while enjoying serene birds chirping through the speakers and sipping on a hot ginseng tea. The onsen did wonders for my already-sore skiing muscles and acted as a moment for reflection about my time in Japan.
My therapist recommended the special ICOR Clear Facial, which uses natural spring water from Mt. Yōtei, an active stratovolcano close to the hotel’s region. With a natural pH value close to humans’, the water blended perfectly into my skin and left me feeling hydrated and taken care of. It was the perfect way to end the beauty-centric portion of my first visit to Japan. I went to sleep smiling and grateful to have been exposed to the superior quality of Japanese beauty.
I spent the next eight days exploring other cities in Japan (Kyoto, Yamagata, Osaka, and more) and wished I had sprinkled in more self-care moments against the back-to-back shrine visits, buckets of ramen, local karaoke, and shopping. But as they say, Japan will always be there. And I will be back.
AloJapan.com