Hokkaido
Discover Hokkaido
Hokkaido (北海道 Hokkaidō) is the northernmost of Japan's four main islands and at the same time a prefecture. With both size and population (5.3 million in 2019) similar to Scotland, it is the most sparsely populated part of Japan. Home to Japan's native Ainu people, Hokkaido continues to represent the untamed wilderness with many great national parks. Hokkaido is by far Japan's largest prefecture, consisting of Japan's entire northern island and its surrounding islets. For many visitors the scenery resembles a mix of northern Europe and the American West, with rolling fields, grazing cows, and pioneer cottages replacing the rice paddies and concrete warrens of 'mainland' Japan. However, the ubiquitous hotspring resorts in much of the island serve as a reminder that you are still in Japan.
What to Experience in Hokkaido
Taste of Hokkaido...
Much of Hokkaido's population lives by the sea, and consequently seafood figures heavily in Hokkaido fare. Check out the hairy crabs (毛蟹 kegani), king crabs (タラバ taraba) and the delicious sushi. Akkeshi's oysters, Saroma's scallops, and the northwest coast's sea urchin (うに uni) are considered to be among Japan's very best seafood. More unexpectedly, Hokkaido produces most of Japan's dairy products and particularly in the east you will run into many creative uses for them. Ever had cream cheese in your curry, or butter in your noodle soup? How about asparagus, corn, or squid ink ice cream? In Hokkaido, you will. Hokkaido is home to some of Japan's finest sake, the most famous of the bunch being Asahikawa's Otokoyama (男山). Beer is also big in Hokkaido, the most famous brand being Sapporo Beer (naturally from Sapporo), but the many microbrews found in nearly every town are also worth sampling. Last but not least, famed Japanese whisky makers Nikka have their main distillery at Yoichi. Hokkaido is one of Japan's best places for camping, but beware of the nighttime chill - even in the summer months you'll need a good sleeping bag. In particular, the southwest coast can be surprisingly cold, due to the ocean currents. Many of Hokkaido's cheaper accommodations slap on an extra fee for winter heating (冬期暖房 tōki danbō), as Japanese houses even in the north are notoriously poorly insulated and chew up vast quantities of fuel when the temperatures fall.
A Rich Past
Explore the historical roots that shaped Hokkaido into what it is today.
Hokkaido was for millennia the home of the Emishi people, whose descendants are today's Ainu. While loosely ruled by Japanese feudal lords since the 1500s, direct Japanese control was limited to the Oshima Peninsula around Hakodate. Mass migration from mainland Japan began only after the Meiji Restoration in 1869, with the Hokkaidō Development Commission (開拓使 Kaitakushi) created to settle the island and exploit its resources. Lacking the thousand-year-old temples and visible traces of history so plentiful in the rest of Japan, to this day the island retains a bit of a frontier feel, with planned cities with neat grid layouts and plenty of log cabins. As part of the settler colonial policy implemented by the Meiji government, the Ainu were dispossessed of their land and forced to assimilate into Japanese culture. Hokkaido was particularly hard hit by the end of the Bubble in the late 1980s, with the collapse of local lender Takushoku Bank taking down many local businesses. Add in marginal agricultural land and increasingly unprofitable mining and industry, and the result is long-term population decline, especially in rural areas. Projections indicate the prefecture may lose half its population by 2050. The one bright spot in the economy is winter sports, with Sapporo hosting the 1972 Winter Olympics and ski hotspot Niseko in particular booming....
Climate
Hokkaido is colder than the rest of Japan, and the merciful lack of Japan's muggy summers and monsoon season makes it a very popular domestic destination between May and August. In the winter season, Hokkaido's central mountains boast some of the best powder in the world and its numerous ski resorts attract millions of domestic and international skiers and snowboarders in winter. Spring and autumn, on the other hand, tend to be cold and wet, and are very much the off season for tourists. Some of Hokkaido's inland areas have a continental climate, with large daily and yearly temperature variation. Asahikawa in particular is notorious as one of the extreme cities in Japan: it holds the all-Japan record for lowest measured temperature at −41.0°C (-41.8°F,) and average lows on a typical February day are around -12°C (10°F,) but it has also clocked up 37.9°C ̈(100°F) in August! Hokkaido LOVE! is the prefecture's official multilingual guide site. Most people speak Standard Japanese.
Essential Information
Getting There
Multiple OptionsThe Seikan Tunnel, the world's second longest rail tunnel, is the only land link that Hokkaido has to Japan's main island of Honshu. Trains through the tunnel, ferries, and airliners are the only means of reaching Hokkaido. The only way to enter Hokkaido by car is to ship it across on one of the many car ferries. Sapporo's Chitose Airport (CTS) is Hokkaido's sole international gateway of significance, with flights from Hong Kong, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Shanghai, Beijing, Honolulu, Seoul and Busan. However, there are only limited international flights and most visitors will need to transit through hubs such as Tokyo and Osaka. The route between Tokyo and Sapporo is, in terms of capacity and planes flown daily, the busiest in the world. If transiting via Tokyo, beware that most Sapporo flights use Haneda (HND), and you'll need at least 3 hours to travel there from Narita (NRT). In addition, there are a few international flights (mostly from Seoul and Taipei) to Asahikawa and Hakodate....
Regions
Explore AreasAlone among the main Japanese islands, Hokkaido is not divided into prefectures. Instead, there are 14 subprefectures (支庁 shichō, or officially 振興局 shinkōkyoku from 2008), which are generally grouped …...
Getting Around & Staying
Getting Around
Hokkaidō wa dekkai dou (北海道はでっかいどう), said a famous airline commercial in the 1970s, meaning roughly "Hokkaido is huuuuuge". Allow plenty of time to get around and don't try to do too much if your time is limited. Many Japanese maps show Hokkaido with a larger scale than the rest of the country, which may make distances appear deceptively small. Due to its vast size and numerous outlying islands, Hokkaido has a fairly well-developed commuter airline network. The main regional carrier is JAL subsidiary Hokkaido Air Commuter, which operates its turboprop flights operate out of the tiny Okadama Airport (OKD) in central Sapporo, not the main Chitose airport (CTS) well south of the city. The train network in Hokkaido is (by Japanese standards) limited, although it's more than adequate for travel between major cities.
Where to Stay
Hokkaido is one of Japan's best places for camping, but beware of the nighttime chill - even in the summer months you'll need a good sleeping bag. In particular, the southwest coast can be surprisingly cold, due to the ocean currents. Many of Hokkaido's cheaper accommodations slap on an extra fee for winter heating (冬期暖房 tōki danbō), as Japanese houses even in the north are notoriously poorly insulated and chew up vast quantities of fuel when the temperatures fall. This shouldn't be more than ¥500 or so. If you are coming for the mountains, be sure to stay in one of the many mountain huts (山小屋 yamagoya) in Hokkaido. Most are free, and they're both a cheap sleep and a good cultural experience. You'll be sure to make Japanese friends as well. Hokkaido has the worst fatality rate for traffic accidents in Japan. Hokkaido is one of Japan's most spread-out areas, well known for its wide-open roads. Locals drive at least 20 km/h over the posted limits in many areas.
Language & Talk
Most people speak Standard Japanese. There is little regional dialect variation as most people are fairly recent immigrants from all over Japan. However, most of the early immigrants to Hokkaido, whose descendants are found primarily in the fishing villages along the coast, speak Tohoku dialects, which are difficult for people who know only Standard Japanese to understand. Only elderly people, however, are likely to speak only Tohoku dialect. A very few still speak Ainu, but the language is critically endangered: a 2011 UNESCO report indicated there were just 15 elderly native speakers and a few hundred more with limited ability.
Safety Information
Safety Overview
Hokkaido has the worst fatality rate for traffic accidents in Japan. Hokkaido is one of Japan's most spread-out areas, well known for its wide-open roads. Locals drive at least 20 km/h over the posted limits in many areas. It's not unusual to see cars traveling at over 100 km/h on regular highways (the posted limit is 60 km/h). Head-on collisions at these speeds, especially with minicars, are catastrophic. Hokkaido has many country farm roads which are narrow, poorly marked, and arrow-straight. These often run parallel to highways and tend to be much less crowded. It's not unusual for locals to exceed 100 km/h on these roads. Missing a stop sign can be fatal, and signs may be hard to spot. Be careful of farm vehicles backing out of sheds with no warning, and especially careful of bicycles in the summer, as there are no shoulders. Winter driving in Hokkaido is not for the faint of heart.
Glimpses of Hokkaido
yellow red and purple flower field during daytime
green trees on snow covered ground
IT WORK !!!!!
Hakodate city, Hokkaido Japan
white boat on water near brown concrete building during daytime
Exploring Hokkaido's Shikisai-no-Oka (四季彩の丘) in late summer showcases its vibrant flower fields in full bloom, a colorful and picturesque experience for visitors.
aerial photography of city buildings near body of water at night time
Northern view of the city from Mount Hakodate, with Hakodate Bay to the left and the Tsugaru Strait to the right, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan (2024). Photo by Danny With Love.
Goryōkaku, Hakodate, Hokkaido
people walking on road near green grass field during daytime
yellow red and purple flower field during daytime
green trees on snow covered ground
IT WORK !!!!!