Kutchan

Kutchan is a town in the mountains of western Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, and the administrative heart of the Niseko area, the most celebrated skiing destination in the country. It sits beneath the near-perfect volcanic cone of Mount Yotei, often likened to Mount Fuji, in a landscape of farmland and forest that turns, each winter, into some of the deepest and lightest powder snow on earth.

That snow is the reason for Kutchan’s international reputation. Storms sweeping off the Sea of Japan drop extraordinary quantities of dry, fine powder on the Niseko slopes above the town, and the reliability of it has drawn skiers and snowboarders from across the world, along with a growing collection of restaurants, bars and the natural hot springs, or onsen, that follow a day on the mountain.

Winter, from December to March, is the headline season, but summer is a quiet pleasure of its own: once the snow clears, the green slopes open for hiking up Mount Yotei, cycling through the potato and dairy country, rafting on the local rivers and long soaks in the onsen, all under mild northern daylight and with a fraction of the winter crowds.

For families and groups who want space and easy reach of the slopes and the springs, chalet rentals in Kutchan sit within minutes of the Niseko lifts.