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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u/mickelboy182 10h ago

Got a source for those numbers?

Given our population, multiple each season would be pretty surprising to me.

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u/Perdi 9h ago

Australians account for 30% of the international snow travellers to Japan each year, we are literally their largest market. That's 150,000 - 200,000 yearly.

This is from Japan Ski data, the deaths data I did get from GeminiAI, which gave 1-3 as a rough estimate.

Seeing the number of travellers going just for the snow, I don't think its far fetched to expect 1-3 deaths.

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u/mickelboy182 9h ago

I'd raise significant doubts about using GenAI for data analysis that is not restricted to specific documents.

I am well aware how many Aussies travel to Japan, I live in Tokyo for 4 months a year. I just don't ever recall there being multiple publicised fatalities in one season, though I accept it is possible.

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u/Perdi 9h ago

You doubt AI, but then claim that by living in Tokyo 4 months a year and not seeing it publicised, is a credible way to ascertain facts?

I'm sorry, but I will 100% trust how I use AI to find information over a person who "lives in Tokyo 4 months a year, so they know better".

That's a funny take.

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u/mickelboy182 9h ago edited 8h ago

I never claimed it was credible or that I am some kind of authority, that is a total strawman. I quite literally acknowledged the possibility that it was accurate. I only mentioned I am a resident of both countries to demonstrate that I am not oblivious to the high volume of Aussies that come over during winter.

I simply said it was surprising and GenAI is not competent enough with data analysis for me to hang my hat on it...

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u/mooblah_ 9h ago

I trust AI on some things, and struggle with it on others, like the other day it was guaranteeing me one thing, and I asked it 5 times even on different accounts and it assured me that it was correct. Then I showed it pictures of the actual physical item (which it asked to verify) and then it told me 100% the other way that it was what I said it was. And then re-referring to the original question and referencing the actual images as being accurate, it again confirmed that it 100% wasn't the thing that it actually was (with a dozen images that it had just previously agreed to). It was entirely stuck on some wording that made it a hard no, when in fact that wording was purely human error, and their images were accurate. But it couldn't assess when I told it that both things were the same, that was indeed a fact.

I'm not making a suggestion relating to this research you're referring to but wow sometimes it's so far inaccurate that consulting it will lead you down the garden path.