For Niseko resident Shigeru Uehara the times are changing. The well-reported influx of Australian visitors and businesses to the region over the past few years has brought significant change to his community.
This is a change that, by all accounts, appears likely to intensify and is both warmly welcomed and cause for some minor concern.
While working with Niseko Home Design for roughly five years, Uehara has noted several developments. "First of all it used to be only in the winter time that we saw foreigners working in town," he says.