JR Gala Yuzawa Japan

In 1998, Ecosign was responsible for the preparation of the master plan for the Gala Yuzawa ski area in Niigata, Japan.

Located on the west coast of Honshu, Japan’s main island, Ecosign’s work involved the conceptual design for a new ski area base lodge, which would be integrated with a railway spur of the Joetsu Shinkansen (bullet train). The train can deliver up to 6,000 people per hour at the base’s day lodge from Tokyo, a distance of 200 kilometres in less than 70 minutes. Once disembarked from the train, passengers then board an eight-passenger gondola to access the ski area. The mid-mountain ski centre along the gondola line acts as the base of operations for the ski area. A further component of the plan was the inter-connection of the Gala Yuzawa site with the existing Ishiuchi Maruyana, Yuzawa Kogen and NASPA ski areas, with the goal of forming a large ski circus capable of accommodating over 35,000 skiers per day.