Happy Holidays from Setsu Niseko

We enjoyed a jam packed event schedule this festive season. 

We started the winter season with our annual lighting ceremony where we invite guests and the community to help us light our Christmas tree. It was a spectacular event that was perfect to kick off the holiday period. You can read more about the event here. 

First up were our events over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We had a range of events covering both traditional Christmas and Japanese culture. At Setsu, we have guests from around the world so we ensure that guests can experience something new while staying with us. 

We had taiko drumming to begin on Christmas Eve. Even in the fluffy snow guests gathered outside in the courtyard and around the fire to watch the performance. Taiko drumming is a Japanese art form where performers play various drums in a rhythmic way. The drumming is accompanied by chanting, movement and traditional attire. It was a brilliant way to begin our Christmas celebrations. 

Later the dynamic duo of saxophonist, Kengo Ono, and guitarist, Takuto Asanu, filled Park90 with music. The atmosphere in the Lounge Bar was fantastic with everybody enjoying the live music and the curated wine and cocktails served by Park90. 

Of course Christmas would not be complete without a visit from Santa Claus himself. We were lucky to have Santa spend some time in our lobby. He made sure to listen to all of our little guests and take pictures with everyone. We were sad to see Santa leave in the end but he was very tired from delivering presents the night before. 

With the end of our Christmas celebrations we were feeling full of joy and Christmas spirit. Niseko is truly a winter wonderland at Christmas time and having our guests with us during this time is special. However, it was not long before we were celebrating the New Year.

We were delighted to welcome back our taiko drummers. They gave another exhilarating performance enjoyed by guests. After the performance, guests were welcome to play on the taiko drums themselves, some guests could play quite the rhythmic beat.

Also as part of the Japanese cultural experience were another musical duo. Masahiro Nitta played the shamisen and Shinta Ono played the Japanese drums. Their performance was masterful and a great insight into Japanese culture. 

Our on site ramen masters at AFURI served takeaway ramen all night long - it was a hit. If you did not know, in Japan eating noodles around the New Year symbolises longevity and prosperity. So, not only is it delicious, it is a great way to start 2024.

To finish off 2023 in the best way possible, we had our resident DJ playing at Park90. He had curated the perfect playlist to get us excited for the New Year. Setsu was a wonderful place to countdown to 2024. Together with guests and our DJ we wished those around us a Happy New Year.

The celebrations did not stop there. On the first day of 2024 we welcomed guests to join us in a traditional Japanese New Year celebration. This included a mochitsuki and sake ceremony where we cracked open the sake barrel and served sake to guests. Sake and mochitsuki are both Japanese traditions for the New Year. Sake is said to symbolise harmony and mochi is said to bring good fortune for the coming year. 

We would like to thank all those who joined us over the holiday period and attended our events. We would also like to thank the many amazing artists and performers. We wish everybody a safe and prosperous 2024. See you again soon.