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# NSD’s Winter Figures Reveal Uneven Growth Across Its Japanese Resorts
- URL: https://www.uchiinsights.com/nsds-winter-figures-reveal-uneven-growth-across-its-japanese-resorts/
- Published: 2026-09-09T08:41:58.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-09T08:41:57.000Z
- Description: Public figures from Nippon Ski Resort Development show strong growth in estimated international visitors alongside broadly stable overall winter numbers. The differences between its mountains offer a more selective view of Japan’s ski market.
- Author: Chris Pickering
- Tags: ski resort, development, tourism, hakuba, nagano, japan

A successful winter for Japan’s international ski market does not necessarily mean that every resort welcomed more customers. The latest operating figures from Nippon Ski Resort Development offer a useful illustration, with growth at some mountains offset by weaker numbers elsewhere in the same group.

The company’s monthly disclosure through July 2026 records approximately 1.883 million winter visitors across its eight operated resorts, compared with 1.893 million a year earlier. Within that broadly stable total, Tsugaike increased from 368,000 to 407,000 and Kawaba from 157,000 to 172,000, while Happo-one fell from 409,000 to 357,000 and Meiho from 210,000 to 193,000\. These are rounded, ticket-based operating figures, rather than a count of unique people. 

An earlier disclosure, covering the winter through April, shows a different dimension of the same market. The company’s estimated inbound count rose 23.3% to 543,000, although its total winter count for that period was slightly lower than a year earlier. Its inbound classification uses indicators including foreign-language ticket sales, rather than a passport-based census of customers. 

The April and July reporting periods should be kept separate, but both releases challenge the idea that international enthusiasm automatically produces uniform growth. An operator can attract more overseas customers while its overall visitor base changes little, just as a growing resort can sit alongside another experiencing a quieter season.

For accommodation businesses, that distinction raises questions about the market their property actually serves. A rise in international ticket sales may create opportunities for longer-stay accommodation, multilingual services or packaged transport, although none of those outcomes can be assumed from lift-ticket data alone. The connection needs to be demonstrated through bookings and guest behaviour.

It also makes location more complicated than selecting a famous resort name. Two properties described as being in the same wider destination may depend on different mountain access points, customer groups and transport arrangements, which means the relevant operating evidence could differ even before their buildings and management contracts are considered.

Visitor volumes should not be treated as a substitute for profitability either. Pricing, the mix of ticket products, spending away from the lifts and operating costs all influence the financial result, so a quieter winter by one measure can still support a stronger outcome by another. Buyers assessing a rental forecast need to understand which assumptions actually drive the projected income.

NSD’s figures cover its own portfolio and cannot describe the whole Japanese ski industry; some operations also welcome mountain sightseers, making comparisons with pure skiing demand imperfect. Their value is in revealing variation that a national headline can obscure, which is a useful starting point for more detailed work on individual resorts and property markets.

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> Sources  
> \- [Nippon Ski Resort Development—Monthly Operating Figures For July 2026](https://www.daiwair.co.jp/td%5Fdownload.cgi?c=6040&i=3278403&ref=uchiinsights.com). 10 August 2026\. Japanese; primary company disclosure.  
> \- [Nippon Ski Resort Development—FY2026 Third-Quarter Results Presentation](https://finance-frontend-pc-dist.west.edge.storage-yahoo.jp/disclosure/20260605/20260605564307.pdf?ref=uchiinsights.com). 5 June 2026\. Japanese; primary disclosure hosted by Yahoo Finance.