Resort town in Hokkaido roiled by debate over immigration

In the small town of Kutchan, near the internationally renowned Niseko ski slopes in Japan, a barren field once planted with potatoes has become a flash-point for a national conflict over labour, tourism and immigration.

- River Akira Davis and Kiuko Notoya

The Niseko ski resort area in Kutchan, Hokkaido, where local residents are petitioning the government to block the construction of a facility to house seasonal workers. The tensions underscore a dilemma for Japan's booming US$50 billion ($65 billion) tourism sector. PHOTO: CHANG W. LEE/NYTIMES

(CHANG W. LEE/NYTIMES)

On that plot of land, developers are planning to construct lodging for up to 1,200 seasonal workers, most of whom will be foreigners. These labourers are needed to operate the area’s resorts and construction sites.

Local residents, however, are petitioning the government to block the facility, citing concerns over safety anda perceived decline in social order.

The tensions in Kutchan, on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, underscore a dilemma for the country’s booming US$50 billion (S$65 billion) tourism sector, which is now its second-largest export after cars. Japan’s population is shrinking and ageing rapidly, emptying out many small towns like Kutchan.

Spending by tourists is propping up the economy in Kutchan and the surrounding area. At the same time, the town lacks the workers needed to staff the hotels, resorts and restaurants that cater to those visitors, meaning that it has had no choice but to open its doors to an influx of foreign workers.

Depending on the time of year, foreigners can account for up to about 22 per cent of Kutchan’s 17,000 residents — one of the highest such ratios in Japan. This demographic reality positions the small town as an early, visible test case for the social and political frictions expected to proliferate nationally in a country wary of immigration but increasingly dependent on it to keep its economy afloat.