Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO Celebrates One Year Since Opening

NISEKO, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 16, 2026--

Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO celebrated its first anniversary on December 15, 2025, and to commemorate this milestone, the hotel is pleased to introduce a special “Thank You Anniversary Stay” accommodation plan. Available for small groups of guests staying three nights between January 7 and March 8, 2026, the all-inclusive premium accommodation plan incorporates transportation, dining, guided tours and other special events to create one seamless experience. As an expression of the hotel’s gratitude for its guests’ continued patronage, the plan is being offered at a special rate of JPY 3.9 million, the pronunciation of “3.9” in Japanese being similar to the English “thank you.”

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The “Thank You Anniversary Stay” plan offers guests an unparalleled way to experience some of the world’s finest snow and the unique allure of Hokkaido’s Niseko, one of Japan’s premier winter sports resorts, in the most indulgent manner. Available exclusively during the winter season and limited to a single party for the entire stay, it will deliver a truly exceptional Niseko winter experience.

The plan includes a three-night stay across two adjoining accommodations: the hotel’s largest suite, the imposing Nikko Style Suite, and the neighboring Premium Studio Suite View. Connecting both suites is a private 66-square-meter rooftop lounge, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows that offer sweeping views of the pristine slopes of Niseko HANAZONO Resort. Each suite has one bedroom, and the plan will be available for groups of up to 7 adults. Surrounded by majestic nature and a sense of serene seclusion, guests will be invited to fully immerse themselves in the beauty of Niseko’s winter landscape.

As part of the all-inclusive offering, the plan provides round-trip airport transfers, transportation between nearby locations, and the exclusive use of a private luxury vehicle with a dedicated driver, allowing guests to travel freely throughout the Kutchan, Hirafu, and greater Niseko areas.

Adding to the plan’s signature culinary experiences, guests may choose one evening during their stay to enjoy a specially curated dinner course featuring Hokkaido’s exceptional local ingredients, paired with selected wines, served privately in the rooftop lounge. The experience will be further enhanced with the delivery of champagne and a cheese platter, as well as a private cocktail hour offered daily, featuring a free flow of light snacks alongside alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Against the ever-changing hues of Niseko’s winter sunset, guests can savor moments of refined comfort and unhurried indulgence.

For winter activities, guests are provided with three-day lift passes valid across both the Hanazono and Hirafu areas, allowing them to fully enjoy Niseko’s world-renowned powder snow. The plan also includes a half-day private tour to one destination of choice—Yoichi, Otaru, Sapporo, Lake Toya, or Lake Shikotsu—offering opportunities to explore Hokkaido’s rich culture, natural landscapes and culinary heritage beyond the slopes. Upon arrival, guests will be welcomed with a specially curated gift set featuring local ingredients and original items unique to Hokkaido and Niseko, setting the tone for an exceptional stay from the very beginning.

Guided by the Nikko Style brand promise, “Your Stay, Your Style,” Nikko Style Niseko HANAZONO has consistently sought to create stays that resonate with the individuality and sensibilities of each guest. The “Thank You Anniversary Stay” plan has been thoughtfully crafted as an extension of that promise, and will offer guests a truly immersive way to experience the essence of winter in Niseko.

For details of the package, please visit https://nisekohanazono.nikkostyle.jp/en/offers/39anniversarystay/

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. In November 2025, the hotel was honored with the “World’s Best New Ski Hotel” award at the World Ski Awards.

For more details, please visit nisekohanazono.nikkostyle.jp/en.

Nikko Style Suite Roof Top Lounge

CAIRO (AP) — Iranians began to regain internet access on Wednesday after authorities ended a monthslong shutdown. But users said service was slow and spotty in some areas, with apps like YouTube and Instagram heavily restricted, as they were before the cutoff began during nationwide protests in January.

Authorities justified the outage as a military imperative after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. Their decision to lift some restrictions this week came as negotiators appeared to be closing in on a more permanent truce. But many Iranians feared access could be cut off again at a moment's notice.

Internet tracking company Netblocks said Iran’s connectivity, which measures the ability of devices to connect to the internet, is at around 86% of capacity from before the cutoff. Internet analysis firm Kentik said internet traffic, which measures the amount of data transferred and is a good illustration of usage, was at around 40%.

Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity analyst, said there were still widespread disruptions. “It's too early to say the shutdown is over,” he wrote on X.

Iran’s roughly 90 million people have been cut off from the internet for most of 2026, one of the world’s longest and strictest national shutdowns. Young people with online careers saw their incomes evaporate. Job losses and the closure of online businesses added to the war's steep economic costs.

The cutoff made it difficult for Iranian families to communicate through months of unrest and war. At some points, phone lines were also cut off, though they were later restored.

A woman living in Tehran said that for months she was barely able to speak to her sons living abroad. She couldn't believe authorities had restored access, saying she had assumed they would find some justification to prolong the outage.

A taxi driver said service was restored but weak. He expressed hope it would improve so he could use messaging apps with family and friends. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Prices spiked during the shutdown, with residents in Tehran at times paying around $7.50 per gigabyte. Prices are back down to around $2.25 for 30 gigabytes, roughly where they were before the protests.

Even then, Iran tightly controlled access to popular social media sites, leading many to rely on virtual private networks, or VPNs. The cost of those workarounds soared during the shutdown, making them unaffordable for many as the economy was battered.

Businesses have started reappearing online, announcing their return with posts on sites like Instagram and Telegram.

A gamer and tech influencer in the central city of Isfahan said the shutdown had caused him to lose a lot of his audience on YouTube and Instagram, where he had spent years building up a large following.

“All my views and interactions are way down. I’ve been erased from the algorithm,” he said in a voice note sent by WhatsApp, adding that his internet connection was still slower than before the shutdown.

“The situation is such that many content producers have had their income reduced to zero, have moved on to other jobs, or have been forced to sell their equipment to survive,” he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Iranian authorities first shut down the internet in January during mass anti-government protests that were eventually stamped out in a violent crackdown. Thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands detained.

That cutoff was just starting to ease when the government imposed a complete internet blackout after the start of the war, when U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Iran's supreme leader and other top officials.

The government faced criticism for the prolonged shutdown, which caused even more harm to an economy devastated by inflation, strikes on key industries and a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports.

The internet cutoff cost an estimated $30-40 million daily, with indirect losses likely twice that much, a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Afshin Kolahi, told a local newspaper last month. About 10 million people have jobs that depend on internet connectivity, according to Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi.

Iranians still had access to a national net, but that has a far narrower reach, and users complained of poor service and heavy censorship. Senior government officials are given SIM cards granting them access to the global internet. Under pressure, the government expanded access to the SIM cards to some professions during the shutdown.

A woman checks her smartphone while sitting on a bench along a sidewalk in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)