For skiers, Japan is an anime dream land where you can buy full meals out of vending machines and the snow is bottomless.

Last winter, photographer Mark Fisher, the TGR crew, and athletes Chris Benchetler, Daron Rhalves and Dana Flahr went to Japan to see if that was true. “I had been dreaming of Japan for years, and I’m really fascinated by Japanese culture,” Fisher said.

Japan hadn't actually been in the cards for the crew, they had been planning to go to eastern Europe, but a lack of snow pointed them to Niseko.