Fukuyama-sensei did not devote his life to uniting the slopes of Japan; that would be something that the resorts would have to slowly figure out. Rather, he sought to improve the actual runs at the resorts themselves. In one instance, he invited famed Austrian skier Toni Sailer – one of only two Olympians to ever win the gold medal in the Downhill, Slalom, and Giant Slalom all in one year – to come and have a look at the newly opened Appi Kogen.

"I asked Toni to come to Iwate and help them design a new course for Appi." The result of Sailer and Fukuyama-sensei’s efforts is my personal favorite at Appi, the Sailer Gelande. "The owners at Appi were reserving that space for a slope that just went straight down, but I thought it might be kind of boring so I told them they should try something more exciting, more European." So Appi handed the task of the new slope design over to the expert and now you can see the Sailer Gelande, the Sailer Quad, and the Sailer Room cafeteria right there on the Appi Course guide.

"Mr. Morita asked me to help him find a good mountain for a resort so we took off in his helicopter and finally came across Okenashiyama in Niigata, there aren’t many mountains like it! I thought it would make a nice resort because it didn’t have many bothersome trees so, you could basically ski anywhere you want." Okenashiyama translates literally as Little Bald Mountain. "It also has roads that give it access to Nagano, Naoetsu, and nearby Arai railway station which is a necessity for building a major resort." So after a day of enjoying the slopes at Arai, here I was drinking hot chocolate with the man who put it on the map.

"How exactly does one go about building a resort?" I tried to sound as casual as possible.

"After we picked the mountain, we settled in for three years to do research on the snowfall, the temperatures, the wind speeds, and of course avalanches. We held a conference of the world’s avalanche experts in nearby Nagaoka, not just for the benefit of the Arai resort but also for the benefit of all Japan. This country is still behind in terms of avalanche prevention." It is a common practice in Europe and the United States to instigate avalanches in the off hours before they can threaten the life of a boarder on the slopes. However, in many of Japan’s resorts, especially those who share land with national parks, it is illegal to use explosives for avalanche safety. "We instigate avalanches here at Arai but we still had to build all those avalanche fences just to be in keeping with the law." Fukuyama-sensei waved his hand dismissively toward the mountains - he doesn’t put a lot of stock in avalanche fences.

The result of Fukuyama-sensei’s efforts is a convenient sleek and modern resort that looks like it would feel more comfortable in the Rockies or in the Alps rather than sharing a mountain range with the confused dinosaurs resorts at Myoko Kogen. "We had a designer come in from Vail to create our base-village. We want everyone to feel welcome." The base village is amazingly convenient, all the hotels, the gondola station, the restaurants, the rental office, the spa, the baths, the pool, the bar and the convenience store are only a romantic five-minute walk from one another. Of course all the runs eventually lead back to the base village. The staff is also very welcoming. One of the chair operators confided in me that he had to study not only English but also sign language while working at the resort. So, it is not surprising that Arai is the location to host the Japan Special Olympic ski events each year.

Arai’s convenient Base Village

Not that I would really prize a career in politics myself but, I had to ask why Fukuyama-sensei felt the urge to abandon his years of government study for a life of snow and ice.

"Skiing and snowboarding are special, and different from any other sport because of the friendships that are made. If you go and play golf or tennis for example, you might go and share an afternoon with someone. Skiing, however, brings people together for a weekend, a week, or even more which gives them the time to truly bond. There really aren’t any other activities that bring people together in quite the same way. My best friends throughout life have been made while on the slopes and many of the people I have met in my life have had the same experience so, it is obvious that skiing is a very powerful thing."