Facilities & Services

Niseko has a great range of quality ski resort facilities and services including: Niseko ski hire; snowboard rental; Niseko ski school; and child care. All four ski areas and villages at Niseko are well set up for those on a ski holiday, and international travellers from an English speaking background are very well catered for.

Niseko Ski Hire There are various Niseko ski rental shops located near the slopes that can provide you with all your rental requirements, including those all important fat skis and long snowboards for the deep powder. The cost for rental equipment is higher at Niseko than other Hokkaido ski resorts, but the quality is generally far superior. Unlike many other Japan ski resorts, there are no rear entry ski boots for hire at Niseko (!!) and you don’t need to worry that they’ll only have ski or snowboard boots in small sizes. Even Mr Big Foot is catered for!

Rhythm Snowsports is a great Niseko ski hire shop for both adults and kids. They have a large range of standard and performance skis and snowboards, boots, poles, helmets, snowshoes, touring skis, skins, and snow clothing. What sets them apart is their extensive fleet of demo skis and snowboards, and you can swap your gear as much as you like throughout your rental period. The Rhythm shops are conveniently located near the main intersection of Hirafu and at the Landmark Apartments 50 metres below the Hirafu gondola. Or if you are having difficulty getting to either of the shops, they have a van pick up service. Rhythm Snowsports has lots of rental skis and snowboards but it always pays to pre-book your rental equipment, especially if you want performance gear. Book your rental equipment here.

Pro Ski have a shop at the Hirafu traffic lights and offer a large range of regular and performance skis and snowboards, as well as clothing, apres boots, and helmets. They offer a pick up and drop off service. To book your rental gear click here.

Inski is also very conveniently located next to the Seicomart (near the Hirafu traffic lights) and has a large range of equipment to rent or buy.

If you plan to exit through any of the backcountry gates and don’t have the right equipment, Black Diamond Rentals hire out backcountry and safety equipment such as avalanche transceivers, retractable poles, skins, snowshoes, backpacks, shovels, and probes.

Rhythm Snowsports Niseko Japan Rhythm Snowsports Japan
Huge range of ski & snowboard rentals including demos - adults & kids plus helmets, wrist guards, clothing, walking boots & snowshoes. Reserve online now.
Inski Ski Hire & Equipment Inski Niseko
Inski provide quality ski & snowboard equipment rentals including a wide range of performance & powder skis. Inski is very conveniently located in Hirafu Niseko.

Niseko Child Care  Niseko is very well set up for children including a range of kids’ activities and various options for childcare. Here's an overview of Niseko child care options.

 
  Mobile
childcare 		 Alpen
Hotel
  Niseko
Kids
 6-12mths
      
 1-2yrs    
 2-3 years
      
 3-5 years
      
 5-6 years
      
 7-12 yrs
      
 12-14 yrs
      

Mobile Child Care & Babysitting Niseko
There are several providers of child care services where the carers come to your accommodation day and/or night to mind young children. An example is Niseko Snow Kids. They charge by the hour with a 3 hour minimum.

Niseko Babysitters (info@niseko-babysitters.com) provide day care and babysitting services for children aged 6 months and up.

Alpen Hotel Childcare
The Alpen Hotel provides child care services, located in the Upper Village near Ace quad lift#2 and the Welcome Centre bus stop. Reservations are required via alpen@grand-hirafu.jp. The staff don’t speak fluent English but this is not a problem for most children.

Niseko Kids
Niseko Kids provides child minding for the little ones. They also have a Night Owls program in the evenings from 6-9pm. Niseko Kids is located next to the Hilton Hotel Niseko Village (Higashiyama).

Kids Ski School Niseko
 Services
 Niseko Kids
 		 NBS Kids Club
 		NISS
 
 		 Private
Ski
 		 Group
Ski
 		 Group
S/Board 		 Private
Ski 		 Group
Ski
 		Group
S/Board
 Group
Ski 		 Group
S/Board
 2-3 years
 		             
 3-5 years
 		             
 5-6 years
 		           
 7-12 yrs
 		               
 12-14 yrs
 		           

Niseko Kids
Niseko Kids provides private and group ski lessons (and group snowboard lessons) for children. Niseko Kids is located next to the Hilton Hotel Niseko Village (Higashiyama).

NBS Kids Club
NBS provides private and group ski lessons (and group snowboard lessons) and equipment rentals for kids. Group lessons are held for the full day (including lunch) or just the morning. NBS is located at the base of the Ace Family Lift in the Alpen Ridge building next to the Vale Hotel.

NISS
NISS provide group ski & snowboard lessons for kids (as well as adults); located at the base of King Lift #1 at the top of the Upper Village.

Niseko Ski School - Adults & TeensThere are lots of different ski and snowboard schools at Niseko, with at least one program on offer at each of the four Niseko areas.

At Hirafu, Niseko Base Snowsports (NBS) has English speaking instructors for group or private lessons for adults. The lessons are somewhat pricey in comparison to ski school at other Hokkaido resorts, but this is a good choice for first timers and beginners.

If you really want to take your skiing or snowboarding to the next level, particularly in the powder, a more boutique option for ski and snowboard instruction is with Pro Powder. In order to provide focussed attention, all tuition is offered in a private format with a maximum of four people per instructor. Options include a 2 hour private lesson, or a 2, 3, or 4 day camp. For more information or to book your ski or snowboard lessons click here.

Another idea is to do a week long program with YES tours, a highly reputable company with top level ski and snowboard instructors (CSIA & CASI Level 4s). With Yes you come away from your holiday as a remarkably better skier or snowboarder. Their main programs are at Whistler, but they run a couple of tours at Niseko that include accommodation, the tuition and social events. 

Yes improvement programs YES Improvement Program
Yes Tours (from Whistler Canada) offer 1 or 2 week programs. These are not ski holidays with tuition as an afterthought; they are dedicated ski & snowboard improvement programs.
Pro Powder
Pro Powder provides private individual ski and snowboarding lessons. They also offer 2, 3 and 4 day rapid improvement camps designed to dramatically improve your ability whilst having a great time.

Eating On Mountain Niseko has 17 on-mountain restaurants with many of these located at the main base areas, or there are mid-mountain facilities such as Rest House Ace Hill (with the infamous thermometer commonly used as a meeting place), and the King Bell Hut. Most of the restaurants have cafeteria “fast-food” that is very reasonably priced. Fare includes traditional Hokkaido dishes such as ramen, pork buns, domburi, tonkatsu and other curries.

A favourite amongst the “foreigners” is Hanazono 308 at the base of the Hanazono area. The food is more expensive than elsewhere although the servings are huge. This new building has limited seating, so try to avoid the peak lunch hour if you can.

Banking Facilities You will need to budget reasonably well prior to visiting Niseko as there is not ready access to ATMs that accept international cards. There’s an ATM at the Hokkaido Tracks office (a little further up the hill from Wild Bill’s), the Seicomart in Hirafu, and at the post office in Kutchan.

Niseko is still largely a cash society and only about half of the restaurants accept credit cards, so factor this into your budget. Thankfully credit cards are accepted for lift ticket purchases (unlike at some Hokkaido resorts), ski and snowboard rental, and most activities.