The whole modern economic model for a ski resort (ski areas are losing ground fast in the U.S.) doesn’t work in Japan as too few people take ski vacations. Real estate sales/rental, food service and retail sales are what pay for resorts today. Japanese don’t take even long weekends for skiing trips primarily because there are no long weekends or extended national holidays in Japan during the winter. Shougatsu doesn’t count as many areas on Honshu aren’t open even by the end of December or are too remote even from Tokyo to benefit if they are.

Pile on this the wrong demographics for skiing (60+ comprising too much of the population).

The only reason Niseko and a few other areas on Hokkaido are thriving is because foreign visitors make up something like 30% of the business.

I give the sport a decade more on Honshu before it disappears altogether.