Unexpected in Saga – Mount Tenzan’s odd offering

Growing up it became crystal to clear to me that I have the balance of a flamingo on a bouncy ball aka awful. Yet as a child I dreamed of becoming a figure skater, perhaps it was the beautiful costumes or the electric dances that could be created with the music. I was mesmerised by Russian athlete Evgeni Plushenko whenever I was able to catch some of the winter Olympics, his jumps captured my imagination.  Whatever it was sadly never manifested into anything more than the odd repeating dream. Where I grew up there was little in the way of winter sport venues of any kind. Fast forward to today and my local area in the UK is served by one of the largest snow domes topped by a snowdome in Manchester owned by the same company. The UK doesn’t really get snow despite its northernly position thanks to its friend the gulf stream. Growing up I recall very few white Christmases or severe cold snaps. The bottom-line being in East-Anglia snow wasn’t prevalent in my childhood and my dreams of being a figure skater were scuppered also by the fact the nearest rink was over an hour away paired with a 50-minute walk.

Let’s spin the globe and relocate to Saga prefecture, like my hometown, Saga is in Kyushu the southernmost island that makes up Japan. It experiences extremely hot summers and on average “milder winters”. I say milder but the lows paired with the humidity make the cold feel extremely bitter. But, on average Saga gets only a few days where snow will fall often melting by the afternoon. There are no ice-skating rinks in Saga the only link to figure skating it can claim is Karatsu is home to fictional figure skating star Yuri from Yuri on Ice. The character calls Karatsu home and the town is featured in the anime. Fans of the show can find unique merch in Karatsu castle and take pictures with standees.

But Saga holds a forgotten secret. At first, I believed it to be a translation error nothing more. However, after probing two more colleagues it turned out to be true. Saga until 2022 was home to its very own Ski resort. With everything I wrote above about Kyushu maybe it is easy to see why I would consider this an error. The mountains that surround the city are often snowless and only this year have I noticed a small snow cap on one mountain only. It made no logical sense that we would be home to a ski resort.

But finally, after watching snow forecasts for Japan as I attempted to plan a long weekend without the fear of getting caught in a blizzard. I noted a red dot in Saga on the snow map. After hovering the mouse over the red dot, the name Tenzan ski resort popped up. Digging around revealed some interesting information that I want to share today, perhaps it will be interesting to readers or at least motivate some to explore winter sports in their own area. This is also being written in the wake of the Winter Olympics, so the blog entry felt fitting.

Tenzan ski resort is now marked as permanently closed and rocks a 2.5/5 on reviews, most reviews citing that only one of the two ski lifts worked. The slopes hosted manmade slush which makes sense considering Saga is not known for its snow. The resort was credited for having beautiful views, Saga prefecture is mainly flat but surrounded by a beautiful ring of mountains. The view from the images displays stunning scenery and panoramic views of the area. The resort offered two courses, but the intermediate course was highly accredited. The area also offered night skiing which must have been very beautiful, skies in Saga are always a sight to behold, light pollution is low, and many stars are easily visible with the naked eye.

More digging provided insights into what kinds of people enjoyed the slopes with it being very popular with snowboarding. The resort opened in 1989, and I was able to find some cool images from its open. The resort was open from November to March, and efforts were made during the summer months to attract visitors in 2004 with the creation of a lavender park. Saga prefecture has many beautiful places to see flowers in particular the flower garden in Tosu was the prefectures offering at the Osaka expo.

The more I researched the more I was reminded of my Nara dreamland blog which I fully recommend if you have not read the entry. The company who owned the ski resort made more attempts to attract visitors, but there were many warning signs that business was not booming. In 2001 a covered beginner’s course was opened to attract visitors and those who were new to skiing, however not even 8 years later the course collapsed under the weight of the snow. I was able to read reviews on google and noted many people complaining about the quality of the snow. Due to the location the park had to rely on snow machines to cover the whole area. In 2019 the park faced another downfall from which it would not recover, the COVID-19 pandemic was paired with warmer conditions than usual seeing the park close its doors that following March, it was unable to host the nighttime skiing service citing staffing issues.

Sadly, the resort never reopened and the company running the operation filed for bankruptcy on January 6th, 2022, the resort was officially closed. I remember first hearing about Sagas ski resort from a colleague and thinking “nah that’s crazy” but after digging around and seeing the images I am happy to have had a peek into something that will now fall into the pages of history. There are no ski resorts in Saga, in Kyushu there are only two located in Kumamoto and Kagoshima. I was thoroughly impressed that someone dared to attempt the idea in Saga. When one comes to Kyushu its not because of snow its usually for water sports such as a surfing, scuba diving and boating.

You can find many images of the area as it looks now on Google maps, most of the resort has been dismantled but the lifts remain, as does the outline of two courses. Some images I found made the urbex lover in me excited, old signage could be seen and imprint on the slope looked eerie. I also discovered that while Mount Tenzan may not be a ski paradise anymore, it does boast an impressive drifting track for those who like their adrenaline in the form of cars.

I am fascinated by the past, and my degree is in history, I am excited to have had a chance to research and explore old images. Although the ski resort only closed four years ago Tenzan interested me enough to spend an afternoon exploring google and reading reviews. To many it was a quiet resort with very little foot traffic, like many places in Saga there is little tourism, I can easily imagine the resort on weekdays being devoid of people. Many remember the resort for its kind and friendly staff, perhaps it was the first place they learned how to ski. To many it will hold a place in their memories, of enjoying the snow with friends something that is no longer possible. Like childhood me who dreamed of dancing upon the ice but simply couldn’t, there maybe people in North Kyushu who dream of the snow but have nowhere to go. Hokkaido is a faraway dream to many, most Japanese people on average do not travel beyond their prefectures. The snow dunes of Hokkaido maybe the only place they see snow over a winter school trip.

I was happy to be explore Sagas past and have the chance to learn more about the prefecture. I hope to continue exploring aspects of life here in Japan as long as I can. I hope todays blog has been a little different.