Based in Niseko, Island Snowboards is doing something rare in modern snowboarding. Every board is built by hand, from start to finish, right here in Hokkaido. As a rider owned and rider built brand, the people shaping boards inside the workshop are the same people chasing deep turns on the mountains.
We spent an afternoon inside their workshop to see how it all comes together, the people, the materials, and the philosophy behind one of Japan’s most local snowboard brands.
Every Island board is built under one roof. Cores are shaped, fibreglass is laid, graphics are developed and printed, boards are pressed, finished, and waxed all in house. In an industry dominated by large overseas production lines, Island has chosen a slower and more deliberate path.
It all starts with the materials. Rather than importing timber, Island sources two native Hokkaido woods for their core construction: honoki (magnolia obovata) and tamo (Manchurian ash) core is built from multiple hand selected timber stringers, planed, measured, glued, stacked, and clamped. It’s a slow, physical process, working through the green season and into the beginning of winter… true craftsmanship at its best.
Snowboard culture has always deeply cared for visuals and Island treats graphics with the same care as their construction. They collaborate with artists who share their passion, often beginning with analog techniques like painted surfaces, physical objects, or hand made marks, before refining them digitally and translating them back into something tangible. All top sheets are printed in-house using dye sublimation. To see the journey of the designs, like many parts of building a snowboard, is something pretty unique…. resulting in a piece of art that is as visually appealing as it is functional.
Their latest limited edition project, the Sacrifice Series, is currently in its final stages at the Island workshop. In collaboration with artist Peter Martin, the idea began with discarded wood offcuts left behind that felt too meaningful to ignore. Those pieces were transformed into hand painted sculptural objects, each unique object becoming the artwork on a single snowboard, making each one of a kind. Only six boards will be released publicly, with the project highlighting the exploration of art, community, and the natural Hokkaido environment that Island calls home.
Standing inside the workshop, you feel the focus on building the best boards shaped by Hokkaido’s seasons, the people who live here, and a genuine love for snowboarding. If you’re in the Niseko area, stop by and see how each board is built from the ground up.
Check Out Island Snowboards HERE and follow along on their Instagtram
