Niseko, Japan has been completely white washed so it's very challenging to find anything particularly cultural here. Most businesses here are run by Australian entrepreneurs and most Japanese restaurants often feature a cheeseburger on the menu. I can understand why this change has happened due to such a strong Australian tourist industry, but it's still a little disappointing to see a lack of real culture. That being said, there are still some parts of Japanese tradition/ culture which stream out through the cracks of this white washed town. You still meet a lot of Japanese on the ski lift - and their friendliness kind nature is pretty representative of the entire country. It's tough to describe in words; but the facial expressions and directness is really fascinating feature of all the Japanese people I've met so far.
I changed back to my skis and it's been a pretty good switch. I definitely don't ache as much I used to. The weather was ideal too. Still not perfect enough to ski the top of the mountain comfortably, but good enough to go see a snowboarder stack an easy green from about 300m away while you're going up a chairlift. My mum fell over too and hurt her knee. She thinks that she'll need some type of reconstruction surgery - I think she needs an ice pack.
I left the snow early so I could spend the afternoon walking around Hirafu and in some deep snow beside the hotel. There wasn't much in Hirafu since it was mostly filled with accommodation, bars and ski rental places. However, the walk around the hotel was really rewarding because you got to see completely untouched snow that had been building up since the start of winter. I'd say it got to at least 1 meter deep easily. As an Engineer I had to use my head to test whether the snow was really that deep, so I decided to face plant into the snow directly.
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