ここは、もう“日本”じゃない｜外国資本に奪われた観光地の静かな崩壊

ここは、もう“日本”じゃない｜外国資本に奪われた観光地の静かな崩壊

Most of the signs for condominiums for sale are written in English. It feels like I’m overseas. If things continue like this, it feels like my hometown will no longer be my hometown. Do you ever feel like that? This is Niseko in Hokkaido. This used to be a quiet farming village overlooking Mt. Yotei. People lived with the seasons, and snow was just a part of nature, but now the wealthy people from around the world gather in this town It feels like I’m in another country. But behind the scenes, the locals are muttering, “This isn’t our town anymore.” I’m currently in Iwaobetsu, Kutchan-cho, Hokkaido, known as Niseko. This used to be an agricultural and forestry town. Now it’s known as a ski resort around the world. In the winter, tourists from all over the world visit. The sky, the language, the real estate prices, everything has changed from what it used to be. “What is happening here now?” I’m going to see the truth. I’m in the Hirafu area of Niseko, but it feels like I’m overseas. Most of the signs for condominiums for sale are written in English. The condominiums and hotels are designed in a way that you wouldn’t think they were in a Japanese style. Niseko is a town where hotels from all over the world gather. Now, there are Hiltons, Park Hyatts, Ritz-Carlton and Aman in 2027 the world’s most famous hotel brands, are coming into this small town one after another. This place is now being redesigned into an international resort for the wealthy. The Hirafu area of Kutchan Town is particularly noteworthy there are many luxury condominiums priced at hundreds of millions of yen per room. The most symbolic of these is the “MUA NISEKO” this is a luxury condominium directly connected to the ski resort, with the penthouse priced at over 1 billion yen. Due to its location, specifications, and rarity, it goes beyond the framework of a villa and is treated as a financial asset. Not a house , but an asset. In Niseko, it is becoming common for such properties to be traded as assets, not for living. The owners are investors, the management is done by hotels, and the guests are from all over the world. The properties are sold in English, and the selling points are the yield and tax savings. Some condominiums for sale in Niseko are traded with an expected annual yield of about 3 to 5%. They seem to be attracting attention as a hedge against inflation and a weak yen. The structure is just like an investment trust or REIT. Real estate has become a financial product. Not a house to live in, but a device to generate profits. Profits over warmth, from a town to live in to a town to be bought. Niseko is now a crossroads of money disguised as a ski resort. This is “New World La Plume Niseko Resort” Directly connected to the ski resort, with a panoramic view of Mt. Yotei. A luxury hotel with 219 rooms and five private villas. It was supposed to be the largest resort in Niseko’s history and welcome the world’s wealthy, but now all that spreads out there are steel beams where construction has stopped and an abandoned site exposed to the wind. In April 2025, the Hong Kong company in charge of the development went bankrupt. Construction had already stopped since June of the previous year. Due to soaring construction costs and lack of funds. Their dream quietly came to a halt, and the land was left with only time. This is not just a cancellation of the plan. It is all too real evidence of the dangers of resort development driven by a bubble. Fujii Confectionery, located right in front of Kutchan Station, has been doing business in Niseko for over 70 years since it was founded in 1950. Chiaki Fujii, the third generation owner of this long-established Japanese confectionery store, told us how she feels as a local resident now that the Niseko bubble is growing. Recently, real estate prices around here have risen a lot, haven’t they? Yes. Are the locals screaming that the wages have gone up too much? Everyone is screaming. The rent around here is high, and for us business owners, the wages are a problem. The minimum wage in Hokkaido is about 1010 yen per hour, but in the winter in the Hirafu area, it is 2000 yen per hour. Convenience stores in the Hirafu area in winter pay 1800 yen per hour. In Sapporo, the wage for a confectionery shop is 1200 yen per hour. Compared to other areas in Hokkaido, even my small shop needs to pay 100 to 200 yen more to hire people, so we have no choice but to raise the prices of our products. We can’t keep up with the cash, and the store goes out of business. Last season, a topic of conversation around here was that a nursing home in the town closed down because the wages were not in line with the market price, and even though they recruited staff, they couldn’t find anyone. Such problems are emerging. Industries that are essential to life are disappearing because they can’t pay the wages. I think this is a big problem for the living environment. Why do foreigners buy Niseko? The first thing to note is the snow. The biggest reason why Niseko became known around the world is its superb powder snow. Australian skiers spread the word about Niseko through social media and word of mouth in the 1990s, and Niseko’s snow quality quickly became known around the world. The light, dry snow is said to be easier to ski on than the European Alps, and is highly regarded by professional skiers and snowboarders. Furthermore, the season is long, and in some years it is possible to ski from November to around May of the following year. With a long period of enjoyment and high tourist attraction, Niseko’s snow has truly been branded as a natural resource. Secondly, Japan is one of the few countries in the world where it is easy to buy real estate. Regardless of nationality, foreigners, individuals, or corporations can all buy property here. You can buy, register and own real estate freely. In principle, there are no restrictions on villas, forests or commercial facilities. This is a very unique system, as many countries such as Switzerland, Canada, Australia and China have restrictions on foreigners acquiring real estate. You can say it’s a free pass real estate market. And it’s also a big reason why Japanese real estate looks cheap. In the early 2000s, property prices in Niseko were less than one-tenth of those in Tokyo. Even now, compared to Hong Kong and Singapore, they are still cheaper, so there is thought to be room for prices to rise. Not only can you enjoy using a villa, but you can also rent it out and make money by selling it. Such operational villas are becoming more common here. Is the quality of snow in Niseko completely different from other places? Ah, it’s completely different. The snow is very light. The snow in Niigata is heavy, and in Nagano it’s heavy too. When you go skiing in Niigata or Nagano, the slopes are often hard. Does the slope not get hard even after people ski down it? Yes, it doesn’t. I’ve only ever encountered snow that gets hard. Ah, the snow in Niseko doesn’t get hard at all. Especially in the high season. That’s why people from all over the world come here. That’s right. With the hometown uninhabitable and the everyday life disappearing What happened to the people who have lived here for a long time? Housing prices in Niseko are comparable to those in Tokyo’s 23 wards. Incidentally, the rent for a 1LDK is said to be 150,000 to 200,000 yen. In a town where the average annual income is in the 3 million yen range, this price is clearly not for locals. In terms of annual income, it is about 20 times the annual income. It is impossible to get a loan, and it is difficult to even rent, let alone buy a house. Furthermore, ordinary rental houses are being converted one after another into private lodgings, and supermarkets and nurseries are decreasing. A town for living has become a town for tourists. As redevelopment progresses, former residents are quietly leaving the town. This is a phenomenon that is currently occurring in Niseko. Moreover, this is not just a rise in land prices. Instead of residents leaving voluntarily, a structure is being created in which they have no choice but to leave. For example, termination of rental contracts, refusal to renew, and requests to leave due to conversion to private lodging. Real estate agents’ logic is that they make more money renting to tourists, and so local people are being quietly but surely excluded. Behind the shift to tourist destinations, it’s not just the beautiful scenery that’s being lost – perhaps the right to live here too. This trend is also certainly sweeping over Furano and Biei. Tourists are flocking to the lavender fields, blue ponds, and beautiful hills, which are perfect for social media, completely transforming the quiet towns. Real estate agents and investors are buying up land, and what was once farmland is being turned into tourist facilities and vacation homes. In Furano, land prices have increased by about 1.8 times in the last 10 years, and the number of private lodging facilities has almost doubled in the last three years. Development by foreign capital is also noticeable in Kitanomine and Nakafurano. The once slow scenery is rapidly becoming touristy. Furano and Biei are also at the entrance to becoming Niseko. I see, so local people are being excluded. Well, I think those who are managing to get by will be able to manage, but if they don’t change themselves, it may be difficult to stay here. Is that so? Yes. People of my generation who are doing well here are more likely to be immigrants, People who came from outside and are running businesses. In the end, the reason why such people are successful is because they love this place and are able to do business that makes use of its charm. However, for people who live in the local area, their hometown will always be there, so if they can’t find value in it, I think they will have no choice but to go out or become exhausted here. Is the president still making them? Of course. Work from 4am. Fills the cream here and makes the cream puffs in front of the customers. I’ll have a freshly baked cream puff . It has a mellow taste, Yes, uses butter and rice oil. A typical cream puff contains shortening or margarine, but this shop doesn’t use them at all, and they use sugar from Hokkaido called beet sugar, which is a sugar with a low degree of refinement, so it’s not very sweet. I think so very much. It’s not cloyingly sweet. It’s a sweets that the president is particular about and is also mindful of health. In addition, the soft ice cream with an exquisite sweetness Japanese and Western sweets are all flavors that have been loved by locals for many years. There is a wide selection of gifts and souvenirs. If you come to Niseko, why not stop by? I’m walking around the city trying to interview foreign tourists about why they came to Niseko. However, as you can see, there is no one there and I can’t interview them. I thought I ‘d have to come back during the ski season, But then I saw a foreign tourist who was there with his family, so I asked him about it. Why did you choose Niseko? At first, I was just looking for a place where I could relax and cold. I knew that Hokkaido was such a place, and I had seen a video about ski resorts in winter. But I didn’t know what I could do here in the summer, so I looked into it and found that there were a lot of very interesting activities. I only had 2-3 days to stay in Hokkaido, so I decided to spend it only in Niseko. Like he said, I wanted to spend more time relaxing. Because I was moving around a lot, sometimes I feel very hectic. So I wanted to end my trip in Japan in a natural and healthy place. Would you recommend this place to others? Yes, I would especially recommend it in the summer. I’ve seen videos of a lot of people gathering here in the winter, but at this time of year (June) Niseko is more calm because there are not so many tourists. It’s a natural environment, and there are not many tourists. It’s only at this time of year though. We started from Hiroshima, then went to Kyoto, which was really full of people. Tokyo was also crowded, but it was a big city. Then we came to Niseko, and it’s really good. Yesterday, we came by train from Tokyo, which took 7 hours. It’s very interesting to see the different scenery of Japan. We came from Los Angeles. In videos about Japan, we only see famous places in big cities, so it’s really interesting to be able to go to less-visited or less-known places as a comparison, take that information back and share it with others. Distortions of a tourism-dependent economy “Tourism enriches the town” – that’s not wrong But if we rely solely on tourism, the balance of the town will be lost. In Niseko, employment only increases during the winter ski season, and in the off-season the town becomes quiet with fewer people. Key industries such as agriculture and forestry are neglected, and young people leave the town. And the profits from tourism do not necessarily remain in the local area. Many of the hotels and condominiums are owned by foreign companies, so the profits flow out of the town or overseas. Even if there is tax revenue, there is only limited return to welfare and education. This tourism-dependent structure is beginning to restrict the future of the local area, and this phenomenon is not unique to Niseko. In Hawaii, land prices and rents are soaring, and the increase in homelessness is a social problem. In Okinawa, resort development and a relocation boom have caused rents to skyrocket, making it impossible for younger generations to live there. Towns that were supposed to thrive on tourism are eventually being swallowed up by tourism. This is a phenomenon happening all over the world right now. And in Niseko, the local language and cultural landscape is changing too. While the town’s atmosphere is becoming more international, there are many locals who wonder what country this town is in. Do you ever feel that if things continue like this, your hometown will no longer be your hometown? I certainly feel that way to some extent. However, if you look around Hokkaido and Japan, there are so many small towns with no opportunities and struggling areas. I think we are blessed. Niseko is a well-known place in Hokkaido, so there is opportunity just by the fact that people are still coming here. Rather than feeling a sense of crisis, I think we just have to adapt to the change. Tourism is hope. It has been believed that tourism will save the town, but now is the time to rethink. Who is the town for? A town that is bought, a town where you can’t live, a town where you can’t work. What is happening in Niseko may be the future of Japan itself. However, even in such a situation, there are people who are trying to support the town without giving up hope. They are not destroying the town, but walking together with it to build a future. Who does the town belong to? Who is tourism for? We must ask ourselves this again. Thank you for watching this long program. Goodbye.

ここは、もう“日本”じゃない。
北海道・ニセコで今、何が起きているのか。
観光バブルの光と闇、その裏で静かに進む“排除”の構造に迫ります。

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