Go Native

I didn't start up smoking until I started living in Japan (at age 34!). In Aus I had occasionally had a smoke whilst at a party or something but never actually bought a packet. Here it is just so incredibly cheap I started getting into it and now smoke up around 15 a day. Now of course I know it's bad for me but I must admit that I don't exactly live my life worrying about things like my health. Plus, my somewhat twisted way of thinking rationalises the cancer risk of smoking by looking at most smokers, who start in their teens, they don't usually start getting cancer until their 40's or

Absolutely, you could enjoy a few days without a problem especially if you wouldn't be going off piste much anyway. It will probably be the best quality snow you've ever been on.

thwackkk the best place to get info might be in the forums on the following site Kutchannel The administrator of the site has done a bit of DJ'ing himself (mostly down in Hakodate) and he may be able to point you in the right direction.

yeah sorry mean spirited I guess, I'm just too old for all that crap (well I consider it crap). I'll ask around and see if anyone is looking for that kind of thing.

There's a few people here in Niseko that don't need a job anymore as they've made so much from buying and selling property here. If you have a fair bit of capital you can still make good money up here. Otherwise I'd think there would definitely be a market for development of western style apartments in Hakuba. If that area even got half the international interest that Niseko has got then you could make a killing by getting in early.

I know a heap of nightclubs and bars in the Niseko region and know quite a few of the owners but as I hate dance music with a passion I just couldn't live with myself if I helped you out

Personally I wouldn't stay at Annupuri unless you hire a car or are very familiar with the region. There are nowhere near the services, accommodations, restaurants or bars at Annupuri that can be found at Hirafu. The skiing at Annupuri is certainly great though and generally less crowded than at Hirafu. Hanazono is also a good beginner/intermediate area. It is cold on the upper mountain but remember at -15 or below the snow is incredibly dry so you won't get wet. A thermal followed by fleece and then good ski jacket will be fine. Something to cover the face is also advisable if the wind

I spent last NY's down in Kutchan at a karaoke bar. 3000 yen nomi hodai all night meant it was a big one.

For years now I've been wanting to do a ski mountaineering trip to western Mongolia. There's some really nice peaks on the border with Russia up to 4300m.

Rach read my last post it gives you a pretty good reason. The off piste at Niseko is also in National Park but management here have come to an agreement of sorts with Park authorities to allow access. Regardless of the off piste policy Furano is still a great place and is well suited to families and first time deep powder enthusiasts who aren't ready for the off piste anyway. Having the town so close to the base of the resort is a real bonus. What Furano really needs now is to get some western apartments built to attract the families. If anyone out there is finding Niseko too expensive

Sounds like more of you should come and work up here in Niseko as we have pies, sausages that are not weiners, great pizza, a mexican restaurant, and most of our sports fields are grass!! We don't have a fish and chip shop yet though and that's something I really miss.

With a 120+ million in the country even a very small minority can amount to a fair few people. I'm a reformed vegetarian, why I ever deprived myself of good wholesome animal flesh is now a mystery to me.....never again!

Originally Posted By: thursday they are strict at Furano because Go Native says they are. There you go, first hand experience from GN, what more do you need. So Thursday, do I detect a little sarcasm there? If anything I've written is incorrect please advise how your experience differed. My comments are not just from my own experience but from my friends who managed a lodge in Furano all last season and from guys I work with now who used to live in Asahikawa and skied Furano frequently. At a meeting with Furano Resort managers last year they made it quite clear that they would not be

On the Kutchan town website they say there are 219 registered foreigners living in Kutchan-cho (which includes Hirafu). A fair portion would certainly be Aussies. The are 157 males and 62 females (glad I'm already married). The total population of the region is 15,717, so we foreigners make up only 1.4%.

It's one hell of a climb in winter. It takes around 6 hours on the way up and if you got your board/skis only about 20 mins to come back down.

Originally Posted By: joshnii Hokkaido in summer - does it escape this bothersome humidity? Last couple of years it has got a little humid for a few weeks in August with temps in the high 20's. We can even get a little over 30 now and again, and boy do we struggle when it does that

Hadn't heard a damn thing about it up here in Kutchan but then I never watch or read the news. It's one of the things I love about living here, I really have no idea what's happening in the world. As the old saying goes ignorance is bliss!

The reputation is deserved, no doubt about it. Frankly Thursday's comment `No, they are not strict if they don't catch you` is just a little ridiculous. You can try and be discreet and you will find plenty of powder at the edges of the piste and on the ungroomed area but if a whole lot of you head under the ropes off into the trees then expect the patrol to come after you. Furano is definitely not the place to go if you want to have unfettered off piste skiing. Frankly I for one aren't keen on the idea of having to look over my shoulder every time I want to head off piste. Sure you can go to A

Originally Posted By: ausi ski bum Yes without immigration the population would be in decline, Australia certainly does punch above its weight when it comes to sport. Australia does so well at sport because our governments (national, state and local) spend incredible amounts of money on sporting programs. The most recent data on sport spending is from 2001. Even back then over $2 billion was spent on sporting programs. I doubt many other countries in the world would spend anything near that amount. In the US and Canada much of sport funding is through the private sector rather than gov

Tokyo was a little warmer than usual with an average of 23.2 (the average is 21.8). It seems the northern half of Honshu and Hokkaido were well above average with the southern half close to average. Kutchan only received 10.5mm of rain in June which is the second lowest June total since '44. The lowest was in 1985 receiving only 7.5mm. The 85/86 snow season though Kutchan received 15.2m of snow. Let's hope we have a repeat of that year this coming season

Kutchan had an average temp of 17.3 degrees which is the warmest June from the records going back to 1944. Previous warmest June was 17.1 degrees. What's it been like in your part of Japan? (just made a little edit as the average was 17.3 not 17.5, still the warmest though)

I started at age 14, that's 22 years ago now (god I'm getting old). I started alpine skiing with school but did a couple of days XC and gave telemarking a go and was hooked. For the next 10 years or so I mainly skied backcountry in Victoria and numerous trips up to the Main Range in NSW. As I got older and fatter and less fit I started skiing more and more at resorts again but I still love getting backcountry. The changes in Tele gear have been amazing over the years and now I spend my winters tele'ing the powder at Niseko.

Mt Youtei is incredibly photogenic (when not covered in cloud). The symetrical conical peak rising straight out of the plains dominates the landscape. The summit produces some amazing cloud formations and I for one just can't seem to stop taking photos of it even though I already have hundreds of em.

Originally Posted By: halfmachine BP, I thought taxation might be the big difference....we do get taxed pretty heavily here in OZ. Most of the time I was up in Hokkaido and I never really looked into rent etc, just the usual economic indicators like maccas and beer. Beer is certainly not a good indicator for living costs in Japan as beer is stupidly expensive when compared to say spirits (which are stupidly cheap). Between us my wife and I earn only around 6 mill a year but can easily live off only one of our wages. We own our house so we don't pay rent which helps of course. I

It's a good price. Shizenkan is a little out of the main village (about 10-15min walk) but it is right on the shuttle route. The owners are really nice and helpful. Great place to stay if you don't mind being a little ways out.