​Our History

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The turning point in the professional ski instruction career of Hideaki Fujiwara, founder of SKIWI SKI SCHOOL, came in 1981 when he became the first Japanese instructor to obtain a race coach qualification in New Zealand. There, he learned world-standard ski teaching methods, and in 1982, at the age of 26, he was appointed as a demonstrator by the SIA (Ski Instructors Association of Japan, now the Professional Ski Instructors Association of Japan) for the first time.

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During the following ten years of his work as an SIA demonstrator, he was twice selected as a representative of Japan for INTERSKI, the international congress of professional snowsports instructors held every four years. In 1995, he also accompanied the Interski Japan National Team as a coach and committee member, contributing greatly to the development of international ski education and technical exchange in Japanese ski instruction.

Fujiwara’s ski-teaching career, built alongside these contributions and rooted in world-class standards, has been highly regarded in the snowsports community. After retiring as a demonstrator, he served for ten years as a judge for the SIA Demonstrator Selection. Moreover, he established six officially certified ski schools based on his own instructional philosophy. From these schools, a total of 12 SIA demonstrators have been produced, proving the excellence of his teaching theory and methodology.

Below is a history of the ski schools founded by Fujiwara and the demonstrators who emerged from them:

1983 – Haruka Kneissl Ski School (Otaru)
1986 – Mt. Racey Ski School (Yubari)
1993 – Skiing-in Tsudanuma (Chiba)
2015 – Takamagahara SKIWI Ski School (Shiga Kogen)
2024 – SKIWI SKI SCHOOL (Shiga Kogen)
2025 – RIDE SHIGA (Shiga Kogen)

(Name – First Year of Certification – Number of Certifications)

@ Hideaki Fujiwara – 1982 – 10 times
(2× Interski Team Member, 1× Coach)

@ Takehiko Matsuno – 1983 – 1 time
@ Toshiya Nakazawa – 1986 – 9 times
@ Tadao Kaneko – 1987 – 11 times
(1× Interski Team Member)

@ Iori Sotoyama – 1988 – 3 times
@ Osamu Kuji – 1989 – 22 times
(3× Interski Team Member, 1× Head Coach)

@ Naoko Kuji – 1990 – 15 times
(3× Interski Team Member)

@ Takeshi Enjo – 1991 – 15 times
(1× Interski Team Member)

@ Shinichi Shimomiya – 1993 – 1 time
@ Hisaaki Wakamori – 1994 – 11 times
@ Sei Matsumoto – 1995 – 1 time

@ Tomonori Fujiwara (Current SKIWI Principal) – 2015 – 1 time