News Nagano ski resort desperate for foreign labour

[thomas]

The Kuma no Yu ski and onsen resort in Nagano, close to the border with Gunma, is looking for foreign labour. The resort needs 40 part-timers throughout the skiing season to keep watch on, help users at the five lifts, patrol the slopes, and cook meals and serve customers at restaurants there. The hourly wages start from 970 JPY (USD 6.50), and the part-timers must stay at Kuma no Yu for prolonged periods. These conditions have steered many young Japanese people away from such work.

Employers are dangling free use of the winter facilities to secure enough workers for the season.

The company emphasizes its easy-to-work environment and provides its workers free dormitory rooms and meals. For Lai and Zhang, other perks sealed the deal. They get free lift tickets and ski gear rentals on their days off, and they can bathe at a pure natural hot spring at the resort. "Taiwan lacks ski resorts because it has few places with snowfalls," Lai said. "I wanted to ski and thought the system here would provide me a good opportunity." Zhang had never seen snow before coming to Japan. "I'm going snowboarding for the first time soon," Zhang said. "I am really looking forward to it." Workers from outside Japan are bringing "essential help" to Kuma no Yu, Goto said. Kuma no Yu employs two college students from China under an internship program and three Taiwanese via the working holiday framework.

Nagano ski resorts entice foreign workers with free stuff | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

 

[mdchachi]

My son would love to do that but the wage is a bit rough.

 

[thomas]

Free experience, free onsen, free skiing, free accommodation - what else do you want? Champagne and caviar?

Seriously, though, it sounds like they only pay the bare minimum hourly wage.

 

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

The Kuma no Yu ski and onsen resort in Nagano, close to the border with Gunma, is looking for foreign labour. The resort needs 40 part-timers throughout the skiing season to keep watch on, help users at the five lifts, patrol the slopes, and cook meals and serve customers at restaurants there. The hourly wages start from 970 JPY (USD 6.50), and the part-timers must stay at Kuma no Yu for prolonged periods. These conditions have steered many young Japanese people away from such work.

Employers are dangling free use of the winter facilities to secure enough workers for the season.

​

Nagano ski resorts entice foreign workers with free stuff | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

thomas-san.
The video is Kumanoyu Onsen of the Hokkaido Shiretoko peninsula.
"Kuma-no-Yu skiing area" in Shiga-kogen of Nagano.


The hourly wage is low, but is advantageous if I ski as lift charges are free.

 

[thomas]

thomas-san.The video is Kumanoyu Onsen of the Hokkaido Shiretoko peninsula.The hourly wage is low, but is advantageous if I ski as lift charges are free.

Thank you for pointing that out!

And I agree with you: spending one winter season in such a resort would be a great experience if I were thirty years younger.