About 240 kilometers northwest 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 now seen better days.
But in the coming years, Ken Chan, the former Japan head of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, aims to invest $1.4 billion transforming it into a luxury skiing paradise to rival Aspen, Whistler and St. Moritz. For two years his investment firm has bought surrounding land at cut-rate prices thanks to the plunging yen. And by 2026 he aims to have international hotels in place, alongside housing for thousands of workers.
The plan to put Myoko on the world tourism map is a cornerstone project for Chan and his company Patience Capital Group, which manages $500 million and also invests in residential real estate assets in Japan. It comes as more global investors look to get in on the country’s red-hot tourism rebound, and its ski slopes become more celebrated.