As to be expected, the powder chasing patronage had increased since we last visited Sapporo Kokusai. Various tour groups were there, because whilst Niseko had no fresh snow, the guides had the knowledge that Kokusai was the place to be for the day. The tour groups seemed to be mostly hitting up the wide-open easy powder meadows, so these got trashed early. Fresh tracks were still on offer after lunch in the tighter trees and small amounts of work opened up plenty of fresh.

The official report cited 5cm of fresh snow but we wondered where and how they measured it (maybe on a groomed run after they’d groomed it?!) because accumulations in the off-piste areas were significantly greater (the pics give you an idea of what “5cm” of fresh looks like).

Queues for the gondola were long but it was mostly school kids, who were placed in a deprioritised line, so the wait was short and at least they were filling the gondolas, unlike a lot of other Hokkaido ski resorts in Covid times.

We stayed in nearby Jozankei Onsen for a couple of nights, which is a snowy onsen resort village that sits on either side of the Toyohira River.

We stayed at the Jozankei Daiichi Hotel Suizantei, which was a lovely hotel and enjoyed the different onsen, the washitsu (tatami room), great hospitality and amazing cuisine.

You can see our thoughts on the pros and cons of the resort on the Sapporo Kokusai overview page and also see how we compare it against other Hokkaido ski resorts ratings.
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Kokusai is the place to be if winds close the gondola at Kiroro, as it’s on the other side of Mt Asari. Have had one of the deepest days of my life here. Inbounds trees are good but, the sidecountry is even better.

Literally have been chest deep inbounds at this place :)
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Came with BlackDiamond tours on a day trip from Niseko in late dec '14. It's a long drive and the size of the resort doesn't compare but I'm extremely glad I went.

We didn't experience the crowds except at lunch (it was packed) b/c we were off piste the entire time. If you only do groomers, you're not going to like Kokusai, you'll get bored real quick. But with a guide, or a strong explorer spirit there's freshies to be had DAYS after storms in the glades. You're not going to get the same vert or grade you get at Annipuri, but if it hasn't snowed in a few days, you want to lose the aussies, or want a little more of the japan skiing cultural experience you picture before coming I'd recommend a side trip to Kokusai. I think I paid 2,000 JPY for the tour with BD and would happy do it again. Oh and you darksiders, the back country is full of flat run outs, so steal a pole or prepare to walk abit.
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Wow this place gets busy but that's a good thing. They are reliant on their two gondolas to move the people which takes all the ski schools to the top. It seems when other hills are shutting shop for the day keeping the kids on the lower slop, beautiful little Kokusai turns a blind eye for the most part sheltered from the howling westerlies in their valley and cram more students into another gondola to the top. Great!!!

The crowds seem to climax just before lunch and we waited 20 minutes. The ladies packing the gondolas did an awesome job with a singles line they pack those gondolas faster and better than anywhere else I've seen in Japan. Maybe it helps being under the radar that they don't have to contend with Sven, Bjorg and their 20 mates all with massive clown banana skis specially designed not to fit inside or outside any known gondola!!

Inbounds between the two gondolas the more to the skiers left you go the mellower it gets, while the skiers right get steeper with more features. Out of bounds was a different story we did the usual trick of the first run (skiers right of resort) hanging next to the boundary rope only to find ourselves post holing through a tight gully for half an hour sweat pouring off us to access the traverse out on the opposite side of the bloody creek. Next run we figured we had it sussed and went 100m further out only to find ourselves in another terrain trap. I would love a good topo of this area. It would be a great area to get a guide to show you, but as it stood the terrain isn't idiot proof like the slack country at Niseko. Some nasty terrain traps so have the right gear, know what to do with it or stay away.
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First thing that struck me about Kokusai were the crowds, even on a regular Thursday by the time I arrived around 11am all car parks were almost full. However fortunately the lift infrastructure seems to cope and the lines were never more than 2 or 3 minutes.

On this occasion it had not snowed in the last 2 days, the main off piste area is down the middle under the two gondolas , it is mostly small bowls leading into creek exits and was quite tracked out, however there is also plenty of less obvious off piste that was completely untouched after two days.

Overall Kokusai is a nice place to spend a day or two, but much longer and it could become tiresome, there is a lot of anti off piste signage but they seem to turn a blind eye.

Bit of a tip; I found driving from Sapporo hotels to be quite tedious, it can take 30 minutes just to get from where most hotels are to the expressway, however Otaru hotels are close to the expressway if your heading to Tiene, about 20 minutes quicker than sapporo and Kokusai is only 30 minutes from central Otaru. So if your staying in Sapporo just for the skiing I'd definitely suggest staying in Otaru instead.
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The ski resort is tiny if you only ski on the official piste runs, and it’s somewhat surprising that Sapporo Kokusai is so popular with the locals when nearby Kiroro offers so much more (must be the cheap lift tickets!). They have two gondolas running in parallel with each other, when what they really need is to have a gondola or additional lifts that open up significantly more terrain.

Most powderhounds don’t care about the size of the “skiable terrain” because Sapporo Kokusai has plenty of potential as a powderhounds play area. Sure there is negligible steep terrain compared to Sapporo Teine, but it makes up for its terrain characteristics with plenty of powder. On a powder day (particularly a weekday) you should be able to do powder laps in the side-country terrain with very little company, if any at all.

The off-piste terrain offers some merriment, but the best of Sapporo Kokusai can be found in the backcountry. Consider getting a guide to be a trail blazer.

For detailed ratings of Sapporo Kokusai and to see how it compares to other Japanese ski resorts, see our Japan ski resorts ratings.
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