Tomamu
Could this be Hokkaido’s hidden treasure?
When we first heard about Tomamu, we went searching on the internet to try and find out what this place was all about. Virtually every photo we could find had a picture of a couple of odd looking buildings standing at the base of what seemed to be a “small ski hill”. All of the information we found did not do justice for this great little hidden secret.
It’s not the biggest mountain in Hokkaido yet it's certainly a decent sized resort. Tomamu is a purpose-built resort for golf lovers during summer and skiers during winter. The resort was built approximately 20 years ago at a cost of around US$1Billion so it has some substantial infrastructure, yet at the same time it lacks a few of the fundamentals such as an après bar.
The staff in Tomamu are some of the friendliest people you will meet anywhere. Whilst there are very few ‘Westerners’ in Tomamu, the language barrier was not a problem. There was always someone that could speak enough English to get by and our attempts to speak Japanese were always welcomed by the locals.
There is no actual town attached to the resort with the township of Tomamu only consisting of a few houses with no shops of any description. The nearest town, Shintoku, is a 20 minute train ride away. Tomamu has a major "resort" feel to it, there are no bars, and no convenience store or supermarket, so there's the risk of catching "cabin fever".
If you are looking for a quality resort that has something for everyone, and also gets you away from Western crowds, then we would highly recommend a week or so in Tomamu. However don’t delay in getting to Tomamu as it's been featured on the 2008 Warren Miller movie, and it's set to become one of Japan’s hottest ski destinations. Get the powder all to yourself whilst you still can!