Another Australian has died at a ski resort in Japan ­– less than a week after a young snowboarder suffered critical injuries in a horrific ski lift accident.

Michael Hurst, aged in his 20s, had been skiing between Niseko Moiwa Ski Resort and Niseko Annupuri International Ski Resort, in the country’s Hokkaido alpine region, on Monday.

He was with a group of seven people but disappeared, with the others moving back up the slope to try and find him.

When they did, Hurst was being given CPR by another group of skiers.

One of the seven skiers called the lodging facility where he was believed to have been working and the fire department rescued him, but he later died in hospital.

While earlier reports suggested Hurst may have been caught in an avalanche, The Guardian quoted a spokesperson at a lodge who said he had suffered a suspected heart attack.

“He was a talented, kind, gentle and wonderful man,” they said.

“There was no accident, collision or fall of any kind.”

The Foreign Affairs and Trade department confirmed the death.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Japan,” it said.

“We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time.”

On Friday, another Australian died on Japan’s mountains after a ski lift accident where her backpack got caught and she was left hanging mid-air.

Brooke Day, a 22-year-old snowboarder, sustained the critical injuries at the Tsugaike Mountain Resort in Otari near Nagano.

An unfastened waist belt buckle on her backpack became hooked on the lift chair while a chest strap was still securely fastened, causing her to be dragged along the snow and suspended mid-air, the resort said.

The lift was stopped by an attendant who pressed an emergency button and the snowboarder was rushed to hospital after suffering what appeared to be a cardiac arrest.

The Tsugaike Mountain Resort and Tsugaike Gondola Lift Co jointly apologised for the accident and said an investigation would be launched into the fatal incident.

Australians have increasingly set their sights on Japan for holidays, with more than one million travelling to the island nation in 2025.

That was up 15 per cent on 2024 and included more than 121,000 for the start of three-month ski season in December, the Japan National Tourism Organisation said.