About 240 kilometres north-west of Tokyo, in a slivered valley that leads to the Sea of Japan, lies a sleepy pocket of the nation’s ski country called Myoko Kogen. Bustling in the 1980s bubble era, with young skiers and neon-lit streets, the area has seen better days.
But in the coming years Ken Chan, the former Japan head of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, aims to invest $US1.4 billion ($2.2 billion) transforming it into a luxury skiing paradise to rival Aspen, Whistler and Saint Moritz. For two years, his investment firm has bought surrounding land at cut-rate prices thanks to the plunging yen. By 2026, he aims to have international hotels in place, alongside housing for thousands of workers.
