Participating in winter sports used to be one of the go-to options concerning leisure activities during the cold months of the year in Japan. With large parts of the country being mountainous, Japan’s geographic features are ideal to satisfy the fundamental condition for winter sports, namely snow and ice. The region’s wet weather ensures abundant precipitation during winter, which results in
. Among the different winter sports disciplines,
have high participation figures, while ice skating keeps attracting large audiences in front of TV screens or computer monitors.
Regarding professional sports, Japan’s most successful disciplines throughout history at Winter Olympic Games were speed skating, ski jumping, and figure skating. On the domestic level, sports associations act as governing bodies of their respective disciplines, organizing and administering sports events and activities, such as national championships. They are also responsible for creating an environment that fosters high-level performers and allows individuals to turn professional.
Rise and fall of winter sports
Japan staged two Winter Olympic Games. The first one, in Sapporo, was held in 1972, while Nagano hosted the Games in 1998. Both events received international acclaim and were hailed as success stories of the world’s largest winter sports event. Arguably, both events contributed significantly to the rise of the winter sports frenzy in Japan. The period between the two Winter Olympic Games saw an increase in infrastructure in the form of ski resorts, as well as in winter sports participation alike, peaking out at or shortly after the Nagano Winter Olympics. Ski and snowboard enthusiasm has been on the decline since then, which can be seen in the shrinking number of ski resorts, as well as in declining membership figures at sports associations, such as the
Japan Snowboard Association. Another indicator for the industry’s poor performance in recent years is the
decline in the number of passengers carried via cableway, and the
dwindling revenue generated from ski lifts.
Winter sports – a chess piece in Japan’s strategy to promote inbound tourism
The industry is certainly not in the best of conditions. Winter resorts are facing multiple challenges, as the winters get milder (for example, the 2020 season had record-low snowfall) and domestic interest seems to further decline amid an abundance of competing distractions. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic was a further blow exacerbating the situation. Despite all this, there is cause for optimism, or at least there remains a ray of hope for investors and winter resort lovers alike. In a similar fashion to the previously mentioned examples of Sapporo and Nagano, the Winter Olympics 2022, held in Beijing and its surroundings, have led to a winter sports boom in China. This resulted in an explosion in demand regarding winter resorts and associated services, which is exemplified by the
rising number of ski sites, and the
increasing number of ski site visits in China. In a setting in which there is no remedy for the sluggishness of domestic demand on the horizon, the winter sports boom in a neighboring country is good news. Incidentally, Chinese tourists are willing to travel to and spend money in Japan, as attested by figures concerning
tourism expenditure among international visitors to Japan. This might be a favorable constellation for winter resorts in Japan, and for the country’s ambitions concerning inbound tourism in general, as the good climatic conditions, the already existent infrastructure and know-how, adding to the impeccable reputation of Japanese service, should make for a steady fundament to build upon. Hence, winter sports tourism could turn into an important chess piece in Japan’s endeavors to promote inbound tourism.
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