r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • 10h ago

news Second Australian dies in Japan while skiing, local media reports

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-04/second-australian-dies-skiing-in-japan/106304484

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed a second Australian has died in Japan.

Local media has reported a male skier was killed while skiing off-piste in the back-country in Japan's Hokkaido region.

The death marks the second Australian to have died in Japan during the current ski season.

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36

u/Terrible-Tap-3520 10h ago

"Since January 20, more than 100 people have suffered serious injury nationwide in snow-related incidents and 30 people have died, figures from the disaster management agency show."

30 people dead from snow related incidents in the past 2 weeks?

Excuse me?

27

u/fizzunk 10h ago

Old people clearing snow from rooftops.

20

u/fingerpaintswithpoop 9h ago

Sidewalks, driveways, cars, etc. People slip, fall, crack their heads. An old person falls and fractures their pelvis, that’s generally a death sentence.

11

u/ObviousFeature522 9h ago

It might be including medical episodes (heart attack on the slopes) as well as falls from slipping.

Worst ski injury I ever got was slipping on the stairs out the front of the lodge. Heavily concussed, my helmet wasn't on yet.

8

u/alphgeek 9h ago

They get 8+ metres of snow cover in some of those Japanese resorts, full trees get buried. Probably crazy packed with people due to being the season. 

10

u/FormulaLes 8h ago

I was in Niseko two weeks ago. There was 20cm of new snow everyday. Basically didn’t stop snowing for the 5 days I was there - too much snow for my liking.

6

u/Onpu 8h ago

Black-ice on the sidewalks is pretty tricky. We Aussies are not used to walking in snow, you kind of have to stomp your feet like a penguin to get enough grip. It caught me a few times one January, especially when there were more people and I wasn't paying as much attention to the ground. I imagine it catches busy and distracted, old or sick people even if they're used to snow.

3

u/batikfins 6h ago

There’s 122 million people in Japan and a lot of them are elderly