No. of ski resorts in Japan slide 40% from 1999 peak, hit record low
The number of operational ski resorts in Japan in 2025 fell to a record low, 40 percent down from the peak in 1999, due to a lack of snow caused by climate change and despite growing demand from overseas tourists, according to an industry group, Kyodo reports.
There were 417 locations operating last year, down from 698 in 1999, with aging facilities and a slump in domestic tourism also hitting the industry despite some resorts introducing perks to attract more visitors, said the Japan Funicular Transport Association, which provides information on ski resorts across the country.
The association compiled the number by tallying domestic ski resorts that operate lifts authorized by the government. There were 636 facilities in the first survey in 1989, with the number gradually rising until 1999. It fell below 600 in 2006 and below 500 in 2014, hitting fresh record lows in successive surveys.
Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido had the largest number of ski resorts in 2025 at 92, followed by the central Japan prefectures of Nagano and Niigata with 80 and 46, respectively.
The fall comes as Japan continues to see record numbers of foreign tourists, logging around 39.07 million visitors in the first 11 months of 2025, already exceeding 36.87 million in the whole of 2024, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Despite the increase in inbound visitors, domestic tourism has flagged, with the White Paper on Leisure for 2025 reporting that just 2.8 million people in 2024 said they had skied before, compared to 4.8 million in 2015.
To arrest the fall in domestic customers, some resorts now permit skiing with dogs or allow people to ride lifts to view the scenery instead of exclusively for skiing or snowboarding.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the total number of sub-zero Celsius days across the country has been falling year on year. Makoto Takayanagi, the head of the Funicular Transport Association's secretariat, says that climate change has forced some ski resorts to shorten their operating periods.
"The reality is many operators have been forced to close as they get weighed down by electricity bills to create artificial snow, as well as personnel and maintenance costs," he said.
Earlier, it was reported that Japan saw record train users during New Year holidays.
