Bali of the North?
So bad have the drunken antics of Australians become in a quaint Japanese skiing village, local authorities have appointed a Canadian cage fighter to keep the peace. And he’s been meting out his own form of justice.
It’s 4.46 am, the morning after Australia day and I stand in a bar in the Japanese village of Niseko. In front of me an Australian sits on a couch, his head lolling from side to side, as the bar’s owners try to solicit sense from him.
“Mate, we can’t let you leave here. Where are you staying?” the Australian manager/owner asks, but he can only respond with slurred gibberish.
It’s a fitting end to a night of debauchery perpetrated by travelling Australians in this tiny village (pop. 4667). Over the last twelve hours, two brawls erupted, (one in which a man was felled, then kicked in the head by a Gold Coast woman). An Australian had to be removed from the kitchen of a Japanese family (where he was found making a sandwich) and another badly split his head after a drunken fall. Four major blood loss injuries were suffered by Australians during the night.
A week earlier a man narrowly avoided death after being found lying unconscious in the snow after a bar fight. A bar staffer who’d been following the man home to report the damage he’d done to his bar during the fight, turned saviour ferrying the drunk to his unit. At which point he began spewing blood into a bathtub in front of a horrified wife and children.
Over the recent New Year celebrations a series of offenses were recorded, the worst by an (New Zealand born) Australian resident who set fire to a local bar after a disagreement with staff. Though failed to burn it down.
Niseko is home to the best powder snow in the world and, since a glut of green and gold development began here (there’s an LJ Hooker branch here) eight years ago, some very badly behaved Australians. Ex-pats have gone as far as labelling it, “Bali of the North.”
The debauchery reached flash point during Australia day celebrations in 2007, when two groups of surfers acted out a running brawl from one bar to another, over almost 300 meters.
For the local authorities, who despite having one of the world’s toughest justice systems (criminal suspects can be held for 21 days without charge) still hadn’t been unable to quell the idiocy, a new approach was needed.
Enter Derek Begley. The Niseko promotions board hired a Canadian cage fighter as the village peacekeeper. Officially, Derek`s title is Community Liaison Officer, a role he describes as “providing a buffer between the public and the police.” This can mean helping a couple of mates avoid spending 21 days in the slammer because a drunken wrestle may have been construed as a fight by local authorities. Or choking fools out who refuse his advice. “It can get weird. I’ve been beating guys up while the [police] stand there and watch,” he says.
While Derek’s professional record stands at four and one, including a birth in America’s King of the Cage tournament and a role as the former sparring partner of Light Heavyweight Ultimate Fighting Champion, Rashad Evans, his biggest battle today is against Australia’s binge drinking culture.
“I could never imagine [Canadians] behaving like this in another country. For Australians and Australia day, it’s all about getting smashed and drinking as much beer as you can,” he says.
The most problematic Aussie travellers are often surfers escaping the summer flat spell. When Mick Fanning toured Niseko following his 2007 world title win, Derek was his guide. He says Mick was a “quiet guy who got loud when he drank a lot” and describes him as a “poster boy” for the Australians that tour the area.
In the past twelve months, Australians have been responsible for every offence in Niseko, with Derek attending an average of three call outs a week.
As for why our behaviour is so bad, a local bar manager who wishes to remain nameless, says it’s the result of a lack of restraint. “There are no Responsible Service of Alcohol laws here. You can drink until you drop and I’m powerless to stop you.” Derek is working with local bars to implement drink service guidelines as well as a crack down on underage drinkers. He also lists the absence of women and security personnel at many of the town’s bars as contributors to the conflict.
Our behavior has got locals bemused. Kuni Yoshikawa has lived in Niseko for 22 years and owns a family style backpacker lodge. He admits that only “30% of Australians are a problem,” but doesn’t understand where the aggression comes from. “If I drink too much, I go to sleep. But Australians fight and get up to mischief,” he says.
He tells the story of a 20-year-old Australian lodger his son found passed out in their building’s freezing shoe room following the recent New Year’s Eve celebrations. Kuni’s son helped the man to his room, to wake the next morning and find the man had shit the bed.
There have also been tragic consequences. After a night of “drinking fairly heavily” on February 20, 2009, 27-year-old Brisbane man, Scott Mackay was last seen alive leaving local bar Wild Bills at 1.30 am. He had a ten-minute walk to his lodge but never made it. His body was found once the snow retreated for spring, in a nearby river, following a two month search. - Jed Smith
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