By Sam Peters, CNN
Hakuba, Japan (CNN) — At 5 p.m., the line outside Ohyokkuri has already begun to form. The traditional izakaya, or pub, is so popular that people start waiting outside for half an hour before it opens to get a seat.
On the other side of the village, skiers at the Après Bar sip beers and Aperol Spritz, trying not to slip on the wooden floors in their ski boots as they dance to the loud music.
It’s an average night out during the ski season in Japan’s Hakuba Valley, on the main island of Honshu, outside the city of Nagano. Sitting in the Japanese Alps, it’s made up of 10 ski areas, which have collectively become a global ski destination known for consistent snow, tall mountains and a fun atmosphere.
The influx of foreign visitors, however, has not been entirely welcomed by locals, who complain of drunk, rowdy tourists.
Their complaints have been so strong that the mayor of Hakuba village, Toshiro Maruyama, has introduced new fines aimed at curtailing the rise of antisocial behavior. The penalties, which run up to 50,000 yen ($321), will come into force in July, and can be issued by police for offenses including drinking alcohol while walking outside, being noisy at night or setting off fireworks.
They are an extension of an ordinance put in place 10 years ago banning such behaviors. Without penalties though, it had little impact. Maruyama says local businesses petitioned him to introduce a punishment for those flouting the rules.
But not everyone agrees the fines are necessary. Marcus Bauder, CEO of Hakuba Hospitality Group (HHG), a property management company that runs 10 hotels and 13 restaurants in the valley, as well as managing private chalets and apartments, tells CNN the issue is “overblown.”
“There are areas in Hakuba that in the wintertime, at night, it does get a bit louder and you have pubs and bars,” says Bauder. But “this is not unusual for any tourist town in the world. It’s not unique to Japan, it’s not unique to Hakuba.”
The same goes for concerns around overtourism in the village.
“We’re far from it,” Bauder said. “Christmas and New Year gets very busy, but the majority of the year there is no tourism, and we’re trying to build it up. If we send out the message that we have overtourism problems, I think it’s very wrong.”
A walk through Happo-One, famous for hosting events during the 1998 Winter Olympics, makes it easy to understand both sides’ opposing concerns. The town feels distinctly Western, and its famed powder makes it an appealing destination for global travelers.
However, the resorts have retained much of their Japanese charm, while still catering to a Western clientele.
“Sometimes you forget you are in Japan, there’s so many Australians,” one Australian farmer on a ski holiday told CNN. The appeal, he said, is the nightlife. While other resorts might be quieter and less Westernized, “there wasn’t much else to do once the sun set,” he said.
At the same time, Hakuba feels markedly quieter than ski resorts in the US or Europe. Whilst Hakuba skiers often complain that aging lifts and poorly thought-out runs can create the occasional bottleneck, queues are rare and on an average day, you’ll have a piste to yourself.
But the growing number of skiers making the journey to Japan means that Hakuba will only get busier.
Closing the gates
“The overtourism word is a bit difficult to explain,” Maruyama tells CNN.
It is not just a question of numbers — 1,064,000 people came to Hakuba to ski in 2025. However, Hakuba’s ski tourism peaked in 1992 with 2,785,000 skiers. The difference, according to the mayor, is that the visitors in 1992 were almost all Japanese. These new visitors are foreign, and there are concerns they are driving up price