Back in February I was skiing in the traditional hot spring town of Nozawa Onsen when I first heard the unlikely tale of Arai Resort. The heir to the Sony fortune had spent close to a billion dollars building Arai for the sole purpose of opening Japan’s first world-class ski resort, which he did in 1993 during the tail end of Japan’s “Bubble Era.” The resort is located just over the border in Niigata Prefecture, not far as the crow flies from where Nozawa Onsen is nestled deep in northern Nagano Prefecture.
Read the full story here: http://www.outdoorjapanadventures.com/magazine/travelers-journal/reemergence-arai
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