Ex-GIC Japan Head Planning $1.4 Billion Ski Haven Near Tokyo (1)

About 150 miles northwest of Tokyo, in a slivered valley that leads to the Sea of Japan, lies a sleepy pocket of the nation’s ski country called Myoko Kogen. Bustling in the 1980s bubble era with young skiers and neon-lit streets, the area has now seen better days.

But in the coming years Ken Chan, the former Japan head of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte, aims to invest $1.4 billion transforming it into a luxury skiing paradise to rival Aspen, Whistler and St. Moritz. For two years his investment firm has bought surrounding land at cut-rate prices thanks ...