History of Hachimantai-Appi Snow Resort

A city that combines 100 years of history with the finest powder snow

The history of skiing in Japan dates back to 1911.

It is reported that skiing was introduced to present-day Hachimantai City around 1918, seven years later. Not only adults but also children learned to ski enthusiastically, imitating adults. The history of skiing in Hachimantai City was nurtured more than 100 years ago.

Today's Hachimantai and Appi Snow Resorts originated from the Matsuo Mine, which was known as "the best sulfur mine in the East". The prosperity of the mine brought affluence to the area and laid the foundation for later snow resorts.

Although skiing is now known as a popular winter sport, the full-fledged ski boom did not begin until around 1950. Even before the rapid growth of the ski population, the Matsuo Mine had a ski club and was already known as a nationally strong team at the time. However, there were still no commercial ski resorts in the Matsuo Mine area. The athletes honed their skills on the practice ski slopes located in the mountain.

The first commercial ski resort opened in the Matsuo Mine area on January 27, 1952. The opening of the ski resort, named Ryugamori Ski Area, attracted a large number of people, and even the American Occupation Forces participated, creating a colorful and international atmosphere.

However, the Matsuo Mine, which had enjoyed a prosperous period, began to decline as demand for sulfur ore disappeared. As a move to turn the business around, the company embarked on tourism development, including ski resort management, and around 1962 opened Hachimantai International Ski Resort, the first ski resort in Iwate Prefecture to be equipped with lifts. The Hachimantai Kanko Hotel was also completed in the same year. This was the moment when a full-fledged reinforced concrete hotel was born in the Hachimantai area, which until then had only had youth hostels and huts. The number of tourists increased year by year, as they could enjoy the great nature of Hachimantai and stay overnight after skiing. However, the decline of the mining business could not be halted, and the Matsuo Mine ended its history in 1969.

Around the same time, in Matsuo Village (now Hachimantai City), where the Matsuo Mine was located at the time, the development project of a geothermal power plant, triggered by the hot spring project, became active, and in 1970, Higashi Hachimantai Onsen Co. In 1979, the Higashi Hachimantai Ski Resort, which took advantage of the spectacular nature of Towada-Hachimantai National Park, was born, giving birth to a tourist resort called "Hachimantai Onsen-kyo" (Hachimantai Hot Spring Resort). A tourist resort called "Hachimantai Onsen-kyo" was born.

One of the decisive factors that made this region famous throughout Japan as a ski resort was the opening of the Appi Kogen Ski Resort in 1981. During the heyday of the bubble economy, there was a huge boom in the number of people putting "APPI" stickers on their own cars. To this day, the ski resort attracts many winter sports enthusiasts from Japan and abroad.

Regions blessed with large amounts of snowfall like Japan are rare in the world, and the snow in Hachimantai and Appi is powder snow with very low moisture content. Fresh snow in the top season is so smooth and light that snowballs cannot even be formed.

Hachimantai-Appi Snow Resort is an area where everyone from beginners to experts can enjoy the superb snow quality that is highly praised by winter sports enthusiasts from all over the world.