Even though an early end to the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be expected, foreign investment in development of the resort area of Kutchan Town is maintaining momentum. It seems that development movements looking ahead to the next few years have become particularly active in recent months. The building regulations, which the town is currently considering and plans to begin enforcing as early as next summer, require that the two challenges of landscape conservation and sustainable development be met simultaneously.

Kutchan Town is the core of Niseko, the driving force behind tourism in Hokkaido. A succession of large-scale construction projects have emerged in the resort area even after the spread of COVID-19, and it is widely believed that development pressure will remain high for the time being. Meanwhile, new hot-spring drilling will be restricted in the central area, and discussions on tightening building regulations in the region are in full swing. Stakeholders in and outside the town have mixed opinions, with some voicing opposition and other expressing empathy or expectations for expanding business opportunities under the new rules.

Steel material prices are on the verge of entering unchartered territory. Against the backdrop of soaring raw materials prices, the prices of typical building materials, such as H-section steel and steel plates with a thickness of 3 mm or more, have risen across the board this year, approaching the high prices before the “Lehman shock” (2008 global financial crisis). As with the recent increase in lumber prices, supply has not caught up with growing demand in the United States and China, which is beginning to take a toll on Japan. It remains to be seen if the situation will lead to an “iron shock” and put even more pressure on the construction industry than ever before.

Orchid Sakura Global Limited (British Virgin Islands), a real estate investment company comprised of Asian investors, is planning to develop four villa lots in Niseko Town. Land development is scheduled to begin in mid-August. The builder for the project will be decided at a later time.

>Hong Kong-affiliate Super Okusan (Yamada 188-19, Kutchan; Ivy Wu, President) plans to start construction of a new hotel in 2022 on the site of the former Niseko Weiss Hotel. A 62-room hotel and two villas are planned. The contractor will be decided at a later time.