Olympians-Turned-Mayors Go to Australia to Promote Nagano Ski Resorts; Prefecture Hopes Ex-Athletes Will Help Attract More Tourists

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:00 JST, May 23, 2025

NAGANO — Nagano Mayor Kenji Ogiwara, a two-time Winter Olympic gold medalist, and Gaku Hirasawa, a former Olympic athlete and mayor of Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture, are working together to promote ski resorts in the prefecture to attract more overseas tourists.

Ogiwara, 55, won gold in the Nordic combined team event at two consecutive Olympics, and Hirasawa, 52, competed in Alpine skiing at two Winter Games, including at the Nagano Olympics.

The two former Olympians went to Australia on Thursday to promote the prefecture’s snow quality and various tourist attractions, including Zenkoji temple in Nagano City.

Ogiwara and Hirasawa have known each other since they were athletes, and it was Hirasawa who called Ogiwara about the initiative.

Mayor Yoshinao Gaun, 62, who is the mayor of Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, joined the two for their trip to Australia, where they are expected to meet with local media and speak with tourism authorities. In Sydney on Sunday, they are also expected to participate in Snow Travel Expo, where they are set to hold a speaking event.

The powdery snow in Nagano Prefecture is a major draw, and the number of foreign tourists visiting the prefecture is rapidly increasing.

According to the Japan Tourism Agency, an initial estimate showed that about 2.18 million tourists stayed overnight in the prefecture in 2024, about 1.4 times more than the 1.57 million in 2019. However, the problem is that the tourists coming to ski generally do not visit the prefecture’s other tourist destinations.

Apparently, Australian tourists to ski tend to extend their stay in the country.

“[The mayors] know about snow quality because they were top athletes,” said an official of the Nagano municipal government’s tourism promotion department. “We hope that they’ll make the most of their expert knowledge, as well as their fame, to increase tourism [in Nagano Prefecture].”