On October 3, 2026, GUILD Inc. will hold the RUSUTSU PICKLEBALL Festival 2026 with PICKLE PICKLE on the outdoor courts of Rusutsu Resort in Hokkaido. The venue is a set of eight dedicated outdoor courts, the first in Hokkaido to be sanctioned by the Japan Pickleball Federation. Separate from competition-focused tournaments, the day is built to run from people holding a paddle for the first time through to an evening party. A resort in Hokkaido sets up courts and an outside organizer brings an event to them; here is what the day holds, as one example of that structure starting to move.
On October 3, a one-day festival lands on Rusutsu's eight sanctioned courts
The event is organized by GUILD Inc. and the RUSUTSU PICKLEBALL Festival 2026 organizing office. It runs on Saturday, October 3, on eight courts built in the outdoor court area of Rusutsu Resort. Those eight are federation-sanctioned dedicated outdoor courts, the first facility in Hokkaido to receive sanctioning. A resort with a ski area in snow country building an event around outdoor courts in the snowless season shows an intent to keep courts working year-round.
The YouTube program PICKLE PICKLE is listed as a cooperating partner. The event is built on the premise of being filmed and distributed, with a route for carrying what happens on court out to a wider audience baked in from the start.
Taster in the morning, social play in the afternoon, a party at night: three blocks for three audiences
The day is cut into three blocks. The morning is a beginner taster session starting with a rules explanation and a mini lesson, the afternoon is social play centered on mixed doubles, and the evening brings an awards ceremony, a DJ set and time with glowing pickleballs. Fees are set per block: 3,000 yen for the morning taster, 4,000 yen for the afternoon mixed doubles and 4,000 yen for the evening social.
Splitting the day by time slot keeps the audience from being narrowed to one type. Someone who has never held a racket can take the morning only; someone who wants matches can aim at the afternoon. Someone who does not play but wants the atmosphere can come only at night. Instead of bundling everything into one admission fee, the barrier to taking part is lowered step by step.
Saki Tateno as guest, with a video program as the route to reach
The guest on the day is Saki Tateno, a member of the idol group Draw me and an actress and TV personality. Known for appearing on the variety program NOBROCK TV, she is scheduled to play with participants during the event. Other performers, including professional pickleball players, are expected to be announced in turn.
Putting a TV personality on court for one day and leaving it there is presumably not the point of bringing a video program in as a partner. If scenes shot at the venue go up on the PICKLE PICKLE channel, the heat of the day reaches people who could not attend. The event leans toward capturing footage of first-timers laughing rather than a record of competition.
Glowing pickleballs and a DJ pull the night away from competition
The glowing pickleballs used in the evening block turn darkness from a weakness into staging. An outdoor court normally shuts down once the sun goes; if the ball itself glows, night becomes the hour that looks best. A DJ adds sound and the awards close the day, an arrangement that sells one evening's experience rather than a record of who won.
Glowing balls and night staging have been tried at urban venues too, such as the limited-run court lit up in a Shibuya basement. Rusutsu brings that to a resort in Hokkaido and offers it as an evening's entertainment packaged with a stay. Setting aside a stretch of the night where skill does not matter widens the festival's door further.
Same eight courts, but the tournament and the festival are run by different parties
What should not be confused is that events of different character are running side by side on these eight courts. The courts at Rusutsu Resort are an asset the resort operator built and carried through to federation sanctioning. In the summer, a competition-leaning tournament contesting rankings and titles also runs on the same eight courts.How Rusutsu's eight dedicated courts became the venue for a title-sponsored eventreads as the court owner staging a competitive event itself.
This festival, by contrast, is planned by a separate party, GUILD Inc., using those sanctioned courts as its stage. A facility owner holding its own tournament and an outside party renting the facility for a festival aim at different customers and build revenue differently. Given that Rusutsu's court development, alongside the 20 courts in Izu and others,has moved forward as an expansion across multiple sites, the eight sanctioned courts are a working asset the operator can rent to its own tournaments or to outside festivals. The more courts there are, the more kinds of projects can ride on them.
The resort owns the courts, outside organizers bring the events
Resorts taking on pickleball courts is happening outside Hokkaido too. In Karuizawa, Nagano, a resort with a ski area introduced pickleball experiences from August 2026, setting up indoor and outdoor courts so weather is not a factor.A highland resort in Yatsugatake built six outdoor courts and opened play to its guestsandA bathhouse on Awaji Island put a court next to its sauna: both sit alongside as ways to pair courts with lodging or hot springs and stretch the length of a stay.
Ski areas and hot spring towns already have existing tennis courts, spare outdoor space and lodging. The ease of turning that into a court by adding paddles and a net suits facilities sitting on underused assets. The Rusutsu festival takes a court built that way, rents it out for a single day to an outside organizer, and layers video and a TV personality on top to draw a crowd. The facility borrows activity and the organizer borrows the place, each from the other.
市場推移を語る数字、主催者発表による推計の限界
今回のリリースは、市場の伸びを示す数字も並べている。プレスリリースによると、国内の競技人口は2024年4月時点でおよそ5,000人、2025年3月には推定で約45,000人まで増え、2026年の推計では競技人口が約33万人、潜在プレイヤーは約1,189万人にのぼるという。米国では2025年に約2,430万人が競技に触れ、2022年から2025年で171.8%増えたとされる。
That said, the domestic figures of 45,000 and 330,000 are the organizer's own estimates, and the sources and definitions behind them are not spelled out. They work as material for describing momentum, but there is not enough behind them to treat as a settled player count. If you use the numbers, the fair reading is to attach the caveat that they come from the organizer. The value of the event lies less in whether these estimates are accurate than in the design itself, which packs a thick set of beginner entry points into a single day.
北海道でフェス型が根づくかは、当日の反応と映像発信で測られる
Facilities with courts are increasing, organizers who draw people with video and personalities have appeared, and a single day folds together everything from beginners to a night out. The Rusutsu festival becomes a place to test whether those elements click at once in Hokkaido. Whether it ends as a one-off talking point or grows into an annual fixture from the following year depends on the turnout and on how many new participants the footage shot there brings along.
The vessel, eight outdoor courts, already exists. What remains is what goes on top and who gets pulled in. October 3 is a day to see how far the combination of a resort that built courts and an outside organizer bringing a project to them can work in Hokkaido.
Sources
GUILD Inc. press release, "RUSUTSU PICKLEBALL Festival 2026 with PICKLE PICKLE" (PR TIMES)
Rusutsu Resort event information
Karuizawa Prince Hotel Ski Resort introduces a pickleball experience activity (Seibu Prince Hotels & Resorts)
