(Mar 13 – 16, 2025)
For the last few years that I have the Ikon Pass, skiing in Japan has always been on my bucket list but the logistics seemed to be too difficult to manage. I revisited that after reading an article on New York Times before a trip to Hong Kong, and decided to go for it. It turned out the trip was amazing, hence this journal to capture some memorable moments as they unfolded. Since I was flying on standby, any glitch in one of the connections would have unfavorable rippling effects.
The flight from Hong Kong to New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido, went smoothly. The line at the customs was long but manageable. Lots of people seemed to have the digital document ready but I did it the old fashion way with hand-filled form. The anxiety that occupied my mind at the time was the overnight stay at the airport. I made a reservation in advance at a facility in the airport, but I wasn’t sure if it would work out. Their website mentioned that the facility would close down for a couple of days for annual maintenance, and those dates were right before my arrival.
The corridor that connected the domestic and international terminals had a lot of shops. Royce chocolate was a major presence there.
As if on queue, I came upon this huge section of food court dedicated to Ramen only. Any kind of soup noodles after a long flight is a great treat.
With that many shops to choose from, it’s easy to tell the ones with the lines were the better ones. But I was in no mood of waiting and didn’t know the exact protocol, so I settled with the one that had open seats. As usual, I ordered the first item (upper left) on the menu, and a beer. That was one satisfying lunch!
Once I exited out this corridor of Ramen, it opened up to a huge space that looked more like a mall than an airport, lots of restaurants and shops.
I walked around for a little bit to check out what they got to offer. Everything looked good, typical for Japanese presentation, and I ended up picking up an ice cream pancake. The one thing I like about the Japanese food is that it seldom comes in too large of a portion for me, unlike in U.S.
With my big backpack, I couldn’t really walk for too long. So I started looking for the Onsen on the 4th floor. And here it was, looked exactly like what they have on their website.
The place was so immaculate and tranquil with the Zen-like vibe. I studied ahead so I knew I had to take off my shoes and put them in the bag they provided at the entrance before walking up to the reception desk. Knowing that I was a foreigner and that I was there for the first time, the gentleman at the front desk explained in detail, albeit with broken English, the layout and the rules of the place. Everything was expected except for the storage of my backpack. I chose not to ask because I didn’t want that to be separated from me. And sure enough, as I later found out, I was the only one that was dragging the luggage around. 🙂 And once I was in the complex, I wasn’t allowed to leave until I checked out. That meant no more shopping in the mall. As I was mulling around, a staff told me to pick up the clothing for the Onsen. That required a little help from her.
I proceeded to the Onsen area. With the backpack and a stack of clothing in my hands, I had no clue what I was doing. My standard procedure was to follow someone but there’s no one there. The good thing about ignorance is that it can turn everything into a discovery. Since I was a bit distracted, I was headed towards the women’s entrance. An older fellow who didn’t speak a word of English gestured me to the one right next to it. Realizing that I was clueless, he walked me all the way to my assigned locker and showed me how to use the wrist strap I received earlier to work the locker. I was very thankful for what he did and said multiple times of domo to him, about the only Japanese word that I knew. After I put on the Onsen clothes, I still left with a big backpack that wouldn’t fit in the locker. I left it in the corner of the room after taking out the valuables that I couldn’t afford to lose; it was definitely an inappropriate thing to do but I wasn’t smart enough to come up with better options.
Now I was left with one little issue that I needed to deal with. With no footwear, it will be a bit disgusting to use the toilets. And of course, that worry was unfounded. 🙂
I am not a big fan of soaking in a hot tub, but that’s what you do at the Onsen. Turned out it was such a wonderful experience. The set up is nothing that I could have imagined – there were little cubicles for you to shower and shampoo with all the toiletries before and after you entered the pool. I ended up staying in the outdoor pool while it was snowing lightly, first time ever.
After Onsen, I explored around the area a little bit. They provided all kinds of hot drinks for free.
I wanted to scope out the rest area where I would spend the night before grabbing my dinner. There were two areas, one for men and women and the other for women only. It was a huge hall with a lot of chairs resembled the ones in the first class flight. The place was quiet and the lights were dimmed. I picked a spot that was suitable for placing my pack and then headed off to the restaurant in the complex.
The restaurant was nothing fancy. I ordered a salmon rich bowl and a beer. A solo traveler fit right into that environment.
And then it’s time to try out the upscale sleeping accommodation for the airport rat …..
The ‘late stay’ fee included breakfast in the morning, which is nothing other than a variety of pre-packaged buns. No complaints at all. What’s more important to me was the unlimited specialty coffee. I must have at least 3 cups of latte cafe.
And then it’s time to check out. All visitors had to clear the place by 9 am. It will close for an hour for whatever the reason was. The checkout was automated via a kiosk, where I tapped my wrist strap, paid the balance with the credit card, and it spit out a receipt with a QR code on it. I needed that QR code to exit the premise.
The whole experience with the Onsen was a whooping 4600 yen (31 USD) minus the dinner. There was also a $10 tax added to the bill during checkout. I wouldn’t even be able to dream of this arrangement before the trip. Aside from the budget expenditure, I was now all charged up with coffee and breakfast, and the only thing I needed to do was to find the bus stop outside the terminal to take me to Niseko.
I allowed plenty of time to look for the Chuo bus stop so it wasn’t difficult. An attendant was already at the stop way before the bus arrived.
The trip took about 3 hours from the airport to the front of the hotel. The round trip fare was 8500 yen (57 USD).
The bus ride was comfortable. Some distance into the trip, the road became a bit treacherous with a lot of snow. We stopped at a rest stop for bathroom break. The place had a decent size of giftshop and variety of food.
My hotel, Niseko Northern Resort An’nupuri, was the first major stop. And I was a little surprised and concern that I was the only one getting off the bus. I knew Niseko United comprised of 4 ski resorts and Annupuri was just one of them. Apparently other resorts were more popular than the one I was staying.
The lobby resembled a 4-star hotel in U.S. It’s not something I expected for a ski lodge, especially with what I paid for the room. And as I walked up to the front desk, I was holding my breath that the reservation had no issue since it was done through a third party.
The room wasn’t ready for me so I went to the restaurant for lunch. It was around 1 pm so it’s lunch time anyway. The options at the restaurant were either buffet or ala carte and I chose the latter. They seated my by the window and I could see the ski slope and the chair lift running. I ordered a tonkatsu bowl and a beer. At that point I was thinking that it’s too good to be true. From an itinerary standpoint, everything worked out as planned. But everything I experienced up to that point was beyond expectations.
The hotel had three stories and my room was on the second floor. It was immaculate, no surprise from the Japanese. And it’s roomier than I expected. The bidet was something I looked forward to tackle later on.
Next order of business was to pick up the skis rental inside the hotel that I reserved online. And I was surprised again with how convenient the arrangement was. The rental place was on the other end of the building. It had locker assigned to each room. The whole rental process was quite easy. I stored the equipment into my locker and I was all set for the next day.
Dinner buffet was the last highlight of the day. My usual complaint about Japanese food has always been the lack of vegetable. But I found plenty of that in this buffet. For the next couple of nights, I would be one of the first to show up when it opened at 5:30, claimed by usual table by the window, and spent about 2 hours there. There seemed to be more Chinese/Hong Kong than the Japanese there, and very few Caucasian.
Morning came and I was the first one in line (there’s really no line) for the breakfast which opened at 7am. I seated at my favorite 2-person table by the window and enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet before starting the ski day.
After retrieved my skis from the rental locker, I headed out to do what I went there for. It was the first time that I experienced the ski in/out setting – as soon as I stepped out the hotel, I was already on the slope. Voila!
The day before I talked with a couples from Hong Kong I met during lunch and they shared some info with me about the snow conditions in Niseko. He reiterated what I read online, that the wind condition could change unpredictably and some, if not all, chair lifts and gondola would stop operating. That was the case yesterday, only one beginner chair lift was open. I was lucky again. The weather on both days that I skied was nice and everything was operating. In fact, i wouldn’t be too disappointed had the weather turned sour. My goal was to set foot on the ski slope in Hokkaido.
With my knee problem and also being out of the country, I was extremely conservative in the beginning. The place certainly lived up to the reputation for the powder, and I was not exactly good at skiing powder. I found their slopes were much wider and terrain was quite gentle, comparing to my experience in U.S. The chair lifts and the gondola were fully enclosed due to the wind conditions. In no time I started getting used to the snow condition and skiing more like my usual pace. In fact, at one point I was skiing around the trees. It was fun and not as difficult as it seemed, probably because it wasn’t steep.
Another interesting thing about the ski area was that it had a PA system. There were announcement for varies topics and it was also blasting the Japanese music in some locations.
Sun, fresh powder, and Japanese music all in one place. What else could I ask for! And that’s not all….
The first day, not knowing any better, I went back to the hotel for lunch. I had the curry chicken and a beer, which I thought was a great treat for a ski lunch. My usual in Utah had always been the turkey melt sandwich and a cup of hot water. And the price for both was comparable, about $20. As for reference, the beer in the vending machine cost about ??
After lunch, I had the usual food coma and was feeling sluggish, but I managed to get out and do few more runs. It was still a little way before the restaurant opened for dinner. So I decided to check out the Onsen, which I didn’t expect much inside a ski resort. And I was wrong, it wasn’t nearly as big as the one in the airport but everything else was about as immaculate. I sat in the inside pool for a little bit and then ventured out to the outside pool. It’s actually much more comfortable for me in the outside pool. That just felt degenerate 🙂
The routine for the next day was about the same except for the lunch. I decided to stop at this ‘Rest House’ and find out what they got to offer. And if there’s any ideal food for ski lunch, that got to be it – all kinds of Ramen! It was still a bit early for lunch time so it made it easy for me to figure out how to use the kiosk to pre-paid for the meal. That sure hit the spot!
There was one thing that was noteworthy about the dinner. As with most of the buffet, breakfast or dinner, there’s always a section where a chef cooking behind the counter. On that night, he was doing the beef strips. I didn’t want to commit to any plate with multiple pieces in it in case I didn’t like it. It happened there’s one dish with only one piece on it that looked more well done than the others and I took it; it tasted really good. I went back there and looked for the similar well-done pieces and found one. Both times the plate was further back on the counter so I had to reach around. Again it tasted as good as the last one. Then I went back for the third time. As I approached the counter, he quickly handed me a plate with freshly cooked beef but with twice as many pieces as on the other plates. Not to offend the nice chef, with a slight bow and a domo, I was stuck with a big plate of beef!
Morning came and it’s time to check out. My bus would stop in front of the hotel at 8:45 am so I had plenty of time to finish breakfast and check out. While I was waiting for the bus in the lobby, I realized there was a big monitor that showed the updates of the lifts condition. As I later found out, most of the lifts were closed on that day due to the inclement weather.
The bus came on time and there’s no problem getting on the bus with my previously paid reservation. There was a lot of snow on the ground that morning. And the bus didn’t seem to have any problem getting around without the chains. I had never seen that much snow on the ground for that long of a distance.
t was around noon time when I arrived at the airport, almost three hours before my flight time. I had already planned to go grab another bowl of Ramen in the same food court as before. And that place was packed like sardines that you couldn’t walk through. People lining up in every single one of the Ramen stores. I was a bit disappointed but I knew there were plenty of restaurants around. Sushi was my next choice. I settled with one that I believed the customers were mostly Japanese. The menu was without English so it raised my confidence for the decision. With the pictures, it was easy to pick out what I wanted. What surprised me was the beer that I ordered was ‘alcohol free’. It’s not ideal but I could live with that. Sushi was not as good as some of the better ones that I had before, but given the price and being at the airport, that was a very good deal.
The last thing in the airport that left me with a favorable impression was the toilet. When I walked in to the first stall, I thought it was for the handicap because of the railings. It turned out all the ones were like that – very clean with a modern bidet.
I got my boarding pass and said sayonara to Sapporo. The place had treated me good and I would want to come back again
