Skiing Grounds and Ski Settlements in Japan

Abstract

The population of mountain villages, especially that of snow-covered highlands, has decreased since the latter half of the 1950's. On the other hand, the demand for recreation facilities in the mountains has increased with the growth of the national economy, causing the expansion of recreational areas in the snowy highlands. With the regional development of recreational activities, many existing settlements have been changed, and have become diversified. This has occurred in response to the development of skiing grounds. The author has defined a “ski settlement” as a resort settlement where the development of a skiing ground plays a very important role in the formation of the resort settlement, causing the skiing ground and the settlement to function as one complex. The origin of skiing areas is traced historically, in an effort to specifically examine the development process and distribution of winter sports in Japan. In addition, ski resorts are systematised according to origin, evolutionary processes and stages to explain the conditions for the formation of these settlements. Locationally, almost all Japanese skiing areas concerned are concentrated in sites with over 50 centimeters of annual maximum depth of snow cover and with a skiing period of over 110 days. In addition to these natural conditions, accessibility plays an important role in the location of skiing grounds, since visitors originate primarily from large cities. The existence of hot springs was a precondition for the formation and development of ski settlements in Japan. The form of land ownership is of utmost significance in the formation of ski resorts, since they occupy large areas. The existence of communal lands offers an advantage in development. There is a great variety of ski settlements in Japan. The author presents a typology of Japanese ski settlements through analysis of their origins and the processes of their transformation. The ski settlements in Japan are classified into two groups. The first is composed of the settlements “developed from existing settlements”. In this case, the socio-economic structure of the settlements has drastically changed since the skiing grounds were developed nearby. The second group is composed of settlements “newly developed” along with the development of new skiing grounds. New settlements came into existence as the newly developed ski areas prompted the removal of local people to formerly unsettled areas.

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