Gokase Highland Ski Area Closed

Gokase Highland was Japan's southernmost ski area, on the north face of Mount Mukosaka (over 1,600 m) on the Miyazaki-Kumamoto border. Opened by Gokase town in 1990 despite doubts that a natural-snow ski area could work in Kyushu, it was run from 1998 by the third-sector company Gokase Highland. Three lifts served a handful of runs with views over the Kyushu mountains and rime-coated broadleaf trees, drawing mostly young snowboarders, and its quirky TV adverts became well known. After a suspension caused by typhoon damage it reopened in 2024, but falling visitor numbers and losses led to the announcement in July 2026 that it would not operate again.