Japan Off-PeakWho fills Japan's ski regions in winter? Nationality data for Hokkaido, Nagano and Niigata
By Japan Off-Peak (TechAthletes) · 2026-10-06 · Data: Japan Tourism Agency, counted by us (method)
In most of Japan, foreign visitors peak in spring or autumn: in 2025 the busiest month was April in 21 prefectures and October in 10. But in 10 prefectures, mostly in the snowy north and the mountains, the peak came in winter (December to February). Nagano and Niigata peaked in January, Hokkaido in February.
Resort-level reports in English already exist (for example on Niseko), but we haven't found nationality data laid out by prefecture and month for these three regions. Here it is from the official hotel statistics, and it differs a lot between them.
How we counted
We used two tables from the Japan Tourism Agency's 2025 confirmed results:
- Peak and quietest months: table 2, which covers all lodging types, divided per day.
- Nationality shares: reference table 1. It breaks down foreign hotel nights by nationality, but only for hotels and inns with 10 or more staff. Each nationality's share is its nights divided by that month's foreign nights in the same table.
We compared Hokkaido, Nagano and Niigata, with Tokyo and Japan as a whole for comparison.
The agency marks figures with a high sampling error (a standard error rate of 30% or more) with an asterisk. We say so wherever a figure we mention carries that mark.
January: who is staying
The five largest groups of foreign hotel nights in January 2025 (January was the peak in Nagano and Niigata; in Hokkaido, January was within 2% of the February peak in table 2, and the peak itself in reference table 1):
- Hokkaido: Mainland China 30.8%; South Korea 16.5%; Taiwan 15.4%; Australia 6.9%; Other countries 6.1%
- Nagano: Taiwan 25.4% (high sampling error); Australia 21.6%; Mainland China 12.9%; Hong Kong 9.7%; Other countries 7.2%
- Niigata: Taiwan 37.2%; Mainland China 13.9%; Australia 13.0%; Hong Kong 11.4%; Other countries 4.6%
What this shows:
- Hokkaido's winter is mainly an East Asian market. Mainland China, South Korea and Taiwan together made up 62.7% of January's foreign hotel nights. Australia was fourth, at 6.9%.
- Nagano is the most Australian of the three. Australians made up 21.6% of January's foreign hotel nights there, three times Hokkaido's share. Taiwan's figure for Nagano in January (25.4%) is marked as having a high sampling error, so we can't say for certain which group was larger.
- Niigata's winter is led by Taiwan, at 37.2% of January's foreign hotel nights. Australians came third, at 13.0%.
Australia's share, month by month
Australians' share of foreign hotel nights in each month of 2025:
| Month | Hokkaido | Nagano | Niigata | Tokyo (for comparison) | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 6.9% | 21.6% | 13.0% | 8.7% | 6.5% |
| Feb | 4.4% | 18.5% | 9.0% | 6.3% | 4.7% |
| Mar | 3.1% | 14.0% | 8.3% | 5.2% | 4.3% |
| Apr | 2.7% | 4.8% | 3.0% | 6.1% | 5.0% |
| May | 1.6% | 3.9% | 3.4% | 4.9% | 4.0% |
| Jun | 1.3% | 4.1% | 2.3% | 3.5% | 2.8% |
| Jul | 1.1% | 2.2% | 1.4% | 3.1% | 2.5% |
| Aug | 0.8% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 2.5% | 1.8% |
| Sep | 1.6% | 5.2% | 2.7% | 5.8% | 4.5% |
| Oct | 1.5% | 4.1% | 2.6% | 5.5% | 4.2% |
| Nov | 1.7% | 5.4% | 2.6% | 5.4% | 4.2% |
| Dec | 3.4% | 9.9% | 4.8% | 6.0% | 4.7% |
- In Nagano, the Australian share climbs from 1.5% in August to 21.6% in January. It stays high through February (18.5%) and March (14.0%).
- Japan as a whole follows a softer version of the same curve. The national share peaks in January, at 6.5%, during the southern-hemisphere summer holidays, and is lowest in August, at 1.8%.
- Tokyo's Australian share also peaks in January (8.7%). One possible reason is visitors passing through on the way to or from the snow, but the data can't show this.
The quiet season looks different too
In each region's quietest month for foreign visitors, the mix changes again:
- Hokkaido (April): Taiwan 26.6%; South Korea 15.0%; Mainland China 10.8%; Thailand 8.3%; Other countries 8.1%
- Nagano (August): Taiwan 21.4%; Other countries 21.3%; Mainland China 18.3%; United States 4.9%; South Korea 4.3%
- Niigata (September, its quietest month in reference table 1; in table 2 it's May): the agency's standard error for Niigata's September foreign figure in table 2 is 30% or more. Applying it to the 10+-staff table is an approximation, so treat this mix as rough. Taiwan 20.4%; Mainland China 20.3%; South Korea 13.4%; Other countries 13.3%; United States 7.5%
From April to November, Australians fall to between 0.8% and 5.4% of foreign hotel nights in the three regions. The largest groups are then from Taiwan, mainland China and South Korea, though in Nagano in August those three together account for only 44%.
What this means for travellers
- These are whole prefectures, not resorts. Individual towns such as Niseko or Hakuba can look very different from their prefecture's average.
- Between the three regions, Nagano had the highest share from English-speaking countries in January: 27.9% (the US, Canada, the UK and Australia), against 16.6% in Niigata and 11.0% in Hokkaido. East Asian visitors were still about half of Nagano's January total.
- For a quiet visit, the month with the fewest foreign visitors per day (table 2) was April in Hokkaido, August in Nagano and May in Niigata. Our calendar shows each prefecture month by month. In Nagano, though, August is also the busiest month for Japanese travellers.
What this data can't tell you
- Only hotels and inns with 10 or more staff are counted by nationality, so small lodges and guesthouses are missing from these shares. Private holiday rentals (minpaku) are outside this survey altogether.
- Whole prefectures, not resorts. Individual ski towns may look very different from their prefecture's average.
- Sampling error. Some nationality figures carry the agency's high-error mark. Separately, the agency's prefecture-level standard errors show that Niigata's total foreign figures for May to November 2025 have rates of 30% or more. We've flagged every such figure we mention. In Nagano, the figure for Taiwan, the largest group, carries the mark in six months (January, February, June, July, September and December). Other marked figures are smaller nationalities that we don't use here.
- One year: 2025. The Lunar New Year fell in late January, which affects visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Sources and method
- Source: Japan Tourism Agency (観光庁), Overnight Travel Statistics Survey (宿泊旅行統計調査), 2025 full-year confirmed results, reference table 1 (参考第1表), foreign guest nights by nationality, monthly sheets. File: 002010340.xlsx, downloaded 29 September 2026.
- Shares: each nationality's nights divided by total foreign nights in the same table and month.
More on the method page.