When I go back to the U.S. and talk about skiing in Japan, people ask, "They ski in Japan?" I'm like, "Remember the 1998 Olympics in Nagano?" "Oh yeah," they say, wrinkling their foreheads as if recalling some 8 mm black-and-white ski movie while exhibiting enough doubt that I know they're going to look it up on Wikipedia when they get home. "Really," I say to back up my point, "it's a country with over 700 ski areas." That's when they really think I'm lying.
Despite Japan's strength in winter Olympic sports such as ice skating, speed skating and ski jumping, Japan has only ever won three medals in alpine and freestyle skiing events. This must be what accounts for the lack of recognition of Japan as a major skiing nation.
The fact is, skiing has been around for a long time in Japan. The first ski club was reportedly founded in 1911. Skiing was even taught to Japanese soldiers who were preparing to fight in Mongolia.