Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 A guy on another forum that I post on was asking me about getting digs for the season.....I didn't really know specifics about Niseko so I'd thought Id ask here. He's just back from Niseko and was blown away and wants to come back next season from late Dec to early March. He'd prefer sharing a house as opposed to trying to get backpacker digs, not worried about working, just on a tourist visa.....how easy is it to find a share house/room to rent in the Niseko area? What do the season staff do? Just stay in company dorms? Any help I'll pass on Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 There is a winter staff Facebook Open Group I reckon asking there would be the most effective. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Yeah I put him onto that Link to post Share on other sites
kokodoko 67 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Ask Anything , he does that. or Sand might know.. Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Staff are usually provided accom by the companies they work for. Theyre often in really good locations actually, but are the lowest of low quality. Under 30 Aussies can get a one time 12 month work visa quite easily. I hear the Brits can get a work visa even easier. It can sometimes be difficult to find some accom, depending on how picky you are. Its obviously easier finding just a room than it is to find your own place. This year ive been a little cautious of some of the offerings. I had two very scam sounding offers - people wanting the whole balance upfront, for a place they cant describe, they cant provide the address, no photos, or details about what's included inside. Maybe its just me? This season started out with extremely thin pickings to find anything at all (ie, July). But it seemed everyone was just disorganized, because suddenly in October (from memory) there were new places to stay popping up almost daily. Some stuff even getting posted during November and December. I prefer to be organized many months in advance, so they all lost my attention. One or two real estates have shut down this year too, perhaps contributing to the problem. How much you're willing to spend is the only decision really. Its very expensive in Niseko Hirafu, a little cheaper in middle/lower village Hirafu (shuttle buses every 5 mins), begins getting cheaper in Izumikyo (its 400m down the road, 15min shuttle busses), and cheaper still if you head to St Moritz (400m down the road the other way, no busses), Higashiyama (aka Niseko Village) or Annupuri (tho I've never stayed in those last 3 areas). All are within walking distance to a ski lift somewhere. Even cheaper still to stay in Kutchan, except its 10-15mins away by car or bus. You will probably need to commit to at least 4 months, and don't forget to budget your season pass, snow clearing, electricity, kero (heating), gas & water fees on top. A carpark can be expensive, or a huge pain to maintain. Snow clearing n all that. and beware of accommodation labelled as in "Niseko" - because that's actually 15mins away in the other direction. Hear of some tourists falling for it thinking that they got a great deal. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted January 17, 2014 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi anything That 'link that wasn't a link' you just posted came up as a 'snowjapan' domain, for some reason. Really don't know what was going on there, but anyway taken it out. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted January 17, 2014 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted January 17, 2014 anything. I really, really do not appeciate what you just edited into your post there. You reported the issue to me which is fine, but then gave me absolutely no chance whatsoever to respond to it, deciding to immediately post what you did up there in public. Regarding the issue, I really do not know what was happening and it sounds extremely odd - I am currently trying to find out what is going on. (Updated: I have spent the last 20 minutes trying to find out what was happening but still have no idea what the problem was - I cannot find any kind of relevant setting and so I need a more technical colleague to look into it. But aside from this oddity and in the meantime, as per forever links and links-that-aren't-links like snowjapan dot com aren't cool so while it's on the list I don't see it as 'top priority'). Link to post Share on other sites
Tachypsychia 13 Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Anything, do you work on a tourism pass at the resorts or just live up there for a few months during season? Interesting info. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted January 18, 2014 Author Share Posted January 18, 2014 thanks Anything, I'll pass your info on (He may actually pop in here as well, as I told him about this forum) Link to post Share on other sites
disco2000 0 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Out of curiosity, what's the average rent in Kutchan proper? (for one bedroom and 2 bedroom) I'm planning on doing a winter out there but would prefer living away from Hirafu (I would be driving) I've lived in the area before, but didn't have to find my own place and was paying 20k for a 3LDK, which I doubt is the norm? Link to post Share on other sites
anything 6 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Anything, do you work on a tourism pass at the resorts or just live up there for a few months during season? Interesting info. im on a proper visa, but considering that i dont work here and the effort involved i think ill fall back to tourist visa next year. late last year i called immigration in Tokyo and they actually suggested the whole jump out of the country for a week deal that people do. i was rather shocked that they brought it up. but they added that they probably wouldn't be very happy if you did it more than once a year, other people i talked to concur. id still be very afraid of doing it tho, still sounds naughty. Out of curiosity, what's the average rent in Kutchan proper? (for one bedroom and 2 bedroom) I'm planning on doing a winter out there but would prefer living away from Hirafu (I would be driving) I've lived in the area before, but didn't have to find my own place and was paying 20k for a 3LDK, which I doubt is the norm? 20k Canadian? for 4 months? that sounds like hirafu prices. kutchan prices vary, some people this year appeared to be trying to argue that they deserve hirafu prices, very funny. off the top of my head its usually something like 1/3 to 1/4 the price. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I assume he meant Y20k per month? I'm not any expert on prices in Kutchan but I doubt you could find any 1 bedroom place for much less the Y40k per month and a 2 bedroom would be something like Y60-Y70k a month. Kutchan isn't the cheapest rural Hokkaido town in terms of rent as it's a bit of a hub for regional government workers and there's an army base. Most of these guys all get subsidies for accomm in their salary packages so rental prices are a bit higher because of it. If you don't mind sharing with others you can get reasonably cheap rates when split between you. Link to post Share on other sites
disco2000 0 Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Yeah 20k a month. This was about 40 mins away from Kutchan to the north (subsidized housing). 60-70k a month for 2bdrm doesn't sound too bad. Link to post Share on other sites
Go Native 70 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Well that's for quite long term rental. It might be a bit more for just the winter months. As I say I'm no expert on prices there. I have a house that's rented out in Kutchan but it's a long term rental. Link to post Share on other sites
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