Niseko Village, in Hokkaido, is saying goodbye to its single chairlifts. Wonderland Chair A and B are being retired as part of the ski area's renovation, which includes a new eight-seater gondola whose first phase opens in December 2026 and will be completed a year later. Wonderland becomes a double chairlift.
The new gondola
The Mori-no Gondola replaces the Mori-no Chair, which had been in service for more than four decades: 86 cabins, four of them VIP cabins with a table for eating and two with glass floors. It is Niseko's biggest lift investment in years and one of the signs of how Japanese skiing is repositioning itself towards international visitors.
Why Japan keeps single chairlifts
In Europe and North America single chairlifts disappeared decades ago; in Japan several survive. The explanation is practical: they are cheap to maintain, with long, low lines that cope well with Hokkaido's huge snowfalls, and at small resorts or in low-traffic sectors they still do the job. With Niseko's renovation there will be even fewer left, and the remaining ones are starting to become an attraction in their own right.
