NISEKO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 19, 2025--
Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO, part of Okura Nikko Hotels’ Nikko Style lifestyle-hotel brand, is pleased to announce that it won the “World’s Best New Ski Hotel” award at the World Ski Awards 2025, a global initiative that recognizes, rewards and celebrates excellence in the ski tourism industry.
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The World Ski Awards are regarded as one of the most prestigious international awards in the global ski tourism industry. Winners in each category are determined based on votes from ski industry professionals, skiers from around the world and the general traveling public, leading to highly credible assessments.
The “World’s Best New Ski Hotel” award is presented to a single hotel selected from among newly opened properties worldwide. This year, Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO was nominated as a finalist alongside four other new hotels from Austria, France, Slovakia, and Italy, and was ultimately selected as the winner following approximately six months of voting.
Commenting on the award, General Manager Tomoyuki Yamanobe said, "It is a great honor for Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO to receive the World’s Best New Ski Hotel award at the highly regarded World Ski Awards. This recognition comes at a very special time as we approach our first anniversary, making it an exceptionally proud moment for our hotel. We believe that this result, determined by votes from both professionals in the ski industry and our valued guests, reflects the appreciation of our hotel as a place that people will wish to visit again. We remain committed to meeting the needs of both domestic and international guests and will continue to strive for excellence."
Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO will continue to cater to guests seeking the world’s finest powder snow, offering unforgettable experiences in harmony with the ever-changing natural beauty of Niseko throughout the seasons.
World Ski Awards official website: https://worldskiawards.com/winners/2025
About Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO
Opened in December 2024, Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO is the second hotel in Japan under the Nikko Style brand. With the message “Your Stay, Your Style,” it offers a variety of experiences that engage all five senses and encourage guests to enjoy their stay in complete freedom. The hotel faces the Niseko HANAZONO Resort, which offers winter sports enthusiasts a wide range of activities. The property features 234 guest rooms, along with a full range of facilities including restaurants, natural hot springs, a gym, a club lounge, a DJ booth, and banquet spaces.
For more details, please visit nisekohanazono.nikkostyle.jp/en.
World Ski Awards
Launched in 2013, the World Ski Awards recognize excellence in global ski tourism and aim to raise accommodation and service standards across the sector. The Awards were created in response to industry demands for fair, transparent benchmarks and now attract hundreds of thousands of votes from ski professionals and consumers worldwide.
Awards are presented across four key categories—Best Ski Resort, Best Ski Hotel, Best Ski Boutique Hotel and Best Ski Chalet—for each of the world’s top 25 ski nations, with country-level winners securing the most overall votes in a particular category also being awarded the respective global title. Additional world-only categories cover operators, travel agents, resort companies, and sustainability credentials.
Votes are submitted online by industry professionals and the public. World Ski Awards is the sister organization of World Travel Awards.
For more details, please visit worldskiawards.com/about.
Exterior of Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.
Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.
The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.
In Friday's case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting.
Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.
Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.
Yoon, who can appeal the ruling, hasn’t immediately publicly responded to the ruling. But when the independent counsel demanded a 10-year prison term in the case, Yoon’s defense team accused them of being politically driven and lacking legal grounds to demand such “an excessive” sentence.
Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.
Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.
South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol shouts slogans outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A supporter of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol waits for a bus carrying former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs as police officers stand guard outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs and flags outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Supporters of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol hold signs outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A picture of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is placed on a board as supporters gather outside Seoul Central District Court, in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
