The number of ski resorts operating in Japan dropped to an all‑time low in 2025, falling 40 percent from the 1999 peak, as climate‑change and ever fewer domestic skiers outweigh rising interest from international visitors, an industry body has reported.

Only 417 resorts were open last year, compared with 698 in 1999. The Japan Funicular Transport Association, responsible for tracking resorts with government‑approved lift operations, said ageing infrastructure and weakening domestic demand have further strained the sector, even as some areas introduce new incentives to draw guests.

The association’s first survey in 1989 counted 636 resorts, with numbers climbing until 1999 before entering a long decline. During the boom years some ski areas were operating 24 hours and building parallel chairlifts to cope with demand to get up the slopes. The country also bought a dozen indoor snow centres, including by far the world’s largest and hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Then a dip in Japan’s economic fortunes combined with a switch in leisure interest from winter sports to activities rising in popularity like computer gaming sure a dramatic drop in Japan’s domestic skier numbers from over 20 million to around 8 million by the end of the 1990s.

At the same time the Japan Meteorological Agency has noted a steady decline in the number of days with sub‑zero temperatures nationwide. According to Makoto Takayanagi, who heads the Funicular Transport Association’s secretariat, warming conditions have forced many resorts to shorten their seasons,

“Many operators simply can’t keep going,” he said, citing the rising cost of artificial snowmaking, staffing, and maintenance as key pressures driving closures.

Although Japan has become increasingly popular with skiers and boarders from around the world over the past few decades, the domestic skier market continued to decline. As a result of this combination of factors the total number of ski areas slipped below 600 in 2006 and under 500 by 2014, with each subsequent survey marking a new low.

Hokkaido remained Japan’s leading ski region in 2025 with 92 operational resorts, followed by Nagano with 80 and Niigata with 46.

The wider downturn in ski resort numbers continues despite the success of resorts like Niseko and a  surge in inbound tourism. Japan welcomed around 39.07 million international visitors in the first eleven months of 2025, already surpassing the 36.87 million recorded in all of 2024, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

Domestic participation, however, continues to shrink. The 2025 White Paper on Leisure found that only 2.8 million people in 2024 reported having skied before, down sharply from 4.8 million in 2015.

In response, some resorts have begun diversifying, offering alternative experiences, such as allowing guests to ski with their dogs or ride chairlifts purely for sightseeing rather than for skiing or snowboarding.