If you have been to Niseko and stayed in Hirafu chances are pretty good you've been to the Burton Store. It is located on the ground floor of the Odin Place building located at the Hirafu Intersection. The store has been open for the last 5 years and it's patronage growing in leaps and bounds from season to season. For those who don't know The Burton Store is a snowboard shop selling Burton hard and soft goods with everything you need to outfit yourself for your time in Niseko.

If you are looking for a large comfortable home away from home in the Hirafu Village within walking distance of the lifts and close to some fantastic restaurants look no further than Ise. This large 3 story, 4 bedroom concrete villa has all the comforts you could wish for split over 3 spacious levels with the open plan living, dining and kitchen set on the second floor.


 

Part 4 of our look at trips to the coast from Niseko looks at Bikuni, a small town on the eastern side of the Shakotan Peninsular. Via Nikki Bikuni is a 1.5 hour drive from Hirafu and is a great stop over on the way to popular destinations such as Kamui Misaki and the Shimamui Coast which we looked at in Part 3. It is also a slightly closer alternative summer destination if you don't feel like driving all the way to tip of the peninsular.

One of the most popular day trips from Niseko is Otaru, a seaside city famous for fresh seafood, its architecture, a charming canal and sea views. Otaru lies just a one hour drive east of Niseko and draws visitors winter through summer. From Niseko there are a couple of different routes, one which takes the newly formed Yoichi IC expressway or the other over Keinashi Toge passing very popular Kiroro Ski Resort.

Holiday Niseko have properties in Hirafu and surrounds to suit every taste and every budget wether you are looking for a cozy studio for two or a spacious villa for the whole family. One great option that comes somewhere between is Ikigai, a beautiful 3 bedroom stand alone home in St Moritz just a couple of minutes drive from the base of the Ace Family Chair. Ikigai stands out from the crowd with modern spacious interiors and views of Mount Yotei.

Getting to Niseko is easy and there are a number of convenient ways to do so to suit every budget and itinerary. Once you have made it to Japan you need to get your self to Hokkaido, the easiest and usually most cost effective way to do so is to fly to Chitose Airport. The majority of Japanese airports have direct flights to Chitose and there are many direct international routes too, the finer details below.

Last month we took a look the Toyoura / Okishi area to the south of Niseko and before this Kamoenai which is a stop on the way to the tip of the stunning Shakotan Peninsular. 

If you are visiting Niseko but interested in seeing a little more of Hokkaido during the summer or the winter the Asahikawa region / city is well worth a place on your itinerary. There are plenty of things to see, do and of course eat from skiing on active volcanoe Asahi Dake and enjoying a hot bowl of ramen to summertime visits to the zoo and ice cream with the kids.

The Niseko Local Rules have been in place since 1999 and have helped to put Niseko on the map as one of the ultimate powder destinations in the world. The implementation of the rules were at the time of their inception ground breaking in Japan, opening up back country and off piste terrain that had previously been off limits. 

In the last look at the seaside adventures close to Niseko we headed north west to Kamoenai, this time around we head south west to the Toyoura District and the beaches around Okishi and Rebun. Here we are greeted by long sandy beaches and a sea speckled with sunshine and fishing buoys that mark the oyster and scallop farms stretching accross Uchiura Bay.