(Corrects Richard Li investment plan in seventh paragraph
of Jan. 16 story.)

Three skiers were rescued after
being buried in an avalanche today near the Niseko ski resort on
Japan’s northernmost island.

The non-Japanese couple and their Japanese guide sustained
minor injuries in the snowslide, the Kutchan City, Hokkaido fire
department said by e-mail, without specifying the injuries.

About 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) of crystal snow had
fallen on the resort’s slopes over the previous 12 hours and
soft-slabs began to form on wind-affected areas above the
treeline, according to the Niseko Avalanche Information website.
The injured people were skiing outside the boundaries on Mount
Annupuri, according to the fire department.

Annupuri had about 2.6 meters of snow at the top as today,
according to the SnowJapan website. The Japan Meteorological
Agency issued a warning for heavy snow and possible avalanches
through tomorrow in Niseko. The area may get as much as 30
centimeters of snow in 12 hours, according to the agency.

Niseko, one of Hokkaido’s best known ski and hot spring
resort towns, has attracted investors from outside Japan.

Francis Yeoh, son of the founder of Malaysia’s YTL Corp.,
gave the Green Leaf Hotel, on the slope next to Annupuri, a $10
million facelift in 2010.

Richard Li, son of Li Ka-shing, has invested less than $150
million in projects at the resort, according to Tim Payne, a
spokesman for Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group.

Li had planned to invest 100 billion yen, worth $1.2
billion at that time.

Niseko has an average 3.3 meters of snow in February,
making it the world’s second-snowiest resort after Washington’s
Mount Baker, according to the Best Snow website.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Anna Mukai in Tokyo at
amukai1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Young-Sam Cho at
ycho2@bloomberg.net